I Blog, Therefore I Am.

Hello! I had a great last week of 2007. Christmas was spent with family and relatives at our annual get-together and reunion. This year's quite different since we spent it in one of my aunt's house that has a swimming pool. The kids were confused if they will swim or fight for presents. :) I also had my share of gifts this year but I think that I did more giving than receiving which is actually more than fine with me.

The last few days at work were also good. Two of the projects we are doing are both getting the response we wanted. We implemented a couple of communication plans in December and we learned last Friday that we are hitting the target.

On the social scene, I attended a couple of get-together last Thursday and Friday. We had our yearly Honda/Ex-Honda reunion at Bim & Olen's place in Cittadela. It was nice seeing again my God Daughters, Bela and Nicole. They are such cuties! Then my dear friend, Tintin, celebrated her birthday through a house party last Friday. Charo, Mitzi and I attended. Too bad Madamme Aileen was sick in bed so she was not able to attend. Click here and here for the pictures.

Before we bid goodbye to 2007, here's my year-ender to somehow document and give tribute to a very good and inspiring year. I never expected that I will end the year THIS good since I had a very bleak first quarter. I found the questions below from Ivah's blog and I incorporated some of the questions from my previous year-enders.

Hit it!

Name: Anna Vida Theresa Hemedes Real
Age: 29 years and 4 months

PLACES

1. Place you hung out most in this year:
My room and the office. I became more homebody this year and I spent more time at home than outside.

2. Favorite new place you discovered:
SMART Tower! Nothing beats my new job and my new office.

3. Places you went on dates:
I’ve only been out twice this year. It was a dateless year! One was in a restaurant in Glorietta 4 and the other one was in Westgate, Alabang.

4. Favorite vacation spot for the year:
No proper vacation, too! But I had a roadtrip with my family to Quezon in May and I went to Cebu on a business trip sometime in September.

5. Places you made out in this year:
Let me think...

PEOPLE:

1. People who taught you a lot this year:
My mom, my good friend Ros, and my new colleagues at SMART.

2. An old friend you rediscovered this year:
Mitzi. Her coming home this month was really great! We are in touch most of the time but nothing beats face to face conversations.

3. People who told you the nicest thing about yourself:
Ros and my Forces Girlfriends (remember our photoshoot and the session before it?).

4. People who did something really great for you and what:
My boss because he hired me and Dr. Calub of Asian Hospital who did my Open Cholecystectomy back in March.

5. People you spent the most time with this year:
My family, my co-workers, Forces Friends and Goodyear friends.

6. People you did something really great for and what:
My family. No explanation here.

7. Someone you wished you talk to this year:
No one. I think I did all the talking I can.

8. Someone whom you started a great new friendship with this year:
Twiggy. We used to be mere acquaintances back in college but we are now very good friends, Muchas Gracias to SMART.

9. Old enemies you made peace with this year:
I can think of one or two and I know that I have already forgiven them. After all, what I have right now is far better than what I had with them.

10. Someone you lost this year:
I have this friend whom I shared so many bonding moments before but she seemed to have forgotten me already. Not my lost. Really. Oh, I also lost my gallbladder this year!

11. Person you kissed this year:
There was this one person whom I almost kissed in the beginning of the year. Clue: He was also my last real kiss. Yeah, bummer. It was HIM still.

12. Person that made you laugh the most:
My niece Gabbie.

13. Person who made you cry:
I think there were still a couple of tears attributed to the ex.

14. Person you disliked when the year began but ended up becoming friends with:
Can’t think of any. Everyone’s been pretty consistent in my life this year.

15. Person you crushed on the entire year:
Haha! Not really the entire year! But there's this guy in the office that I fancy.

16. Someone you wished you apologized to:
There’s this guy who loves me but I cannot love back. I wish I can say sorry but can you apologize to someone because you cannot love them back?

17. People you went out on dates with:
Valentine's Date with Aileen and Charo and a couple of guys I would rather not mention.

18. Friends you went out with a lot:
Forces Girlfriends and Goodyear Friends.

19. Coolest person you met this year:
My blog and online buddies and my colleagues from BSD.

STUFF:

1. Clothing items you wore the most this year:
Black tops, asymmetrical tops, Havaianas and Schu Shoes

2. Nicest presents you got this year:
SMART bonuses, Goodyear back pay and my Sony Ericsson P990i and Nokia 6300 from myself to myself.

3. Favorite songs for the year:
Some of these are old – Josh Groban’s You’re Still You and Broken Vow, Regina Spektor's Samson, Maroon 5's Sunday Morning and Mandy Moore's version of Umbrella.

4. Coolest events of the year:
Moving on from him and the feeling, my acceptance at SMART, Josh Groban's Manila concert, Pinoy Big Brother, the return of Grey's Anatomy, my Cebu business trip, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, Forces of Nature photoshoot, this blog’s redesign, Ad Congress 2007 and SMART’s Christmas Parties.

5. New hobby you picked up this year:
Facebook (and its cool application games), Twitter, messageboard posting and PROJECT EUROPE!

6. Best Book of the year:
Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows and Time Traveler’s Wife (only read it this year)

7. Best Movie:
I didn’t watch too much movie but here goes: Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix and One More Chance (yes!)

8. Best TV Shows:
Grey's Anatomy Season 4, Gossip Girl and Pinoy Big Brother Season 2

9. Most shocking news headline of the year:
The Manila Penninsula Stand-off. Click here for my views on it.

10. Favorite dishes of the year:
Lucky Me Pancit Canton, Luk Yuen's Congee and the usual Japanese foodies that I like.

LESSONS

1. Wisest thing you did this year:
I decided to move on from the ex and from Goodyear!

2. Stupidest thing you did this year:
Repeating some things that caused me meltdowns before.

3. Biggest change in your life this year:
From a stressed, disheveled workaholic to a fab career woman who actually have a life!

4. Biggest challenge of the year:
Looking for a fabulous new career that will trump all my previous jobs! (I actually did it!)

5. Something you learned the hard way:
Don’t push something that cannot be pushed.

6. Greatest lesson you learned this year about:
Love – You have to forgive yourself first for loving too much before you can move on and fall in love again. :)
Life – Life is great! Blessings are given to those who are kind and generous.

7. Best joke you've heard all year:
I am definitely not THE joke. Let us see who’s lauging NOW! Karma rocks!

8. Biggest disappointment of the year:
I am tempted to put my ex-company but the experience I had with them was actually a blessing in disguise.

9. Biggest blessings of the year:
What I am and where I am now. My friends, my family, my job and the things that makes me happy.

10. Biggest thing you discovered about the world:
Everyone and everything is just a click away.

FOR 2008

1. Goals and dreams for 2008:
Lose the baby fats, lose the adult fats, be more giving, more wisdom and perseverance at work, have a good ol' fashion loving, travel to my dream destinations, celebrate the 30th with a bang!

2. Predictions for 2008:
Love - This will be THE year with THE one!
Career - Better foresight, more effective projects and activities, more patience and understanding, more moolah!

Have a nice 2008! :)

Pinoy Big Brother has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. I even wrote a couple of post on it and its housemates in the past. When the new celebrity edition was announced, I made sure that I was free on the scheduled showing of its grand Opening Night back in October.



It was my utter surprise and disbelief when I figured out that one of the housemates due to enter the house is non other than Gaby Dela Merced! The advertisement teaser on her (dubbed as the Racing Godeess) was fool-proof! After all, who else is the most popular female racer here in the Philippines? I immediately sent an SMS to Mikko, a good friend and Gaby’s former handler, to ask if Gaby is indeed entering the big yellow house, he answered yes and said that he only learned it the previous Thursday when the PBB staff fetched Gaby. I was surprise and excited at the same time! I texted my friends, former officemates and former suppliers about Gaby’s entry to PBB. I still cannot believe that Gaby’s entering since she’s always been a private person.

I’ve known Gaby for a long time. It was Mikko who first introduced us when I was still working at Honda. She’s still starting her racing career then and Mikko was one of her first racing partners. I even remember seeing her in one of those long endurance races at Subic that last for hours and hours without a mere break.


Gaby and I at Goodyear's Dealer Conference

I was able to work more with Gaby when I transferred in Goodyear in 2005. Gaby is one of Goodyear endorsers together with the other popular racers here in the Philippines. She’s always been our popular endorser. She’s the most sought after, the most requested to attend in our events and activities, and definitely the most photographed. Even our foreign bosses are totally enamored with her. Gaby has always been very kind and accommodating. She’s unassuming and simple. She’s one of those few people I know whom you will not notice at first but will eventually leave a definite mark once you get to know her.


With Goodyear friends and endorsers

One of the most memorable events I had with her was our trip to Naga during the Penafrancia Festival two Septembers ago. Gaby shared some defensive driving tips with the car show attendees and signed hundreds of copies of Hotwire Magazine where she was featured at the back cover. We also held a press conference about the event but most of the questions were directed to her rather in our products and services. Gaby did all of these without a mere complain. That’s how great she is!


Gaby signing gazillion autographs!

I am very proud of her and the way she’s handling herself at the very crazy and emotion-filled Pinoy Big Brother house. She started simply and mostly stayed at the background during the first few weeks. She let other flamboyant housemates like Ethel, Mariel, Baron and Jen to steal the show. But Gaby being Gaby, she slowly (but surely) made her presence felt through her good natured ways and perseverance inside the house. She was active in their weekly tasks, she gave sound advices and moral support to her housemates, and she stood by her principle every step in the way. She’s astig! She rocks! A lot were truly inspired by her actions so it’s no wonder that there are gazillion Gabsters (Gaby’s fans and friends) in the world right now.

There may be other housemates who’s deserving of the prize money like Ruben but the TITLE of the BIG WINNER should undoubtedly belong to Gaby. She’s one person in the house who is very passionate on everything she cares for and who will not think twice in helping a friend in need. Just think of what she did to Yayo and all the neat selfless things she did while inside the house. Gaby has a genuine heart full of generosity and kindness but with a strong and tough exterior that will make one proud. Gaby is our Big Winner. She should be THE Big Winner.

GABY FOR THE BIG WIN!

To vote for Gaby, text BB GABY and send it to 231 for SMART, Talk N' Text subscribers and to 2331 for Globe, TM and Bayan Wireless Landline subscribers.

For international voters, you can purchase your e-pins at Digital Martian and Load.com.ph and then proceed to the PBB Voting Page.

More Gaby pictures here.

[Photo credits to Solmux of Pinoy Exchange and Richie Castro.]

Our dear R25 and Patty finally tied the knot last December 22, Saturday at One Roxas Triangle in Makati City. Raymond and Patty is another product of “Honda Love”. It's in my favorite ex-company where they met, argued (a lot!), became friends and eventually partners. They’ve been my friends since their early days as a couple and it was such a privilege to finally see them seal the deal after five years of being together.



Raymond and Patty

The wedding fittingly describe and represent their personalities – intimate and quiet. It was such a joyous private affair with only their closest friends and relatives present. We Honda people also had some roles in wedding, I hosted the dinner reception together with Raymond’s sister, Zennia, while Bim is the Bestman of the Groom (who actually gave a very nice wedding toast that wife Olen will be proud of) . Too bad that only a few from us were able to attend since the wedding coincided with Honda’s company wide Christmas party.



The Cake and the Calla Lilies.
I love shots like this!


The Bride and I


Honda Guests: Van, Gina, Bim and Lee

Best Wishes, R2 and Pats!

More pictures here.

I am socially tired!

I attended three parties, a get-together and a wedding last week on top of a full work load. Whew! Whataweek! Since I am so busy for the holidays I decided to just post a quickie for all the events last week. I am actually not inspired to write and blog but I received a lot of "I bet you will put it in your blog" comments from my friends and co-workers whenever I bring out my Canon.

So, to all my gazillion fans (?!), this one's for you! Hope you are included in the truckloads of pictures ahead!

Here we go.

SMART & SONY ERICSON'S 24K CHRISTMAS PARTY
Embassy Super Club, The Fort
December 17, Monday

I attended SMART and Sony Ericsson's Christmas Party together with Kathy, Maffin , Anthony, their friends, and some CCOs. The event is partly work since we were tasked to monitor some stuff at the event. The party was also the launch of the two new Cybershot phones, the K770i and the K850i, which will be first available at SMART.



Me at the par-tay!


Even tissue papers and holders were not spared! :)

Since the theme is 24K the entire area of Embassy were stylishly adorned by accents of Gold. The theme also complemented the new and bigger Marie Antoinetteish look of Embassy. The program was relatively short but sweet. We also raffled two of the new phones and some vacation getaways to subscribers and media guests.


With Patricia and Ester


Frank, Maffin, Anthony and JL


With Kathy and Jaja


Antz and I

We had a fun time at the party. There were dancing, lots of snapshots, and loads of alcohol! It was my first time to drink since my surgery so I was quite out of it at the end of the night. Tipsy on a Monday is quite weird but it surprisingly gave me a sweet and nice sleep that night!

More pictures here.


CLUB CCARE - A BLACK & WHITE AFFAIR
Temple Bar & Restaurant, Greenbelt 2
December 19, Wednesday

I had mega-effort for this party. Department parties are always the best since it brings the best in our co-workers (read: people literally transform themselves). I missed them a lot since we don’t have parties like this in my last company.


At the red carpet

This year's theme for our Customer Care party is Black & White so we were all required to wear either black and white or solids. There was even a red carpet and a photo spot at the entrance of Temple. I wore a simple shimmery shiny black top with white accents then I adorned it with a wide belt under a leggings. The idea is retro so my hair was semi-tied with a slight bump in the middle.


NLN delivering his Christmas message to us


Bosses and guests enjoying the night


BSD Women


Team BSD

All my officemates were on their very best attire and hairstyles. There were also dancing (from the regional managers), singing (from our two bosses) and an inter-department dance showdown. I was supposed to be one of the Red Carpet correspondents and floor hosts but we have to cut it short due to time constraints. I enjoyed seeing my co-workers in a non-office environment, the “rampa”, and the never-ending snapshots were great, too. Crush also looked nice that night. :)

More pictures here.


MITZI & TIN'S HOMECOMING
Masas Greenbelt 2 / Starbucks SLEX
December 19, Wednesday

Mitzi and Tin are both back! Mitzi is home for the holidays and Tin is back from Beijing!

It’s been four long years since we bid Mitzi goodbye at the airport. Since she’s only staying for two weeks it was very difficult for us to schedule a get-together that will fit everyone’s crazy timetables. So we decided to meet last December 19 at Masas which is just right next door at our department party at Temple.

Tin is also back (for good?) from her Beijing stint. She came home two weeks ago but we were so busy so we only saw her this week. We were always in YM, anyway.


Dinner at Masas, Greebelt 2


Hey, Mitzi! That's MY LV you're holding! :)

It was nice to them both again! But thanks to all things on-line we are still updated with each other’s lives. We did a lot of catching up while we feast on Filipino dishes, Starbucks and picture-taking. I really really enjoyed our get-together. It was the gem of my action-packed week. It’s also been a while since I last saw Charo and Aileen so the gabfest went on until the wee hours.


Love 'em so!


iMitzi and the iPhone


Starbucks and gifts - perfect combination!


Immortalizing a favorite crazy pose


Repeating a four year old pose at Petron SLEX. Thanks to Kodak's wide angle!


They also gave me great gifts! Mitzi even gave me a Louis Vuitton bag! Thanks, gals! I still owe you Christmas gifts! Let’s see each other again before Mitzi’s flight back to LA!


SMART'S PA6KATAN SA BAGONG KALAWAKAN
World Trade Center, Manila
December 21, 2007

The icing of my week is SMART's Company wide Christmas party that was held last Friday at the World Trade Center.

Calling our Christmas party grand is an understatement. HR did a very good job in the preparation and in the execution of the event. It was the best company wide party ever! It can even rival some of the product launches and dealer conferences I’ve attended and handled in the past. Nice choice of host (Edu Manzano), the AVPs and slides were well-executed, lights and sounds were superb, and the production numbers from each division were made-for-TV-variety-shows.


Christmas Party SMART style!


Our famous inflatables outside WTC

The theme for this year is “Pa6katan Sa Bagong Kalawakan” or reinvention. The 5 groups who performed and even the speeches were attuned to the theme. The program started with Opening Remarks from our dear President, Napoleon L. Nazareno. NLN gave good reviews for the year and reported the success we achieved. We reach our stretch targets (as usual) and we are to close the year with 30 million subscribers.


My good friend Twiggy from our Public Affairs Department


Go, CCare!!!

Our division (as usual again) won in the department presentations where our reps revitalized Celine Dion. I was truly surprised with the department presentations. It was performance to the highest level complete with props and production designs. I never thought that it would be that great (but I later realized that it had to be since the top prize at stake was 50 grand). Other groups performed Gary V., Michael Jackson, Madonna and Ricky Martin. I was in awe with our representatives’ performance since Celine Dion is very hard to “translate” since she never actually revitalized herself compared to the other artists I’ve mentioned.

The most awaited and the most applauded part of the night was our Chairman MVP’s (Manny V. Pangilinan) “annual announcement” at the end of the night. Edu called him on stage to play “SMART Game Ka Na Ba?”. There were several questions that Edu asked that MVP gamely and wittingly answered.

As expected the final question was:


What do you think is the right number? (16, 17, 18 or 19?)

MVP’s answer to that is a historical "TWENTY TWO"!.

Every SMARTee knows what the last question is all about but I never expected how sweet his answer will be.

It is indeed a Happy 22 Christmas! Woohoo!

[Photo Credits to Aileen, Mitzi and Marj.]

TIME is one of the most neglected words in my vocabulary.

I feel that I am always out of time and I always need more, more, more time. More time for my family, for work, for my friends, for my hobbies and most especially for myself.

I really need to conquer time and be satisfied with the fine 24 hours that He has given us.

I know that money cannot buy time...but it can definitely buy a Fossil or even a Baume and Mercier. Oh well.







Maybe this would help.

This is one of my group's projects, so please support, support, support!
JOIN NOW! It's all FREE of charge!



All you have to do is:
1. Register your SMART Buddy, Addict Mobile Prepaid or Talk N' Text number on the instructions mentioned above.
3. Then start earning raffle entries by accessing after-sales transactions that you need through SIM, WEB or LOAD CONNECT.
3. For SIM Connect, text GET MENU and send to 9888 and start transacting.
4. For Web Connect, go to http://www.smart.com.ph/Buddy/Connect
5. For Load Connect, load up or deposit some moolah for your SMART Money on our machines in selected SMART Wireless Center nationwide.

With SMART Connect - you don't need to call the hotline or visit the Wireless Center for your needs! It's all automatable, fast, reliable and easy!

My friends and I love Sex and The City so much. We are truly looking forward to this movie! The movie is set four years after Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha bid us adieu in the small screen.

It's December and the holiday spirit is already in town!

This is my first holiday at Smart and it's sure is a great "holiday" so far! Christmas spirit truly abounds and almost everyone is in a good mood.

For starters, we already received our Christmas package and hams today! When I was still applying in SMART, my former classmate, Ferwee, who's already working at Smart at that time, told me that one of Smart's USP (unique selling proposition) are the four hams that each employee receives come Christmas. It's actually true! I went home tonight with 4 kilos of hams together with a roller bag full of Christmas goodies from chocolates to spaghetti sauce. Thank you, Smart!






Then we have our Christmas Decor contest per area on our floor. We really take special occasions like Halloween and Christmas seriously. Look what our group did in our area. It's very simple compared to other groups who outlandishly dressed-up their corners. Ours is comical and cute.



Hi, Crush!



It's not only Smart who's geared up for the holidays. Our home is already spruced up for Christmas! I went home last night to a fully dressed-up living room and terrace with a gold theme. I am so OC with Christmas color themes. I always insist to stick to a specific color scheme and not to overdo it like a rainbow. Gold turned out really really nice.




Lastly, I already started my Christmas shopping. Yey! I usually panic buy on the last two weeks before Christmas but I unexpectedly and surprisingly started early this year. I went to Greenhills the other night for an event and I ended buying a lot of stuff from V Mall. I also went to the Night Market and to the usual tiangges but it was awfully crowded so I went to the mall instead. Best to shop is during weekdays at the last two hours before closing or at the first two hours in the morning. I have fourteen Godchildren (plus several nieces and nephews) and I am proud to say that I am already halfway through my list. I bought the usual assortment of toy cars and Barbies.

The only downside of December? What else but traffic! The nightmare already started. Goodluck to all of us!

Enjoy the holiday cheer!

It's two hours away before I prepare for work and I have two options. Either to take a 2-hour power nap or make a blog post. I obviously chose the latter.

Seeing is believing that's the theme for this post. Very appropriate for what I saw last night accidentally at Friendster.

I saw a picture of my ex with his new girlfriend.

By EX I mean THE ex, as in the last one, as in my OGL, as in the one who broke my heart the baddest, as in the subject of a year’s worth of post on this blog, as in Mark.

The good thing is I am actually cool and okay about it. Really. And I am not writing this just to convince myself. I envisioned this moment months ago and I was expecting that I will be hurt beyond measure and will cry uncontrollably. Well, I am unexpectedly calm and okay when I saw it. Either I don’t care anymore or I’ve already moved on big time. Both are great possibilities.

The bad thing is I am still blogging about it. What for, right? I actually don’t know. All I know is that I am probably not giving myself enough credit for what I achieved in my moving on process. I know that I am already this close to achieving inner peace. I am actually happy for myself because I am back to being happy. I am now out of the rut. I even know that I am somehow ready to take the plunge again sans baggages. I used to feel for a very very long time that I was trapped in a black hole of despair. It was THAT bad. Brokenhearts are truly nasty and sadness is even worse.

I actually asked if seeing their picture is a sign. Is it a sign from God telling me that I am actually and completely over him? I truly believe that God will not make us experience things that we are not ready for. I often pray for these things. I always pray to him to not give me crap that I cannot handle. So is this a sign that I have already and gracefully moved on? I hope so and I am so excited to find out!

I called my friend Tin almost after I saw their picture. She asked if I am crying and I said no. What for? I told her that "ours" was ages ago. It was actually one of the realizations that hit me when I saw it. I realized that he and I happened eons ago and the feeling of hurt should have long expired by now. Yeah, it might be a bit recent for me considering the painful things I went through but in reality it was already a year and a half ago. It's actually funny because its been a while since I last bothered to analyze my feelings so I am surprised at the recent events and my unexpected reaction.

My ex is an expert in ruining special occasions for me. One of our pseudo break-ups happened the day after my 27th birthday, our biggest fight was in one of our Decembers and...I learned that he already got a new girlfriend minutes after I turned 29 years old (which was just last August). He called, we did some catching up, and it was mentioned in the conversation. I was surprised but he fortunately did not tell me who she was. But of course (being me) I had an inkling who she was and I confirmed that hunch last night. It may be part of the reason why I am so calm on seeing them together because I was not surprised that it's her. I actually know her and she knows me. We've met before when Mark and I were still together and she was still with somebody else.

Of course I am but human to feel a tinge (take note: a TINGE) of hurt. Seeing something like this belongs to another level no matter how grounded someone is. After all the last girl I've seen with Mark in that way was ME.

But at the end of the day I know that SEEING something like this will help me more than hurt me because I BELIEVE that this is a new ball game and it's the renewed me who saw it.