The Dalaw sa Batulao Experience

Finally, after weeks of planning ay natuloy narin ang First Outdoor Activity ng office namin! Wohooo! Our plan was mountain trekking to Mt. Batulao in Batangas, but as we go on to reach the summit of the mountain the trekking part became a climbing na! Scary!!

Welcoming Sign sa Mount Batulao!

In fairness to Mt. Batulao hindi sha mahirap akyatin. Though nakakapagod coz you need to go up and down the slope (kaya nga sha tinawag na mountain climbing eh) several times in the heat of the morning and noon sun kayang kaya naman sha akyatin kahit ng mga first timers sa pag-akyat ng bundok.

Along the way, you'll see some dilapidated markings indicating which peak are you now. Unfortunately I didn't notice the other markings, kaya itong tatlo lang ang nakita ko.

In Peak no. 8 is the camp site of the New Trail. It's more higher than the old camp trail but the view is spectacular!! We got the Summit as our background! See some pics here...

(naks gwapo!!)

The locals of Batangas are naturally nice and friendly in fairness to them. They will happily assist you if you’re lost (nawala kasi kami ni Al when we’re on our way to the pit stop), and pansin ko rin that the store owners don’t take advantage the climbers when selling buko juice or Mountain Dew (yes mountain dew lang ang available sa bundok, go figure!). I remember when I went to Puerto Galera (6 years ago nga lang ahahaha) the price of drinks and food was Mahalia Mendez! Here in Batangas, the difference of Mountain Dew in the slope and the one being sold on TOP of the mountain was only Five (5) pesos!!!!

No, I will not give my comments (though I would love to kaso wag nalang ahahaha, saying ang space) about how-to-take-care-of-the-environment or how-lucky-we-are-on-what-we-have-right-now-compare-to-those-living-in-the-mountain but instead I will focus on the behaviors of the mountain climbers.

I was surprised to meet a lot of nice mountain climbers last Saturday. This nice people greet you when you meet them on the road, they will say “magandang umaga/hapon/gabi po”, “ingat po kayo”, “kumusta po” and what not. Yes I’m a sucker for nice gestures kaya naman it’s hard not to respond to their greetings din. Sadly some of my colleagues didn’t appreciate these simple gestures (i.e. deadma-thology) so I ended up greeting all those people na nakakasalubong naming =D. There was an instance that some climbers assist us on descending a very slippery trail. Kasi naman kami lang ata ang mountain climbers na ang dala lang sa pag-akyat eh camera! Hahahaha! Mountain Climbing is the best place to spot who is nice, gentleman, concerned people and those who don’t care nor give a damn on what’s happening to you.

Anyhow, here’s some other pics I’d like to share when we’re on Mount Batulao..

The Batulao Ridge

On our way to Peak No. 8 (New Camp)

The Mountain, The Sky, and the Ex-Kubo

Sarap! Sana maulit muli!!

Things that I would miss about Al-Khobar saudi Arabia (part 2)

3). The Iftar celebration

During the holy month of Ramadan it’s a tradition to hold a Iftar party (or Breaking of the Fast) after the sun sets. Here in our office it is usually held on the second Wednesday of Ramadan. It’s a great time to bond with other employees and to meet and greet our President and CEO of our office. Besides the usual award giving ceremonies the most sought after activity during Iftar is the food being serve. In the two Iftar party that I’ve attend I must admit I’m impressed and never went home disappointed. The food was great and the place was awesome (thanks to SEEF center).

When is this happening: Every second Wednesday of Ramadan, after office hours.
What to expect: Great food, Tons of fruits, overflowing desserts

Daming pagkain!!!

Party!Party! Arabian style

4). IKEA! IKEA!

When I was a kid my father, who was still working in Jeddah then, always bring home an IKEA catalog and Im always mesmerize by the design of the furniture and how it look so “chica” even on paper.

Fast forward twenty years now, I was surprised to learn that IKEA has a store here in Dammam and from then on every time I have a chance to go there I don’t go home empty handed. The last two visit was the highest point of my IKEA trip, I didn’t mind bringing home 2 heavy wall frame for picture frame and a 6 feet carpet made in Egypt (which was on SALE!) Or the 3 pieces big glass jar that I had trouble in packing in my balikabayan box. I mean if SM got it all for you IKEA got it all for me (make sense?) Anyhow, bottomline is the place is just freaking awesome!!

IKEA and Me

I wonder when they would open a store in the Philippines??! =(

When is the best time to go: Morning time during weekend (Get a breakfast first at their restaurant before shopping)

What to expect and what to buy: Sophisticated home decor, fluffy pillows and duvet, kitchen utensils that won't rust, Posh drinking glasses, scented candles that soothes the body. Also looking and getting the stuff from the rack is also quite challenging, the store clerks would only tell you how to find the item and it's up to you to retrieve it from their metal racks/warehosue (and that is why their price is low because they dont have to pay for extra money to the clerks to do your work).

Testingin nga natin ang mga upuan.LoL!

5). Auto Terrain Vehicle trip on the Arabian Sands

I must admit at first I was hesitant to ride the ATV because I find it unreliable (re: not safe) but once you get the hang of it the adrenaline rush will just rush out of your body! Yes the safety issues are still there but as a grown man I think you can handle the ATV as per your required action. The vast dessert is the best place to roar this engine and be wild and be like a kid, seriously! It was fun to circle around the sand or jump from the small hill and land in the sand again with a big bang (or splash of sands). It feels like you’re an action star when you’re riding this bike. The price to rent the bike is cheap but the experience you’ll get from it is priceless.

The best time to go is: Before sunrise during summer, the whole day for winter season.
What to expect: Sands, sands, sands! Breathtaking view and slopes of sands and sometimes a shock of your life learning that you’re on the edge of a sand mountain without any warning.

More to follow on this great adventure...

Things that I would miss about Al-Khobar saudi Arabia

Hwoh! Exactly one week from now and I will bid adieu, sayonara, khodafes and goodbye to my beloved Saudi Arabia. I've only lived here for one and a half year but suprisingly I already adapt to the way of life here in KSA. So, now that I'm leaving for good (though I hope I would be assigned here again, like in construction site in Rabigh or Manifa jejeje) I will be listing up starting today some of the places and things that I would be missing about this place:

1). Swimming at Al-Baher beach Resort

We're blessed that we are working here in Al-Khobar, which is 20 minutes away from the Persian Gulf. And during summer our group always go to this resort to relax and have some bonding time. The place is perfect because it has swimming pools and you hvae access in the beach> With entrance fee of 50SR (roughly 700 Php) this is a bargain. The place offers jetski, boating, videoke and catering for large group of visitors. They have rooms to rent but it's quite pricey.

I had lots of fond memories of this place and Im sure the other guys can say the same thing.

Best time to go there : Summer months of July-September, 6:00 PM- 5:00 AM

What to do there: Swim (of course!), jetski, fishing @ Jetty area, rent a boat

Baher Resort in the morning

Shot from the Jetty side of the resort
Good Morning Saudi Arabia!

Illuminated pool for night swimming

2). Easy access to Kingdom of Bahrain

Al-Khobar is located on the Easter region of Saudi Arabia and it's only an hour drive to Bahrain. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are connected by a King Fahd Causeway bridge which makes the travel to this tiny Kingdom (but utterly beautiful and fun) a breeze. During Eid holidays most of Pinoys who have disposable income go to this country and have their vacation and access those things that are not available in Saudi Arabia. We we're supposed to go back ther last Eid-Al-Adha holidays but due to time constraint and some miscommunication we did not push throught he trip (same thing happened to the egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan trip...so frustrating!!). Anyhow the trip last year was a blast! Had so much time i forgot that we're living in a Middle east country.

Best time to go there: Pratically every month of the year, specially if there's a sale season! But most of the parties happens during Eid holidays.

What to do there: Visit Arad fort, party at bars in downtown Manama, Visit the futuristic and artistic buildings in Manama, Buy at Manama Souk, and many more.

Thank you Bahrain for the wonderful time I've been there.

One of the largest mosque in the world: The Al-Fateh Mosque
Paying homage to the earlier inhabitants of the country, the majestic Arad Fort

Prayer carpets in front of Arad Fort

More to follow on this tribute to my host country.....

(links are all provided by wikipedia)

Random Thoughts of the Week

Two great things happened to me this past week. First was my nomination to be a instructor to the young Engineers here in Saudi to teach Material Engineering. It was such an honor to be nominated by our Deparment Manager (who is a japanese). And when i submitted my training manual to our technical adviser (who is a Jap as well) both he and our Department Manager like the presentation. It was like a seal of approval to my job/pat in the back which I really need these past few days after my colleagues just stab me in the back (which is very very depressing and sad). This training is like a slap to their face coz the bosses choose me over them =P.

Sweet revenge.

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Another good thing that happened was when our Manager designated me to handle one activity which my stabber-at-the-back boss was to give to his preferred engineer. Our manager think I can handle this activity more accurately than the other engineer.

And my boss was like: *facepalm*

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Im totally hooked with anything that is related to Vampires, werewolves, teen angst. hahaha! I love watching Vampire Diaries, Glee, One tree Hill (thanks to Floro who keep insisting me to watch that show) and I just finished watching Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse. I must admit Vampire Diaries is much better than the Twilight Saga and Glee's episodes are getting better and better every week (except for re-runs). Now the question is: if given a chance what would I choose: To be a vampire or werewolves. Sure the vampires are snappy dresser but having an immortal life seems kinda boring while to become a werewolves you must have 6-pack abs

(and it made me think what's with the no-shirt-abs-showing-denim shorts-hiking shoes get up?i dont get it?!)

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Oh, pre-winter season started a couple of weeks ago.Goodbye to humidity and hello cool breeze and clouds. What I love most about winter season are the flowers bloom in every corner, the migratory birds starts to arrive and as early as 5pm it's completely dark outside. And speaking of flowers, what I love most about this place is that every season (winter and summer) they always change flowers in parks, center islands, etc. I think they have specific flower for each season.

Cool noh?

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It's hajj holiday again next week. It will give me more time to write (coz we don't have overtime huhuhu) and play with my Wii. Last year we where in bahrain for the hajj holiday (but we've planned to go to Syria and Jordan but visa problem gets int he way) and this year Me and orlan was planning to go to Egypt but I never heard from him since the Eid holidays and budget constraints is a MAJOR hindrance! Hahaha. Now i'll just eat, sleep, play wii, blog, watch movies, gym this one week holiday.

Ang blue na polo..bow..

Nitong mga nakaraang araw, tinamaan ako ng homesick.

Huwatt? Ako maho-homesick?! Parang isang himala na nangyari ito! Kasi ba naman kung kelan ang tagal ko na sa overseas ngayon pako tinamaan ng homesickness.

Inisip ko nitong mga nakaraang araw na baka puede magpa early demobilized ako dito sa saudi. Parang gusto kong umuwi sa darating na September sana.
Masaya siguro yun, baka masakasama pako sa RLTC ng Lingkod sa September, baka makakajoin ulit ako sa trcik or treat sa office sa darating na October, makakapunta ulit ako sa sementeryo/fiestahan sa November, at higit sa lahat maeexperience ko ulit ang christmas rush pagdating ng kapaskuhan!

But wait there's more! Miss ko narin ang mga kaibigan at pamilya ko sa Pinas. Miss ko na ang mga debate namin ng kapatid ko, miss ko narin makipaglaro sa mga pamangkin ko, miss ko na rin ang mga prayer meeting at fellowship sa Lingkod, miss ko narin magturo sa mga bata sa Tuloy, miss ko narin ang kulitan namin ni bestfriend. Hanubhayan, dami naman namiss!!

Kung kelan naman nagdesisyon nako na umuwi sa September saka ko naman nakita yung color blue ko na polo, and it all coming back to me now (insert memory lane song here)....

You see almost 8 years ago, right after college, nung panahong nag-aapply pako ng work, dalawa lang ang suot kong polo lagi. SM Menswear ang tatak nila pareho, yung isa is color blue, the other one is old rose.
Sa lahat ng mga interview at submission ng resume na pinuntahan ko parating ito lang ang suot ko kasi wala naman akong ibang formal wear. This polo symbolizes my struggles in finding work that time, never give up kahit na inabot nako ng bagyo sa isang examination ko sa cavite, o di kaya sobrang init naman habang nagiintay sa isang lumang factory sa liblib na lugar ng laguna. Kung noon na mahirap ang buhay dahil walang pera at sobrang hirap pa ang trabaho ay hindi ako bumigay ngayon pa kaya na im living the good life at ngayon pako bibitiw.

Then it struck me..shit..what the hell am i thinking!!!!

The reason im here is because my boss believes that I can do this job. The reason why im extended for anther 6 months is because my japanese boss trust me alone in this job. The reason im here is because i want to give the good life that my parents didn't experience before. The reason im here is because i can help further my community and my charitable institutions financially wise. The reason im here is that I prayed to God to be here.

Ang kapal pala ng mukha ko to just give up simply because I miss my life in Pinas.

Parang nasa kama na ako lilipat pa sa sahig.

Kung dati hirap na hirap akong maghanap ng work eh i never give up, ngayon pang ang dali-dali lang ng work eh ngayon pa ako susuko!! Di na oy!!!

Looking back at my polo again I made up my mind. Ok i'll finish my contract till December, and i'll make sure that ill give all my best in the remaining months of my stay here. Salamat sa mga alala na binigay ng simple at kupas kong polo, naliwanagan na ako na ang mga biyaya na ating nakakamit ngayon ay bunga ng pagsusumikap natin at higit sa lahat sa tulong ng maykapal.


postcript:
sa anim na taon kong pagtratrabaho, naka mahigit kumulang 75 formal clothes (polo at longsleeve) na ako. may mga pinaglumaan na akong pinamigay dahil hindi na kasya o di kaya ay kupas na. pero ang dalawang polo ko na ito ay kasama parin sa sinusuot ko. it is a reminder of where i came from at kung papanong struggles ang aking nagawa para lamang marating ang position ko ngayon.

So, wazzup??!

Hello, hello! It's been almost a month since my last post here in blogspot. before you think that I already give up blogging eh sorry to disappoint you (hahaha as if some one really care). Im back with a vengeance.
Some of the reasons why i haven't blog for a long time kasi...

1. Im busy at work. Yes, work eats up most of my time nowadays. I've never been this busy since I was in Iran! Plus the fact that most of my officemate is more of a burden than help eh mas lalong tumatagal ang work.Hay, overworked but underpaid, so unfair. Buti pa yung arabo na walang ginagawa kungdi mag-internet, mag-tsaa at makipagkwentuhan malaki agn sinasahod compare to mine. Ano kaya if i changed my nationality??Hmmmm..NOT!

2. Farmville. Nakakatawa kasi pang bata lang ang laro pero you have to admit nakaka-adik maglaro ng farmville!Malapit nako sa level 50 (wohoo!) after ilang months ng paglalaro. By playing farmville angdami ko tuloy na meet na mga foreigners who became my neighbors sa farmville. Ang saya!

3. Vacation plans. Nakaka-stress din pala ang magplano ng bakasyon!Ang daming gustong makipag meet, nagyayaya gumala, mag-kape, etc. Di tulad ng nakarang bakasyon last December this time it would be organized para hindi magkagulo-gulo ang schedule. Buti nalang madali lang pala magpabook ng hotel sa boracay.Hahahaha! at least kahit papano ok na yung part ng vacation ko sa bora =D. Exciting!!!

4. Glee. Downloaded 18 episodes already and 3 albums.The show is so fun to watch!

So now, in two weeks time i'll be working real hard again to prepare for the upcoming vacation. hopefully can blog once in a while.

So, let's get it on!!!

Good News Bad News

Good News#1: Pupunta daw (hindi pa confirmed ha!) ako ditto para mag-aral..



Bad News#1: One week lang ang training at ang kapalit ay isang taon pang stay sa Saudi! (Lugi!!)


Good News#2: New training = New knowledge

Bad News#2: Hello Saudi, magsasama pa tayo ng matagal = Goodbye Algeria =(


Good News#3: Mega-over to the max Mall wide sale ngayon sa AL-Khobar malls (lahat ng malls as in!)



Bad News#3: Mahirap kumuha ng taxi papuntang Mall of Dharan!!


Good News#4: Nagfishing kami last weekend duon sa malayong lugar (malapit sa Desalination Plant yun eh, pero diko alam ang name ng lugar.



Bad News#4: Ang parking area 0.8 kilometer mula sa seawall. 0.8 km walk + 10 kilos of mga abubot = namamagang braso kinahapunan.


Good News#5: Wala pa masyadong work load sa office dahil hindi pa officially start ang bagong project naming sa Shell.

Bad News#5: Walang Kabuhayang Showcase (read:walang overtime, walang raket!)


Good News#6: Nahagilap ako ng college bestfriend ko sa Facebook!

Bad News#6: Paguwi ko kakaladkarin nya ako para maglaro ng Airsoft (ito ang pinagkaka-abalahan nya ngayon). Masakit kaya yun!


Good News#7: Level 35 nako sa Farmville!!!



Bad News#7: wala nakong free fuel (penge naman dyan!)


Good News#8: Naperfect ko ang menu na “Asadong Manok”!!!

Bad News#8: Napadami kain ko ng kanin, so dagdag timbang na naman ito.


Good News#9: Tapos na ang pagdodownload ko ng 1990’s X-Men tv series.

Bad News#9: Hindi ko malipat sa I-pod dahil sira nap ala ang i-pod cable ko.


Good News#10: Lapit na February, birthday ko na!

Bad News#10: one year away nako sa big three zero and still single padin ako!

What would you do?

Question:What woudl you do if you encounter an annoying/sarcastic/arrogant co-worker?
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Answer: Papansin lang yun. Pretend he don't exist, para magsawa sha sa ginagawa nya.

=P

Current Fave Hobby

So, ok, it's official. I've replaced blogging instead of going to the gym as my current favorite hobby. Lemme, last time i went to the gym: 1.5 months ago. Last time i've posted something (whether updating the settings or posting a new post) here at the blog before this post: 0.5 hours ago. Buy something for the Baguio gig next week: Nothing. Spend something which is related to blogging: Yes! 2 hours of internet here at Netopia after work (where internet is free naman!) is consumed.

Paktay (ika nga ng mga chekwa sa binondo).

Me being in a tipid mode, due to impending travel in the land adjacent to Stanley Ho's empire but still spending a lot of time in a crampy internet cafe, is somewhat not so tipid anymore.

Darn, i just wish somebody would fix my PC at home (the modem isn't working properly kasi) so that i can do my blogging stuff nalang sa bahay.


still at netopia atc
theonoski

Noisy List

My post was inspired by Doc Rio's (hi doc!) recently post about cheating during exams on schools. Yesterday, our group (composed of 4 young but intelligent inidividuals) got reprimanded from our manager. Yes, if im no mistaken it was the first time we, as a whole, got reprimanded for doing something. As our boss was telling us about it many thoughts come into my mind why we're being reprimanded, like:

1. Excessive use of Internet during office hours (hell, the whole company is doing it naman!).
2. Going downstairs 3 minutes before the bell ring at 5:oo pm.
3. Not doing our job well.
4. Late submission of documents.

But guess what's the real reason pala, we we're NOISY pala in our place kaya kami pinagagalitan!

Nyak! Noisy! C'mon, para naman tayong elementary students dito. I know we need to keep our voice down here at the office but to be totally silenced us during office hours (i.e. to keep quite all the time) aba teka mahirap ata yun =(.

I admit we're noisy sometimes, it's because our group love to talk and laugh. It's our time to catch up on what's happening in our life, we love to talked about our office life, and sometimes give advice to each other pag may problema. It only shows that we care to each other, para kaming family ika nga. At least we're developing camaraderie here at our group, and it's agood sign simply because if we like the company of each other we can work harmoniously (parang mali spelling ko dito ah!) and our output would be in excellent and perfect form.

We're not robot, we're humans. We talk, We care, We laugh.

being noisy doesn't make us lesser engineers, in fact it made us better human.

Second Article

Yey! My second article in our cute office newsletter is officially published na! Now im doing my next entry which is about the much talked Eraserheads concert. Will try to post another blog about it later (damn, i have a lot of backlog blog lately)

September

Ang galing! It's already September na,next thing you know it's Chrismas time na ulit. I have a lot to look forward to this month like:

Sept. 5 => Ate's Birthday/Jphil's anniversay/Gawad Kalinga gig.
Sept. 7 => Lingkod's Anniversary.
Sept. 8 => Mama Mary's Birthday.
All Saturday of Sept. => Bar Exam ni Sis.
Sept. 24-28 => RLTC at Baguio
Sept. 30 => Company bonus =D=D=D=D=D=D

Fully packed na ang September ko, what more pagdating ng December! Hehehehe.

Im really excited to the RLTC gig because it will be my first time sa Baguio (read my previous blog to know how excited I am kapag baguio na ang pinaguusapan !).

Better get back to work para walang backlog and para makagala na!!!!

gogogo
theo

Corporate Slave Workstation

Here are some snapshots of my desk here at the office. I really made it llike messy para magmukhang busy ako, hehehehe, but actually im not. See my starbucks tumbler? I'm proud to say it's one of the original tumbler of starbucks, bought by my sister years ago. Nice diba? And the desk calendar was a remembrance pa from Iran, which i forcibly took from Charlie hahahaha (cha, if you're reading this thanks talaga for the calendar ha!).

*photos was taken thanks to my superb 3.2 megapixel K800i*