Vancouver Aquarium

I went to the Vancouver Aquarium yesterday with some of my officemates. I'm really not into animals that much but I haven't been here yet, and my friends wanted to go so I thought, ok, might as well join them! The Aquarium wasn't as big as I thought it would be, but I did love the Dolphin show! We were able to catch the Beluga show as well but it was pretty boring. All in all, I think I still liked the fishes that were available in HK's Ocean Park, but the Vanc Aquarium was just much more cleaner. I didn't bring my camera as usual, but I did bring my Ipod Touch which produced a couple of pictures of poor quality though. Haha

Here's a picture of the group, stolen from my friend's camera. Leda, do you see my coat? That's my coat!

And here's the one I like best. Sting ray ba tawag dito? But look at the skin, totally different from what we usually see. It's spotted!

Here's another one... red colored fish.

Unfortunately, we missed a couple of shows like the Sea Otter and the 4D. We got there late at around 2 pm already and the aquarium closes at 5 pm. But all in all, I think it's a pretty nice place to go. I probably won't be going back any time soon, but maybe when I have kids, I'll bring them there. But what I want to do is actually be able to go to the Manila Ocean Park. My officemate tells me that that place is pretty much comparable to the Vancouver Aquarium. In fact, he found that the Manila Ocean Park might be even better. That sparked my curiosity. So when I go back this July, maybe I ought to visit that park!

random thoughts

Work's been crazy the past few weeks. But more so this week. My team mate was on leave this week, and she happens to be my lead, and so a lot of the tasks were passed on to me temporarily and it is only these days that I'm really getting the experience of being the true blue team lead. I am getting more and more responsibilities. Before, my team lead roles were simply to administrative tasks such as preparing time sheets, etc. But now, they're slowly involving me with these different tasks such as figuring out resource allocations for the different projects. It's good training, for sure, but it's just taking its toll a bit. I'm doing all these work, and that's on top of the actual work I have to do!

But, I'm not complaining. I think I've learned to love this job even if it's really been a crazy past few weeks. Just means I'm still enjoying, which is very good. I realized that I've always liked my job. Maybe I had that moment when I didn't, but at least I'm getting the jive back.

Anyway, on another note, we are going to visit the Vancouver Aquarium tomorrow. This is already my 5th time here in Vancouver and I haven't even gone there yet. Well, I'm still better off I guess. My team mate, who lived for probably 10+ years already in Vancouver has never even visited the place. I think that's usually how it is. The person who lives in the area, has not even visited the tourist spots at all.

And please, let's pray for the people in Japan. 8.9 magnitude. I cannot imagine how that feels.

Welcome back to Canada

I have been away for too long from my blog.

Anyway, I am back and now in Vancouver. There are so many things I miss back in Manila already, but there are still a lot of things to look forward to here in Vancouver. For instance, when you're about 30 minutes to an hour away from Vancouver, just look at the plane's window and you'll see this:

Beautiful isn't it? Back last November, there was much more snow but I didn't bring any camera with me during in flight so this time around, I made sure that at least my ipod Touch would have enough battery left to capture this beautiful scenery.

The picture below is near the city already, farmlands I suppose. Still looks pretty nice right?

On other news, Canada's always been a place where I gain weight. I gain weight here, I lose it again back in Manila. To prove my point, when I arrived last Saturday, this is what I saw sitting in the kitchen:

Hello there deadliest catch. This is something I look forward to when I'm here, but gaining weight? That's definitely something I'm not looking forward to! But then again, no complaints right? In fact, last Sunday night, I had dinner at a Chinese restaurant with the family, and then this coming Thursday, my team mate Jeff is going to treat us to another Chinese restaurant to satisfy our pecking duck cravings!! Too much food already, all in just a span of a week! Oh did I mention my grandpa is planning to have hotpot/shabu shabu this coming Sunday? Noooooo

Anyways...

What else to look forward to in Canada? Work of course! It's always nice to work here... normal hours, you talk to them face to face instead of over the phone. You get to interact with different people - different culture, different ethnic background, you name it. In fact, tomorrow I'll be meeting some of the QAs I've been working with for the past 2 years. I'm finally meeting them!

I also missed the weather. It's raining so it's a bit colder but my wonderful coat is keeping me warm. Sulit. Kaso lang nasira yung porma ko, kasi yung baunan ko bag na malaki na pang bata. Hahaha I thought it would snow, but seems like it's passed. It's almost spring anyway. But spring time is nice, that's when the flowers bloom. You see a lot of different colors everywhere. I do see the trees here finally getting some color. Winter's almost over! But out of all the seasons, I would say I still like Fall the best. I've been here in Canada during the Fall season only once, but it's my favorite season. Every where I look, it's pink!

I think I'm still in jet lag mode so I will be off sleeping soon. Until next time.

Honda City Recall

My City, my one and only City that I love so much is part of the recall that Honda's having around the world. I was hoping they'd give me a brand new spanking vehicle, but apparently, they're just replacing the defective spring or something. Couldn't understand it. But I'm calling in later to get my city schedule for "fixing". And which reminds me, I will give City a very nice vacuum and cleaning before I leave for Canada. May umupo kasi doon dati kumain ng pandesal na madaming crumbs. Ok lang naman sa akin iyon, but I just need to get it cleaned para hindi ipisin or dagain!

Housewarming @ Mae's

Our spur of the moment housewarming at Mae's new spanking crib last Wednesday brought a lot of nice thoughts to me. We've definitely gone a long long way since our college days.

Everyone's growing up. When I compare how things were 6 years ago, as compared to how things are right now, everything's different. Here's a gist. Mae has a condo unit already, bought a couple of years back and recently furnished (and paid a hefty sum to get it all fixed up). Leda and Sally, both living independently now, renting out a place in Makati and Buendia respectively. For Vicky - nagdadalaga na... yiheee... Marcy, well, she's richer I suppose :) And as for me, I don't know what's new with me, a bit wiser I suppose. Now I'm envious, I want a place of my own too!!!

And what you know what else I noticed? That everyone just seems to be in this happy state of mind these days. Which is definitely good. I think after all that we've been through, if we haven't learned anything yet from those experiences, then I don't know what'll happen to us.

In fact, Mae and I had this impromptu lakad last night when we met up at around 7pm to pick up our IPOD touch from Rhys in Abad Santos. That was supposed to be it, just pick up the IPODs but then while we were in the car, we decided... hmm why not go straight to Trinoma and buy ourselves new casings for the new toy? And so off we did. Then had a quick dinner as well at Chowking. Then went home! It was really a nice way of talking and sharing different thoughts. Sabi nga namin ni Mae, we never did this before. Ngayon, we pretty much do what we want! Or perhaps because these days, we have the resources to do these things that we want!

I love it. Slowly but surely, we're getting and reaching our goals. Good vibes attracts good things. I'm pretty sure that all my friends will definitely have a successful future ahead!

Two More Weeks

Two weeks remaining before I am off again to the other side of the world. As much as I'm sad to leave the Philippines every now and then, I've realized that having this kind of life is a blessing as well. I've been dreading it so much for the past year that I haven't been looking at the good things that this experience has given me for the past 3 years.

So as a shift of outlook (to a more positive one), I will list the things that I like most about going on these business trips.

1. I get to travel.

I love traveling and seeing new things. I like seeing different places, learning what's unique about them, walking around and exploring. And so far, it's been an awesome experience. I've been to British Columbia, Seattle, Oregon, Arizona, Las Vegas, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Cornwall, Buffalo (well, just by the border).

If it were not for this job, I wouldn't have even been able to get to these places. Now, it's something I look forward to doing every time I go back to Canada - plan a new place to visit and explore. I'm thinking about Quebec this time. The old European charm is something I've been wanting to see.

2. I get to earn extra money.

The allowance I get from the trip is kaching kaching in itself. I consider this my extra stash of cash, which I either stash away, or spend! Hopefully my waldas days are over, but it would still be nice to splurge every now and then. After all, these are all hard earned money.

3. I get to be on my own.

No amount of money can pay for experience of being in another country, away from your family. Ok, maybe not really away, I still have my grandparents, aunts around there. But coming from a home where we're pretty much sheltered, this experience is definitely a welcome sight of relief.

I remember my best friend telling me when I got back, that ever since that first trip I took last 2008, I was never the same. Perhaps, I grew up. My views changed, my objectives and goals changed. Maybe I did really change, and that's hopefully for the better.

4. I get to meet new people from different cultures.

This is related to #3. Canada being a diverse country has given me the opportunity to meet a ton of different people from all over the world. I got to talk to Russians, Filipinos, Canadians, Chinese, East Indians, you name it.

The nice thing about being exposed to different cultures is that you learn what they are, how they are, and you'll realize that the world is way bigger than it looks. That these you may actually find a good friend amongst these mixture of different cultures, descents and nationalities. Some times, it takes a big deal of adapting to the environment, but it also builds character, don't you think?

But I have to admit, at times, I'd just like to stick with my Filipino friends. I find that I get tired speaking English all the time. Some times I just want a break. haha

As a conclusion...

Of course, there's also a fair bit of sacrifice that this type of life entails (which I wouldn't want to dwell on anymore - everyone knows what happened). But somehow, I really do believe that God and his magical ways made sure that I go down this path and that he's preparing me for something even bigger. This might just be a training in preparation for something more exciting. Who knows right? But in the mean time, I will start learning to appreciate these blessings more and more. Embrace it to the fullest, and learn to be happy and contented once again.

Gregory in Manila

I've been missing in action for a while because my manager from Canada flew in to Manila last Feb 03, 2011 and we've been very very busy. So many meetings to attend, activities to do and lunches to eat!

EAT!!
For one, we've been doing a lot of eating: Spiral, Sentro, Banana Leaf, Dampa - all these in a span of a week! The spiral and Dampa were just too much. I don't think I ever felt hungry the whole week. I just felt full the whole time. Probably gained a couple of pounds in a span of a week. Here's a picture of us enjoying our lunch at Spiral:

Pasyal!
Aside from the eating and work related meetings, we got to do a lot of extracurricular activities so that Gregory can fully utilize his time here in Manila.

For the first weekend, we went to Tagaytay and then had the Corregidor trip. Fun, but very tiring too. The Corregidor trip costs around 2k per head, but it was very well organized. The 2000 pesos per head fee includes the boat from Manila Bay harbor to Corregidor island, the trolleys, guide, and even lunch. Not bad. It's a pretty good tour. I hope people become more aware of this beautiful island and its rich history. It is nice to know that they preserved what remains of Corregidor.

On the other hand, Tagaytay is still beautiful. And the nice thing about this trip was that, I got my best friend to set me up as a guest in Tagaytay highlands. How I love that place. I could live there. Weather is perfect, place is beautiful, and with its amenities, you can't go wrong. It's a nice quiet place to live and relax.

Gregory wanted to buy his wife a pearl necklace and so we ended up going to Greenhills last Friday to do our shopping. Apparently, South Sea Pearls are mighty expensive. A necklace with a good sized 13-15 mm pearl would cost around 80k pesos! That's way over the budget so we ended up finding these beautiful fresh water pearls (cultured), way cheaper, costs around 9000 pesos. Not bad. Oh and the haggling was awesome. Ngayon may suki na kami. Ang dami namin nabili sa kaniya eh! And she was nice.

Oh and then we also went to Subic and Clark last Saturday. Grabe nakakapagod. Pagod din si Gregory. But I sure hope he had fun. Tiring but fun trip. At least we got to show him how we Filipinos are truly hospitable!