I have always wanted to treat my parents to samgyup but we could never find a weekend that's not too crowded and ma-traffic. My parents are always wary of going out and as much as possible would rather dine in at home than expose themselves to the horrible Metro Manila traffic, and also people lol. And then I got a portable stove and an outdoor table and the first thing I thought was finally, we can eat samgyup at home!
It was a fine Sunday afternoon when we gathered at my parent's roofdeck. Jeckie and I brought meat for grilling. And to complete the samgyup kit we also came with some kimchi, minced garlic, and of course a bunch of lettuce!
Setting up the portable stove was very easy. It comes in a cute carrying case and also includes an English manual so you won't get lost. You may get this Gem portable stove from True Value. Don't forget to also purchase a butane gas!
Just place the butane gas in place, aligning the notch collar on the index arm. Our butane can is too big so we can't close the cover but that's fine! Press down the black lever to lock the cartridge in place. When it's firmly set turn the ignition knob all the way down to Max, then turn it a bit more till you hear a click. The burner should ignite automatically.
Didn't think it was so easy to set up your own samgyup at home if you have a portable stove with you!
Get the stove along with this Lifetime table that's adjustable and extremely portable and you've got yourself an easy to setup dining set that you can take with you anywhere you want. It fits just right at the trunk of our car and even the backseat. This portable Lifetime table is also available at True Value. I couldn't be happier about this table cos it's so multipurpose and compact, I can use it to work and just stow it away when not needed.
Needless to say we had loads of fun eating together this way. It was a welcome change dining in an indoor-outdoor space under the bright sun in a cool afternoon. It was worth hauling a bunch of things up two flights of stairs haha!
I'm usually very lazy at work but last week I achieved peak laziness cos I was just looking forward to the very long weekend. We didn't have anything planned aside from visiting our parents. But of course things inevitably come up when you have so much free time so we finally had the car washed after a long time, sold off Bob, met with the Chancos, and checked in at a hotel in anticipation of the scheduled power outage in our condo.
Here's my latest Weekly Monotony...
Bye Bob
Jeckie bought this training dummy two years ago and sold it off for less than half the price. After he went back to the gym it's not being used much anymore. I was initially against getting this in the first place cos it's fucking expensive but it's his money and we (kinda) have space for it so whatever. I also wanted a punching bag but I'm fine with the standing hotdog types. This Bob is too big and bulky. Thanks for the memories though! Off you go to someone who can hurt you more! :D
First day at our new office!
Our condo announced a tower-wide power interruption from 9am to 5pm on Monday so I took it as a chance to finally check out our new office and setup my things in hopes of maybe getting a bit of my mojo back lol.
Our new office is beautiful.
It almost looks like I'm in a different country with that view. Like downtown Minnesota lol. But as much as I love the new vibe, it's not enough to make me wanna come here regularly.
All I know is that I don't want to go back to the office; for two reasons:
First and foremost, the terrible commute. Normally (pre-pandemic) I only take one ride to and from work. Now I don't have that option anymore. Because they moved the bus stops, what used to be a 350m walk to the nearest stop is now a 1.6km pilgrimage to an MRT station. Not walking distance considering my short legs and sweaty genes. Besides the bus stops getting a lot farther, the buses that usually get me to work are now ALL GONE. There are no more LRT-Ayala-Leveriza buses plying EDSA from the North. So taking the bus is off the list. Well, I could walk to MRT Boni, get off at Buendia station, take a jeepney, then walk to the office. But that's one very exhausting option that's well beyond the kind of suffering I'm willing to subject myself to. Plus, its not available all day round. By the time I get off of work, the only available mode of transportation is a cab.
So what now? The only option I'm considering is taking a cab/Grab to and from work. Not very economical. Plus, it's not always easy to get a ride!
Next reason why I don't want to go back to the office: Our 60-40 hybrid work situation means I have to maintain two workstations now. One at the office and one at home. And because I've gotten used to my current setup I kinda want my office setup to be the same. That means I must have a wireless mechanical keyboard (very specific with this), wireless mouse, laptop stand, chargers, etc. Just because I don't wanna keep bringing them with me in case I wanna work elsewhere. I picked up a lot of kaartehan in the two years I worked at home that I'm not willing to let go lol. I have very specific workstation needs now. I mean I could just work 5 days in the office to avoid having to maintain multiple setups, but do I really want that? Specially when there's an option not to? Hahaha I'm kinda conflicted about this actually. On one hand, I don't wanna keep bringing a laptop to work cos it's risky and I have to bring a bigger bag, you know the hassle. On the other, I want the flexibility of working at home specially when there's not much going on at work.
With the thought of mandatory RTO looming ever so closely, I had to weigh my options. Is it worth it coming back to the office, what with the terrible state of our public transpo? Or should I look out for remote jobs and leave? Oooor look out, figure out my market value, and use that to gain leverage at the firm? lol Maybe I can demand for a permanent wfh setup and ofc a pay raise? Ugh. I don't know.
Although to be honest, I don't think I'm strong enough to get an offer at this point. I'm not confident with any of the skills I've put in my CV, and I kinda feel stuck at the intermediate level with regards to the technologies I use in my line of work. At this point, as a senior, I should have advanced knowledge on something right? But alas, I feel lost, career wise. Oh well.
I've submitted applications to nearby companies lol, hope they notice. At best, I'll get a new job that's walking distance from home. At worst, I get to keep a job that offers great benefits, has a light to moderate workload, and pays me 6-digits. Nothing to lose no? So I'll just keep passing resumes lol. Got an opening? If I can't get somewhere within walking distance, maybe I can try getting out of this country.
Eton Mini Suites
Before I forget, we checked in at Eton Mini Suites for two nights because of the power interruption at our place. What can I say, it's probably the worst hotel we've stayed at.
The rooms are tiny but they're neat alright, the people are polite and hospitable. But the amenities are subpar.
❌ There's only one TV remote (Cignal) so we can't control the TV itself in case we wanna attach our HDDs. Hassle naman to fumble through the buttons under the sceen so nevermind lol.
❌ Also I hit the TV a whopping 5 times during our stay because it's in the way. I told you, the room is tiny. TV is mounted on one side of the wall and even in its least obtrusive position it's still a darned obstacle.
❌ Parking is hella confusing. Good thing it's not Jec's first time in this building. Actually their office is just right behind so he has tried parking at Eton before
❌Wifi is limited to 2 devices only, which is the first 2 gadgets you connect. If you wanna connect another one, you can't just disconnect another to free up a slot. You have to call front desk to reset your wifi device list. At minimum we have three devices with us (2 phones and an ipad). Sometimes we bring a laptop to work pa so good luck with that. Good thing I have data.
❌ Also, wifi is slow. 5mbps tops. Smart 5G has good reception in the room though. I'm getting 200mbps+ which is great. I mean I can see the Smart building from our room haha there's probably a nearby tower too.
❌ The walls are freakishly thin. I could hear our neighbor playing music and talking. I didn't complain about them, cos they're not even noisy they're just plain talking to each other and yet I can fucking hear them! Oh wall.
❌ The worst part really is the shower. It freaking leaks. You have to face the showerhead a certain way to avoid water from spilling out into the room because the shower door has gaps. I've reported this and housekeeping acknowledged that it's been a known issue. Not much they can do about it except provide us with extra rugs and mop the floor. I wonder when Eton is planning to fix this at all.
Stuff I'm neutral about...
🔘 There's nowhere to put our things so I had to request for a desk and chair 🔘 There's no water kettle and hair dryer, had to request for those too
🔘 There's no restaurant or in-room dining
Stuff I'm okay about...
✔️ The people are nice and hospitable. As expected. ✔️ AC gets cold naman haha ✔️ Bed and pillows are okay ✔️ Location is great but honestly just go check-in elsewhere hehe
I couldn't find any reason to recommend it. The obvious lack in square footage they could've made up for room features but meh. We're not really fuming mad about this experience because we had low expecations. And they were met can you believe it haha.
Look, we're still happy despite our lackluster stay. It can only get better from here right?
