Cluster Outing 2005

This was kinda late. But anyways I'm gonna post some pictures here. Feel free to browse the link for added pictures.



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The Damned and Lucky One
Few reasons why I consider myself damned: (1) my boss is not present today; (2) everybodys enjoying friday life but me; (3) tons of work load left unfinished; (4) no stupid tricycle who wanted to hitch me a ride; (5) its raining profusely; (6) I'm soaking wet from sweat and raindrops; (7) its brownout!!; (8) midnight madness today @ glorietta and I don't have money; (9) no salary yet; (10) internet connection is so so slow...

Amidst all that I consider myself lucky for so many reasons as well: (1) feel lucky since I can feel the sense of freedom since my boss is not around; (2) I had a nice treat from my other boss; (3) I still have saturday and sunday to finish those left undone (good thing I don't feel the sense of urgency to finish my tasks today since my boss is not present); (4) had an exercise by walking few kms before finally reaching a tryke who wanted to hitch me in; (5) I bought a new umbrella somehow to shield me from the stupid rain; (6) At least I know that somehow my fats are burning out from the said lil exercise; (7) Still I can browse the net and thanks to mom's laptop with functioning battery (unlike my laptop whose battery is badly malfunctioning); (8) at least I went for a lil window shopping before I left for home (I shudda went a bit longer to avoid the traffic jam and commuter's rush); (9) At least I wasn't able to spend another dime for something worthless (talk about my impulsiveness in buying worthless things); (10) Though the connection is extremely slow, hard to connect, and always reconnecting, I have the luxury of time in typing this shit off.

So am still hoping for a good day tomorrow to finish what I shudda supposed to do tonight. Anyway, good thing I can sleep early. Might as well hit the sack.

Jaz Sittin' 'round

Audit is finally finished. Just gotta collect some documents for walkthrough of the process and that's it. Though I haven't finalized yet my documentations and all, still I feel freedom from something. Prolly freedom to roam around the country and see what's in stored for me. I already have endless plan and I'm quite excited to go to Seoul. Later the client will treat me in a korean restaurant. Finally! I got a chance to eat their food. Though they've been pampering me with nice meals I still long to taste the korean cuisine. Anyhow, I'm pretty much excited to go around and feel that I'm here for vacation.

The computer I'm using comes with special effects. ㅊㅌ퍼ㅏ... See what I mean? hahaha... Been reading stuff around the internet about how most of koreans are hard to deal with. But I totally disagree. Here at office they're different. They will give me utmost support I need. I want to take this opportunity to thank first of all Mr. Bill, Mr. KPK, Mr. Park, and Ms. Park for helping me out finish the audit in due time. Also I wanna thank Mr. Shen, Mr. Cho and the waitress/cook (esp. Ms. Lee and Ms. Hong). You've been very kind to me and for that I'm eternally grateful. USS Pusan has been my refuge not only from the cold winds but for making my heart be perfectly warm because of their good soul. Anyway, nuff said, let's talk about my experience here. Right now as I am just sitting around (audit's been finally finished), I want to tell you that the 'korean experience' is different. Although the impression I had with the hotel staff especially the manager is really unfortunate (bcoz they're pretty arrogant!) I would still have to say that its quite a good place to live. People are okay. The streets are clean. Everything here is okay maybe as long as you know somebody here. Its hard to live by yourself since language barrier is the ultimate hindrance in getting what you want. If I feel lonely I just go to Texas Street and walk pass through different bars. I often see my kababayan and I feel a sense of home and that's it. I could sleep and call it a night. If I have been given another chance to go back to Korea, probably I'll bring someone with me not only to accompany me with the audit but to experience the beauty of Korea.

Rondz in Korea

Strong cool winds at night and pretty hot temperature during noon is what spring is about in Korea. I don't need an aircondition, just open the window of my hotel a lil bit and i got an instant airconditioning. Its very cold in the morning that I have to heat-up the shower. Its also very hard to wakeup during the morning. Good thing I could go to as late as 9:30 in the morning since the client opens up club by 11am. Plus the finance manager usually arrives at 2pm. A nice thing here though is that people are very friendly and accomodating. Tough part is the language barrier especially when I go to different stores. They really don't understand you unless you make a sign language. Anyway, Im attaching some of my pix here so that you could imagine my life here alone. Just put in some stories when Im pretty slack. Gotta hit the road. I have some things to do.. By Monday, Im off to Seoul to find some things over there and enjoy my stay here in Korea.

Quick Note About My Arrival in Korea

When I landed in Seoul, I got stunned especially when I saw the city and that I can actually leave the airport and head for the big city. Yeah! I was probably dreaming since I still have to meet Mr. Bill at Pusan, which is the main reason why I flew in Korea. Anyway, the technology of Korea is really magnificent. From their digital advertisements down to their public phone booths. I even got myself in a primitive outlook since I do not know how to use such. Well, what can I do if Korean characters are blazing the screen. Yup! You heard it right, their pay phones are like computer monitor. Anyway, I tried calling up my family and friends and even talked to my mom... Moving a lil forward, I was already in Pusan and the climate is soooo terribly cold. Thank God, I checked the weather conditions prior to my flight. I was able to bring my thick jacket with me.

After coupla hours, I'm already here. Bonded with the client... Wandered... Got a beer... Watch TV... And today, I'm in front of the client's monitor while I'm working. Yeah! I'm working. Given the limited stay here. There's no time to waste. Not if you don't want to go around Pusan/Seoul? Anyway, I gotta log-off already. I still have to go to church.

Detailed Reality Check

blasted laptop. i cannot press both shift keys and capslock. i apologize for series of periods and elipses. i cannot make any other punctuations. anyway, lets get started with this reality check, shall we. okay...

let me start of by reviewing my entries in my blog for the past year. you can obviously count all the entries i made this 2004. how come... maybe its because im lazy.. or maybe because i dont like blogger anymore.. or may be because im too busy that i could not attend to things that i like to do best. ayt. that settles it.. the last one is definitely the answer. since the dawn of resignation, i was too busy and too busy to do the most (or safe in saying 'what i like best'). what do i mean by dawn of resignation. well it only means that my superiors have already resigned and most of their tasks.. excuse me, all of their task were dumped on me. so i have to do all their work and in order to do that, i must sacrifice my life. yeah. my social life. good thing i still have time to go out and hit the movies. but for all insanity, i have to work, work, and work. so just sit back and relax and ill relate to you what ive been doing for past months..

well when july 2004 started, most of my superiors have already gone out of sgv. im not yet that affected during that time since i do not know the impact and intensity of work i am assuming. just the felt the social side that they are leaving our environment and all. anyway, as they went out. new staffs went in. second of being an auditor, you have to coach the new one. they have to know how it is to be an auditor. that's an added task. in addition to that, you will also be given full responsibility of the accounts you handled a year ago since all your in-charges and SA's have already left you. to worsen the situation, added accounts will be given to you, that's how hectic my life was for the coupla months.

come yearend 2004, another responsibility has already taken astride. that is the trip to cambodia.. let me rephrase that one, audit trip to cambodia.. a lot better. since it does not only involve going out of the country. but more importantly the essence is that you will struggle to be understood in that part of the world. to add, you also have to be very keen in doing your work and try to understand the appropriateness of each procedures to be done since you do not have a superior present with you during the audit. email is the only brideway connnecting you and your superior.

after the comeback from the audit trip, the huge struggle slowly, painstakingly creeps beneath your skin. what do i mean? well it simply means you have to juggle yourself from one client to another since the other one was left undone and there are so many.. i mean so many many many things to be done. after awhile my boss understood that i have to let go of one client and proceed to the one i was originally designed for. another struggle, i have to do everything all by myself. so literally im a one-man team. a nice way to go... anyway, til present im finishing what i started. hope that one day this'll be finished. and i have to move-on.

that'll do it. my own reality check. to inform you that im still here breathing in our planet. still existing although located in an area full of paperworks and problems along ayala ave. ciao... again my apologize for being such a sarcastic whiner!

Cambodia Audit


Its already been a week since I returned home from Cambodia. Exactly what am I doing there? Well, just pure simple audit work. We never planned to roam around since many say that it is not a safe place because of the land mines and prevalent crime. Contrary to that, we're still alive and even enjoyed the beauty of Phnom Penh. We stayed there for more than two weeks starting from the closing days of 2004. We practically spent the new breeze of 2005 in Kampong Cham. All the worries turned into excitement upon setting foot on Phnom Penh Airport. There is so much to expect from the rich-cultured country. By the way, the Kingdom of Cambodia was under French regime. 85% of them are Buddhist. Their race ranges from Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, etc. You could really see that most of them look different. Anyway, there's so much to say since we just did not finish doing the audit but also we've learned that Cambodia is a hidden tourist attraction. The people and their heritage is the legacy that they should be proud of. No wonder so many foreigners are in Phnom Penh.

Attached are some of my pictures taken during my stay in Cambodia.







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