Welcome to www.yanbirog.com!

new domain!

i finally bought my own domain! i always thought it was too expensive to get one but then it's actually very cheap naman pala! GoDaddy has an existing promo when i bought mine this week and i only paid php 824.something for 2 years subscription!

dati kasi, i thought .com websites are hosted where they bought the domain. true. and back then i wanted my blog on a .com. kaso, i was afraid i'll have to move to an entirely different blogging platform, then it'll take too much space that i had to buy the most expensive web hosting plan with unlimited storage because what if i post too much pictures and it eats up my bandwidth? SO WRONG HAHA. apparently, my posts and everything stays at blogspot naman pala! it's just being redirected to a different domain. >XD yey. haha

ang exciting. grabe. amazeballs. i've always wanted my own domain but i never really had enough reasons and resources back then. but now! thank you Lord! hahaha

this week i learned a lot of things about setting up your own domain. i see a lot of online businesses offering this type of service, and i thought it couldn't be too hard to do it myself since all i had to do was pay for the domain and set everything up, by that i mean looking into google for tutorials on how to! #easyPeasy >XD

anyway, i encountered a couple of bummers too...

1. apparently, there's a different setup when it comes to using naked domains (http://yanbirog.com without the www). somehow it feels like using the naked domain is SLOWER. that's kindof sad for me cos that's the address i want to promote. >X(

2. naturally, a new domain means new blog stats as well. no backlinks, PR, DA, PA, and all those SEO metrics i just recently learned about. AS IF naman i was ranking before no? haha echos lang yan.

i'm hopeful i'll get ranked someday! haha

a change on design perspective:

since i decided i wanted to somehow earn from this site, i had to overhaul my entire blog design to maximize ad placements without being too cluttered. i see a lot of well earning sites that aren't visually appealing and while it hurts to know that apparently, good design hardly counts where blog monetizing is involved, i still wanted my blog to reflect my OCD self at least. HAHA

content and design now hold equal weights in my scale of 'what makes a good blog'. i usually don't care about what i write cos i wanted to keep things 'personal', but it matters a lot if my site looked pretty or not. haha! or at least organized! >XD

looking back, i was all about putting my art at the front. i adored big headers displaying my drawings, graphics, and old school javascript sliders of my latest artworks and all. but now i realized they're taking too much space and page loading time that i decided to just hide them in a category and trim the header to accommodate ads. now i just have a small header, but at least i was able to affix 2 leader boards there! haha come on CTR. haha

i settled for a responsive template for one thing: MOBILE.

and look, i finally have a logo!

it's a simple monogram made from some script font i got over at dafont.com. i was supposed to draw it by hand but i thought, why bother when there are awesome fonts out there anyway! >XD haha

i'm excited to turn it into mock-up items like business cards, RESUMES, and other paraphernalia. hahaha eneveh.

hmmm...

i'm still pretty stoked about the whole thing. i couldn't even focus on work because i was so excited to setup my domain! haha thank you so much Lord for this gift! >XD hihi

Joined: MILO R2 APEX Running Clinic Season 9

click for source

yehey! i was so excited when i heard that MILO is holding another running clinic this year! i believe it was so successful, and the demand for another batch was too high! i was among those who asked if they could hold another, cos i missed the summer batch. huhu

so what's it about?

The MILO R2 APEX Running School (MARS) is a full program scientific running camp for those who want to lose weight, be fit, and be properly equipped for their next run. it will run for 36 sessions, 3 times a week, starting September 9 until November 29. All for just Php 2,400

REALLY?

That Php 2,400 will already get you a long waaay! imagine, you're not just paying around 66 pesos per session to run the entire circumference of QCMC, which technically IS FREE for all, but you also get lessons on injury prevention and proper running posture, strength conditioning training, running drills, recovery tips, etc....all in the supervision of top running coaches. plus, you'll get to meet new friends!

GOOD DEAL!

Venues:

the clinic will be held simultaneously in 3 venues:

1. Bonifacio High Street, near 7th Avenue
2. SM Mall of Asia, By the Bay
3. Quezon City Memorial Circle

so you can choose which place is most convenient for you.

Categories:

1. Metafit 5K
   and for the hardcore runners...
2. 10k
3. 21k
4. 42k

i joined the Metafit 5k hehe! 

Date and Schedule:

Start: September 8, 2014

End: November 29, 2014

Quezon City Memorial Circle

Monday and Wednesday - 6:30pm to 8:30pm

Saturday - 5:30am to 7:30am (meet up at Abelardo Hall, UP Diliman)

SM Mall of Asia, by the bay

Monday and Wednesday -7:00pm to 9:00pm

Saturday - 5:30am to 7:30am

Bonifacio High Street

Tuesday and Thursday - 6:30pm to 8:30pm

Saturday - 5:30am to 7:30am

Price and Payment:

Php 2,400.00

For payment procedures:  CLICK HERE!

Registration:

Participants must register through an online from  FOUND HERE

Hurry up because they only allow 200 persons to register!

For the full and official details, CLICK HERE!

tara join! jeckie paid for my registration as an anniversary gift, because he knew how much i wanted to lose weight and run at the same time! awww <3 the original plan was that we'd join together but he works in makati and me in QC, so our schedules are kinda screwed up. huhu T___T

i signed up for the Metafit 5k group because i'm only a beginner at running, and i wanted to be able to run 5k in 30 minutes eventually. kayang kaya! haha i'll be at the QCMC site cos it's only walking distance from the office! looking forward to lose weight talaga HAHA. you know how i'm so bad at disciplining myself, so i thought i needed these types of activities to really push me to work my ass off. haha 

what about you, have you joined? >XD

see you!

down with the annual fever fest

for some reason, i always get sick at this point in time, august! as in sick with fever, cough, and colds for a good 3 days w/ a hospital visit and tons of antibiotics to boot. it's the, according to my medical history, 3rd time it happened in 3 years! and it's always around august! what's with this month? anyway, i'd like to think it's just the weather. >XD

aside from being sick i also have this horrible, horrible feeling that i will (finally) lose my job when i come back on monday. but i'm just kidding. and as usual, you can take my jokes as half-meant! kidding! now that's 1/4! whatever.

there's just so much work i left when i took a 3 day sick leave and when i come back next week, i'll only be working for 4 days because there's goes my planned vacation leave. i'm not even sure if our manager has already approved my leave request. but whatever happens, approved or not, i shall go out. even if it costs me my job. like, i hope it costs me my job! again, i'm just kidding. please.

i feel bad and stressed out for not being able to deliver. i bet my tasks are being raffled off (again) cos i won't be able to finish it as usual. in time. not even because i'm sick. just because.

and for the record, i believe i can finish my tasks naman! but in the right time? malay nyo in time. haha

i feel so nega! huhu

on the bright side, sky cable called me to confirm our address! they're installing the free 1 month access i won from their nuffnang contest! hihi exciting >XD

another bright side, there's 11 episodes of 2 Broke Girls Season 3 waiting for meeeee! >XD just the thought makes my day. what am i to do after season 3!!! aaaargghh

hm. i hope you're all doing fine this weekend! >XD

a dream is a wish your heart makes

i just had one of my most vivid dreams ever. here it goes:

//start dream

i was in the office and ms. sheela, one of our bootcamp trainers, approached me to talk to me in private. i was already apprehensive of the news. i knew they were gonna fire me so i asked her politely and quite happily if i'm going to be truncated. she said, "ayon." while smiling and flipping through some papers in her hand (which i thought was my termination letter already). haha

after the announcement, though, i was extremely happy. what's wrong with me. seriously. i was even excited about what happened. i was all too perky even as i told my batchmates i'll be leaving soon.

after that i called one of my friends, brendo, to refer me to HP cos i'm sure to finally accept their offer this time. hahaha!

when i got home i asked my sister if everything is real, that i'm finally jobless, and she said "of course not!"

//end dream

that's when i woke up, to the deafening sound of the rain pouring down, completely saddened by the fact that  i'm still 2.5 years away from uhhh, freedom?

what could this possibly mean? HAHAHA henako. i need some heavy career counseling talaga. >XD

Big B Burgers: a new favorite!

forget diet! enter Big B Burgers, a newly opened burger joint around Maginhawa, which serves one of the best and most unique (so far!) burgers i've ever tried.

osya sige, go

item #1: The BIG B Burger (Php 99)

the major selling point. quarter pound. 50-50 beef x bacon. now drool.

 

on first look, it may seem like your usual quarter pounder boasting with a thick patty, and well, stabbed for presentation. but this one's different! it has a very curious sauce, haha, i wondered at first about those dark strips swimming in the mayo. i thought it was nori (srsly! nori in a burger? wooh), but when i took a bite... oooooooh basil (never heard? read: pesto). aaand it's called the AWESOME SAUCE, for the obvious reason that the owners probably think it's awesome, and i do too, so let's not argue about that.

here's the Awesome Sauce, which you dispense in what looks like a sauce gun, or something. cool beans huh. >BD i gathered it's basil, mayo, and sour cream... but that's just me. haven't asked.

okay. now let me rave about the patty. IT'S AWESOME. IT'S BACON BACON BACON ALL OVER. i loooove it. and i'm sure you'll love it too. my golly, writing about it right now makes me crave!

i try not to overstate, but this burger is definitely a must try.

item #2: Pink Potion (Php 20)

now this is pretty common. but what's unique about this is the way it is served! they give you a glass bottle almost filled with cold water, then give you a potion bottle filled with concentrated pink lemonade, then they pour it on the water. voila! the pink potion!

they also serve Pink Potion w/ feelings (Php 35). yes, haha, that's not a typo. that's soda (7-up?) instead of water. haha the feels nga naman.

item #3: Poutine ng Ama Mo (Php 120)

your regular fries swimming in gravy, topped with crabsticks, mozarella (technically it's under the fries but yeah), and some herb garnish (i don't really remember the taste). the "Ama Mo" version is 200g, there's also an "Ina Mo" version which is basically the same, only a hundred grams shy.

i liked this one cos it's different, but the first time it was served, the mozarella hasn't melted well yet. so there's this awkward block of cheese in our fries that i didn't enjoy. haha but on our second visit (the burger is heavily beckoning, i'm sorry!) the food was well tempered so the mozarella was gooey and yummy and all over our fries! yeyy!

over all, it's a great place to try out! specially for those who love burgers and find pure beef patties rather mainstream already (as if 100% pure beef patties ever run out of style!). if you want a new take on yer patties, Big B Burgers is the place to be!

The Menu



so far they have these, zoom to read.

Random Stuff

the area is rather small and it's not airconditioned ha, it can only probably sit around 12 people, so you might wanna take-out (+ Php 5).

the walls are plastered with all sorts of witty notes and stuff. hahaha

the owners are very friendly and accommodating, specially the lady owner who's always so gay and perky! >XD

and loook, they offer plastic gloves to those who don't want to mess their hands with the burger. sosyalin. haha!

The Big Busog Card

oh, they have an ongoing loyalty promo. be sure to get one of their Big Busog Cards cards at the bar counter and have em stamped with every burger purchase! Get 10 qtr, 5 half, or 3 one pound burgers and your next one is FREE!

Location and Contact

Big B Burgers is located at:
44B Magiting St., Teachers Village, QC
(ride a tricycle at Philcoa, get down at Ministop, walk around 5 meters haha)
0917-594-1260
BigBBurgers@gmail.com

reality bites

we all thought that after bootcamp is over, we'd be safe from 'elimination'. apparently not so, as one of our batchmates has just been pulled out, or uhm, relieved of his position, he's now fixing his clearance. argh.

grabe! here's how i feel

1) of course i feel about bad for my friend

i'm probably not in the right position to say if he was judged unfairly. i also don't think we have any right to know why the higher-ups did what they did, i guess i have to put my faith in them too, that they did what they thought was best not just for the company but also for the person. though it doesn't help relieve the sadness, i'm sure it'll get better in time. ows.

i don't know. as a batch i would say we've come so far. we've been together for six months, six freaking months. and to withdraw someone after we've kindof fortified our friendship, that's like puncturing a dam wall (pun intended). there's gonna be a spillage. of tears. chos. such drama.

2) i fear and feel i'm next

and for some reason, i'm looking forward to it. really? yes. and this is not some sort of pa-humble crap. i'm thinking maybe the real reason why i always get stressed with my work is that, i'm not doing the thing God shaped me for.

you know how i've always been at the bottom part of the safety line ever since bootcamp, and even now that we're already deployed to our respective teams where we're expected to show off our strengths, nothing has changed. i still feel the same incompetent and insecure girl. henako. as usual nanaman ang lola nyo.

which makes me think...

what if i intentionally screw my job, like not deliver my task due today? would they fire me? either way i don't see myself finishing it today. so what's there to lose. -___-;

what if i get fired this week? grabe. i actually thought of this last week and my mind is in all sorts of hype! here's the plan, my mom just made me realize that i have already saved some 100k in investments like whooaaa. so when  i was thinking of this possibility, i instantly fled to the option of withdrawing part of my savings to pay for my tuition in an art school. ART SCHOOL! OH MYYYYY! i felt the unsteady urge to call (again) CIIT and request for a multimedia specialist quote. grabe lang my excitement.

and then, while studying art part-time. i could freelance the way i want it! i could take design commissions, get serious with optimizing this blog, ghost write if there's an opportunity, resell Healthy Monsters (lol) or ShyShop. basta ang daming kong naiisip na gawin. hahaha

when did getting fired suddenly become something to look forward to? haha

but then..

what if i get regularlized? what if they don't fire me? weeeeell, that's still something to be thankful for. it only goes to show that i have some worth in the team, or maybe they just couldn't afford to chop manpower right now when the project is at a critical stage. i have a problem. i really don't see myself excelling, right where there's always (indirect) competition, and comparisons going on. sadly, i'm not the grace-under-pressure type of person. i'm, uhh, the burst-under-pressure type... which in reality and in physics, is the more probable consequence naman talaga.

hm. if i get regularized. i'm tied here for 2.5 years more. and seeing that i don't see myself as a competent contributor, i'll just cry my insecurities in the corner. lol. or face it, like what every guru would say.

hay life.

hooray for a new lay!

aaaaaargh this is so frustrating! but it came out quite nice naman don't you think? HAHA did you know that i was holding all my pending blog entries (ie. church anniv, big b burgers, work rants) because i didn't want to plug with my old layout, not when i'm itching to "upgrade" to a new theme.

if you're curious about this theme, i just ripped this off somewhere (see attribution at the foot of this blog), and did my usual themeing arti-facts (read: ka-artihan). that means, changing the header image, header text, text alignments, fonts, a couple of 3rd party stuff, etc. the work is crazy. it took me hours upon hours just to get my desired, uhm, effect.

reason why i called it an upgrade is because this theme is now, *drumroll please*, RESPONSIVE! thank you, thank you google! i feel like this blog has just entered a new era! gone with static stuff! lol also, it fascinates me that i didn't have to insert jump breaks anymore because the layout came with automatic post snippets! yeheyy!

nitty-gritties because nothing is perfect:

• still looking for ways to make the header background responsive as well. it kinda tiles horribly when you resize the screen. huhu
• post title hover behavior is erratic! when you hover over title links, only the color should change. apparently, sometimes, it hovers to a weirdly line-spaced Arial which i find really disturbing. i think it may be because of slow loading or whatever. but i don't like it. haha
• my AddThis social sharing buttons don't seem to be working here (so i had to retain the old addThis script that came with the layout). all the tutorials i found online seem to be outdated, AddThis has changed their code snippets to a generic script with specific js urls per account. but then i couldn't figure out where to put it. should i put it inside the head? do i just include that 2 lines in my template and all my activated tools in the AddThis dashboard will integrate automatically? beats meeeee!

for now let me just marvel on the purpleness of this domain. not my favorite color but idk. hehe

tell me what you think! :D