2 Months Ago - The Picnic Experience

This is an overdue post. Our company picnic happened last June. However, I needed to process what transpired to recount it properly. The event transpired last May will not be topped as my "fave" experience. However, the consistent inconsistency of the people behind the production was just totally appalling you want to puke. (Though I did not, because the end portion was amazing.) I also do not want to put all the credit to the production team because they are not the only one who can ruin one event.

Here are the reasons why that picnic was all wrong. It started at the wrong foot.

1. Departure time was supposed to be 900 am. We left 30 minutes later.

Since the company outing is just a one-day affair, you want to be there early. There are only 11 of us from the team and only 7 rode the bus to Subic. Our team was complete before 900 am. The account riding the bus with us wanted to wait for one person. Imagine the nerve and logical thinking process, I really cannot understand why we have to wait for 30 minutes for one person. He wasn't even the President the company. He was a nobody. Well, he has friends with the account but who cares. We have an itinerary to follow. We wanted to go to many places Subic can offer so we really wanted to be there. We know the party would not start until 700 pm so there was a lot of time. Since we freaking left late, the itinerary became a plan without any fruition of becoming a reality.

At this point, tempers from our team is really running high and we were ready to go on a shouting match. Luckily, the marshal was the lady guard our team have a working relationship. She decided to leave without waiting for that one person. We arrived at Subic at around 130pm. 1 hour and a half late from the expected arrival time.

2. 7 in a room for some, 11 in a room and men and women are together

For some teams, this is okay. It is not a problem or they just don't think about it. However, if the room is a deluxe room and you fit 7 people with bags and other paraphernalia, this becomes a nightmare. One, 7 people will be using the bathroom. Each one has different time of actually using the bathroom. This becomes a logistics nightmare especially if you have an itinerary to follow. Girls tend to last longer in a bathroom and if you wants to sit on the throne it becomes a problem.

Two, sleeping arrangements is such a hassle. Some will be sleeping on the hard portion of the bed. That is such an inconvenience. Even if you claim a bed, people tend to forget especially if they become drunk. Imagine 4 of us on a queen size bed, 3 men and 1 woman was on the same bed. Fortunately, we do not have an issue since we are flatmates. Nevertheless, it is a bit weird from an outsider's perspective. I was even hoping that at least it was a villa type with multiple rooms. This one, I blame to poor hotel coordination.

3. Food not enough to satiate hunger

For any event, this is something people remember the most. If the food served was not good, no matter how amazing the program, the event still fails. In our case, the lucheon buffet was amazingly poor. Food portion is similar to what we see in movies, where nuns serve the homeless in a soup kitchen. I wonder, did the production team even checked the food portions when they got the said caterer? It was alarming because it has been ongoing since 2006. The food they served seems better if it was served ala carte. Actually, no. It would not even pass for any ala carte menu. I wish that the food was similar to the picture on the right.

From a tiring trip, a shitty room, you get shitty food. What's next? This does not end here. Our last experience totally made my top blew.

Our last stop, for me overall, was the most unpleasant experience.

4. The almost Zoobic Safari mishap

Since we are going to Subic, some my co-workers planned on spending time either on Zoobic Safari or Ocean Adventure. After arriving late and eating a lousy lunch and trying to cramp ourselves in the tiny room, we decided to go out and still do our itinerary. We decided to check the Safari. From the hotel, we made it to the marina where buses that will drive us to the Safari are situated.

After arriving at the marina, the first thing we did was ask when the next bus would leave. Tthe attendant from the production team, or I should say attendants, told us that the last bus left because the safari apparently closes at 5pm. It was 4pm then. I inquired why there was a communication gap. It was clearly stated that the last bus would leave at 530pm. This type of stupidity is really irksome. Stupid in the sense that, as part of the production team, you must know what happended. Second, you should have worked with the other vendors regarding their time. The reason we joined the picnic was to try out certain things and because of errors and lapses on communication. We travelled from the hotel to nowhere. At this time, I was already asking for their manager and point of contact with the support group that handles the picnic. All they can do was stare. It was frustrating that I almost grabbed something to throw at them.

Unfortunately, it was their lucky day. A bus that roams the area for potential Safari visitors passed by the area and we climbed so that we can go to our destination. The Safari was fun. We even have photos of tigers and more tigers. Since I do not want to bore you to death with tigers, I will not show it.

Overall, this experience ranks second as a shitty experience this year. I am sure there are more shitty thing to experience next year. What can more I expect from this support group? Ummm, nothing!

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Typhoon Frank Ruined My Weekend

I was planning to accomplish many things last weekend but Frank ruined them all. I was supposed to:

1. Shop for Pants
2. Have a haircut
3. Shop for Baptismal Gifts
4. Shop for Kitchen Utensils

Note: I am using my psychological wallet a.k.a credit card since salary was still a week from that time.

However, after reading several news items I felt bad about myself. Geez, I was being selfish. People are dying, losing homes, losing kins, etc and all I thought was Frank ruined my weekend.

Aside from that, my cousin lay on the hospital after suffering miscarriage. All I was thinking was I need to get out of the house. To think the only reason why I wanted to run and go about was I am tired of being a couch potato. Though I have plenty of movies to watch, I was not really in the mood to lie on bed all day. But Frank came, my modd really turned sour. I did not even go to mass and visit my cousin. After several hours, I felt bad about my actions and my self.

Frank really ruined my weekend because he made me felt bad and I became a Couch Potato again for 3 weeks running. I really need to do something about my weekend. Rest is needed but being a couch potato is tiresome and a shitty experience.

On to the DVD:

I watched Full Metal Alchemist for the whole weekend and finished the 51 episodes. For new anime fans (like me), this one is a must-see. To summarize the story, two brothers attempted human transmutation through alchemy, the science of their world. With the concept of equivalent trade, Ed (older brother) lost his leg while his Al (younger brother) lost his body. To ensure Al will not die, Ed sacrificed his arm to be able to attach Al's soul onto a suit of armor.

Human Transformation is taboo because this is an attempt to bring someone back to life. Though they know it is forbidden, the brothers attempted it to bring their mother back to life. This act created the path for the brothers to search for the Philosopher's Stone. It is a stone believed to let them forego equivalent trade. The search will lead them to many troubles but they continued to search for it in order to return their bodies to normal. Will they succeed?

The anime touches on political concepts and the familiar family concepts. Though a common topic in the literary world, what makes it a good anime is the flow of the story. It was not rushed. You see a clear purpose and direction. The important characters were developed beautifully. This gives you a sense of being with the brothers as they traverse their quest.

You must also look into the characters and the details given to each to match their personalities. Even Al, who is a suit of armor, have the details that matches his personality.

The personalities to look out for are:
1. Edward Elric - older brother
2. Alphonse Elric - younger brother
3. Roy Mustang
4. Maes Hughes

You might be asking why these four and why all guys, well, it is a shonen anime so most of the characters are guys. Lastly, their storyline, for me, is interesting. I included Maes because it is biankita's favorite and most of the anime bloggers liked him (according to biankita).

Well, that was my weekend. This weekend will be different because I will be really busy. Rain or shine, I need to be out and about.

P.S. I have not watched the movie. I will look for it when I have time. Thanks to biankita for letting me borrow the DVDs. I will watch it again so I will return it sometime July. If you are an anime fanatic, you might want to try out her blog. She is an anime blogger after all. From there, you can go to other anime blogs that provides good insights and feedbacks.

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35 Flights of Hell

I wanted to work in Makati when I heard that it is the Financial District of the country. For me, it was like the top-notch city with top-notch buildings. It gives me a sense of pride that makes me look like an air-head. I never thought that what I imagined will happen yesterday, May 29, 2008 at around 530 am. Nevertheless, it happened. I just walked 35 Flights from the 34th Floor of the building where the company I work for leases several floors to the ground floor.


It was a normal day. The elevators sucked. Lines were long as usual. However, you just grow accustomed to it. You rant about it but what can you do. It is still the same patron - tenant relationship where the patron (landlord), despite all shortcomings, acts high and mighty and lets the situation worsen before doing something about it. So, no matter how much we rant. We know that the situation will be the same for the next 100 years. To cut it short, the normal day become more normal. The power generator or whatever electrical equipment they have, failed or blew up (according to the rumor mill). So, we lost power to all elevators. It was around 430am when the first sign of power outages occurred. However, when the time to go home (I work in a call center and I was on a C shift), the power already failed. Imagine, generator sets not working to what it supposed to do. It cannot cover for the whole building. This is the part where I do not understand why they accepted a tenant when they know the tenant would consume electricity to the point that power load will be at maximum (an optimistic assumption). I guess money is everything. It will be huge on the bottom line. Apologies if I keep on digressing, I am just ranting as usual. Going back, around 530 am, me and two co-workers decided to eat before going home. We logged-out at the lobby to wait for the elevator. We heard this weird sound coming from the elevator and then it stopped. It seems that the elevators are not working because of low power. So the end of it, several people, agents included walked from the 34th floor to the ground floor. You might say that it is only the 33 floors (removing the 13th floor) but the building have a Mezzanine and a 6A. So, that is exactly 35 floors. Imagine the agony of my calf, thigh, and other leg muscles after that arduous walk down to liberty.


Until now, I cannot imagine why I was smiling when I was going down but now that the reality sunk in (my muscles are hurting big time and it is already 19 hours after the ordeal) I feel stupid. I keep imagining now what if it was the other way around. I need to climb 35 flights of hell. I shudder at the thought of it.


To the Administrators of the Building: FIX YOUR FORSAKEN POWER SUPPLY AND YOUR FORSAKEN ELEVATORS!

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