Work @ Home: Some Realizations Working at home has its perks, but it can easily be boring. Working for a little more than a week, I came up with a handful of realizations.
It's OK to call the telco people and create service descriptions in your pajamas. It's also OK if you haven't shaved and taken a shower the whole day. They don't know that you look like shit, anyway. Just put some slang in your English and you're good to go.
Instant Messengers keep you hooked up to the rest of the world and keeps your sanity intact. When you get the itch to bug someone just for the heck of it, all you have to do is click on his or her name and press ctrl-G. Hehehehehe!
Do not turn on the TV or you'll get sucked into it. Even though I'm home, the only entertainment I do is iTunes and that's it. So more or less I'm creating an office environment and it would be easier for me to focus on work.
The bed is not your enemy. Power naps are good as long as it doesn't affect your work or productivity.
You have to go out every now and then just to break the monotony. Have lunch with friends. Go to the mall. Drive to Tagaytay. You have your laptop anyway so you can bring your work with you.
I'm sure I'll be adding to this list soon. And if you've got more things in mind, don't hesitate to add it using the comment box!
4:06 PM
Monday, October 30, 2006
David Blane I saw this video from a blog and I was laughing my ass off! It's a hilarious spoof of street magician David Blane and his supposedly amazing street magic. Check it out!
9:55 PM
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Singapore Memories It's funny how this title reminded me so much of "Kuwait Memories", the title of a Filipino porn movie I saw when I was in high school.
Well I'm back in the Philippines. I have been working in my new company for fourteen days now. My first week was in Singapore, where I got to see the office along Telok Ayer Street in Chinatown and got oriented, in a way, with the process flows and stuff. You probably know this from my previous entry.
Anyway, I wasn't able to go shopping at all. Well, at least the shopping that I wanted to. I managed to drop by Sim Lim Square for about an hour before I leave for Changi Airport to buy some electronic goodies for us. I bought a wireless router and a 1GB flash drive. Exciting huh?
I did get to take some shots with my old Sony digicam. And here they are:
Here's me when I got back to the hotel after my first day. Albert Court is a pretty comfy place to stay. And yes, those are twin beds. I was actually inviting friends to tag along since the accomodation's paid for by the company anyway.
Here's Jollibean. I first saw it on my way in to Tekka Mall, looking for a place to eat. When I saw it, I just have to take a picture of it for the kids back home.
Little India is the area where I stayed. Here, they're celebrating Deepavali (Did I get the spelling right?) and the whole area are decorated with lights.
This is Singapore's Chinatown; Telok Ayer Street, to be exact. I took this picture on my way to work. As you can see, it's worlds away from the Chinatown in Manila.
And this is my temporary workstation when I was there. This is where I blogged my previous entry.
When I go back, I promise to take more pictures. (And eat less Chicken Rice, dammit!)
10:41 PM
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
I'm here na lah! Hello everyone! I'm here in the beautiful island of Singapore! It's not as bright and sunny because of the haze coming from Indonesia's forest fires, but it's nothing a Filipino cannot handle. We get this all the time in Manila in the form of the fumes coming from the buses and jeepneys plying in EDSA.
The office is situated in Telok Ayer Street, right smack in the country's Chinatown district. I have to admit that images of dirty Binondo came into my mind but it's nothing like that. On the contrary, it's the country's central business district and it's more Greenbelt with lots of offices, food stalls and pocket gardens.
Near the corner of Cross Street, the office is at the second floor of a chinese store. It's a cool loft with a fantastic view of a park and a nice bathroom. There are about nine people working here with various nationalities - Paul is American, Trevor is Canadian, John is Pinoy, Ken is from Malaysia, and Pang, Saad, Chris and Eric are Singaporeans. It's a cool bunch and it's really like how it was during our Bohol Mansion days.
I've taken the MRT from my hotel in the Little India district for two days now and I can say that I'm beginning to get the hang of it, except for that incident this morning when I thought I was lost going through the transfer at the Douby Gout station.
Yesterday, Paul and I went to Suntec City to check out the 3GSM conference. He introduced me also to some of the people in the industry and made me go to the Mobile Monday social (which was held on a Tuesday. Go figure.). It was cool. It was information overload. It made me put things into perspective and realize where we are and where I am in this big industry. I wish they made us go to these conferences when I was in my old company.
I have a lot of things to do today starting with the marketing plan for my new company's services. I'll be meeting with the cool boys here in the office to get myself more acquainted as to how they run things here. After work, I'm hoping I could drop by the Funin Mall to check out the electronic stuff they're selling there.
Still no laptop, but they'll be getting me one before I fly to Manila.
Leave a message, will ya!
10:21 AM
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Ready So I'm finished with my packing. I bought all the stuff that I think I'd need for the trip. I even went as far as going to the Powerplant on a weekend sale just to get the final copy of Lonely Planet: Singapore. I read most of it and I'm now ready to get lost in the big city.
So it's all systems go. My flight is at 8:30 tomorrow morning. I hope I can blog when I get there... with my new laptop! O ha! (I hope it's a MacBook.)
10:08 PM
Friday, October 13, 2006
Costumes The world is a stage and each one of us has a role. This is one of the first things I learned in our sociology class when I was a sophomore. It was based on Merton's Functionality theory.
This morning before I picked up Karen for our lunch at Cow King, I pulled out my slacks, long sleeved shirts and polo shirts from my closet. It's like resurrecting my old Tanauan Insitute "costumes", the ones that I wore back in 1997. (For those of you who don't know, I worked as a school administrator after graduating from college.)
I asked Paul if it's OK to wear my usual shirt and rubber shoes to work, and what he said was basically "no". According to him, it's OK to wear jeans to work, but the shirt and sneakers is definitely pushing it. And with that I say hello again to my old friends Marks & Spencer, Dockers, Cole Haan and Bass. And while I'm at it, call me Mr. Corpy.
7:16 PM
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Jitters So it's a go. All the while I've been toying with the idea of all this being just a big hoax - that after the resignation and the despedida party, it ends up as a cruel joke. And I'll end up doing a Moby, going back after telling everyone I'm resigning despite signing a contract with the other company. Oh what horror! But that's water under the bridge now that I have my round-trip tickets and accomodation confirmation email. It's all systems go.
Five days all by myself in a foreign country. I think I'm getting the jitters. I've travelled many times by myself around the country, but this is my first time to do it in a foreign land. There's a feeling of helplessness somewhere. It's like being fed to the lions - death is certain. I bet this is nothing compared to how the OFW's feel when they leave. Imagine leaving all your loved ones behind for a long time to earn a decent living. Now compare that to me, who'll stay there for five days and four nights to meet up with the team and other content suppliers. I should shake this feeling off soon.
It's October 10. Six more days to go before the start of my new job. Now that it's slowly sinking in, I realized that filing that terminal leave is a good decision. Without that, my last day would be tomorrow, and I'd be too burned out then to think of anything fresh. I wish I had more time for the break but my funds are fast depleting. Back to reality. Back to the salt mines.
6:37 AM
Thursday, October 05, 2006
The Final Logout Yesterday was my "surprise" despedida. I was there at around five in the afternoon but the celebration started late. Most of the mobile people were still in their workshop at the 13th floor.
While I was waiting, I managed to run the datawarehouse program one last time and was happy to see that Gamester is finally picking up. September was my highest month ever in terms of revenues and uniques. And based from the trending of October, it can surpass the September numbers quite significantly. I sure hope Bianca can sustain the growth.
The party was a simple one. They served pansit, barbecue, puto, ice cream, beer and wine. They also bought chicken from Kenny Roger's for the guests from Globe. On the freedom board read "Good Luck, Sergio Van. We will miss you. Bon voyage." with a picture of a ship sailing into the sunset. It was cheesy, I know, but it struck a chord.
The party was OK. I was actually hoping for more fun, but I realized that this is as good as it gets. There were only a few of us - the oldies - who're left. I was thinking of the good old days when people would be drinking and dancing and smoking to the wee hours of the morning. But it's a different batch. And they would have their own set of rituals as well.
I am thankful for the the alumni who made their way to the ELJCC to celebrate the moment with me.
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