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

morning walks and #ProjectKorra

our so called jogger's avenue

a quick post before i sleep! 

this month, i promised myself i'd be working out at least 5 days a week. naaaaaks. so on july 1, i woke up relatively earlier, like 7am HAHA, to begin a morning routine that is hopefully going to brew into a lifestyle, WALKING FOR 1 HOUR! i'm calling this #ProjectKorra because the goal of this it to have a body like Korra (from The Legend of Korra). yes, Korra is my fitspiration. i'll be bending water in no time. wooh! aaaand, i'm also contemplating on something like not cutting my hair until #ProjectKorra is over (ie goal weight reached). yes. kasi if i fail, at least i got Korra's hair HAHAHA.

source: http://img.moviepilot.com/assets/tarantulaV2/long_form_background_images/1378462980_korra1.jpg

the plan was to alot an hour every morning before going to work, and just walk. what i do is:

- i do a warm up walk for 5 minutes. cos hell yeah, i just woke up

- for 30 minutes, i walk and jog alternately every time i reach a U-turn.

- then i do a cool down walk for 30 minutes. 

sometimes (maka-sometimes eh no, nakaka-3 days pa nga lang ako hahaha) when the sun is too hot to face, i walk backwards so my face won't burn haha. and in fairness, walking backwards is frkn harder than i thought!

anyway, i'm just happy that i got to do it for 3 consecutive days so far! and my sister goes with me too, but i'm always ahead for like 30 minutes cos she keeps on snoozing! arg.

right now my legs are awfully sore, and my right knee is starting to act up too so i had to wear a knee support whenever i jog. aw. it's annoying having to wear protective slash "porma"-tive gear like that cos i hate looking like a "pro" when i'm such a weakling (yes, i have fear of rejection and a towering pride, go psychoanalyze), haha as in, wow naka-knee support, headset, arm band, shades, cap, running shoes... sabay nadapa. #huhubels #exaggeration

ayon. we're just on day 3 so far. let's push this farther!

uhm, i don't have a diet to go along with this, cos right now i'm just trying increase my physical activity to compensate for my massive appetite haha, but i am slowly cutting off on junk foods. hihi

if you have any suggestions for a 1 hour walking routine for level 1 wannabe runners with breathing problems, please drop them in the comments area! i'd be more than happy to try it out! i accept diet suggestions too hehe >XD

Tranformers: Age of Extinction [4DX Experience]

click to watch official trailer

i was so thrilled when i learned i won 2 tickets to an exclusive first day screening of Transformers: Age of Extinction, in 4DX! that's right! 4DX! it's the newest when it comes to movie experience! Basically it's 3D glasses, motion chairs, and sensory effects like smoke, lightning flashes, gusts of air, etc. everything to fully immerse you into the movie! >8D

i'm think i'm gonna write more on the experience and less on the movie so as not to spoil you, but as early as now i want you to know that if you're planning to watch Transformers: Age of Extinction in 4DX, YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED WITH THE EXPERIENCE. Plus, if it's your first time watching Transformers, you won't need to catch up on the previous 3 installments. 

The event was sponsored by NuffnangPh and KitKat, and aside from the movie, they also provided us dinner and a crazy loot bag! 

dinner at Quiznos! 

when i opened the bag i just fell in love. so much thanks! haha 

The 3D Experience. 

the first scenes were notably breathtaking in 3D so i was soooo freaking amazed! after all it was a real 3D movie, shot in real digital 3D cameras, and none of those pesky converted, post-produced 2D movies. >XS

The Chairs. 

they're big, comfortable, high, and have foot rests! and when they start to react to the movie by gearing sideways, and vibrating (for chase scenes and open fires), in fairness i felt sleeepy! IT'S LIKE A MASSAGE CHAIR! the only thing missing are those rollers driving up and down your spine hahaha! 

The Sensory Effects: when the scene is set on a cold, snowy place, you'll feel the place is getting colder too! haha the smoke effect is also cool but the smell isn't so nice haha. sometimes there were jets of air too. basta everything was so fuuun! >XD

The Price: 

i watched it for free so i can't really say if spending Php 450 will be worth the burn in my wallet. i personally am not an avid movie goer and these types of experiences, i consider a luxury already. BUT, putting myself in the shoes of someone who loves watching movies in cinemas, the 200% price difference from watching regular 2D movies might be steep, but for the added value of 3D, motion chairs, and sensory effects, Php 450 is actually surprisingly affordable pa. An IMAX 3D movie costs Php 350 so what's Php 450 diba? >XD

The Location: 

This 4DX Cinema is located at Central Square Building, Bonfiacio High Street, Taguig City. You can buy tickets over at SureSeats.com, just look for those labeled with  "3D/4DX". 

That's it! Great experience overall! >XD

Have a break and join the KitKat Break Movemement

sadly, ever since i started working, this is how i always see myself: tired, stressed, full of worries, and exponentially getting fat. did you know that i've already gained 10 unhealthy kilos since i debuted in my supposed real world (aka IT industry), and as of writing, it's getting worse! uhuh, check out my latest pic (and blame stress eating too):

(c) Yan Birog

haggardo versoza meets stress drilon! yep that's (more or less) me, chips on one hand, more chips on the other, and negative balloons burgeoning at the back of my head. 

i'm sure most of us have our own ways of breaking free from the stress we get from work. some people resign (done!), some cry (done!), some has done the more common thing which is to rant online (just scroll through my tweets HAHA), and some simply take a break, a minute or two, with their favorite food!

and speaking of taking breaks, did you know that you should also put some thinking into the way you spend your precious breaks? spend them wisely because according a study, taking a break actually increases productivity and creativity at work! 

want to know a break that does exactly that and more? grab a KitKat and i'll tell you.

done? good! that's all you need! 

spend your break times with a your favorite KitKat, and be amazed with the following kickass skills you're taking home with you by joining the #KITKATBreakMovement:

TYPE FASTER AND FLAWLESSLY

(c) Yan Birog

Although this has never been a problem for me, literally facing a keyboard every day, it's one thing to be able to do something flawlessly and accurately. And if you're in a job that requires you to type daily, this skill will be your homie!

CREATE AWESOME PRESENTATION DECKS

(c) Yan Birog

We're talking visual aids. If you're in business and marketing, you should know that the way you present your visual aids impacts a lot on your selling value. If you speak in front of an audience and put on your slides on air, they must help you explain your thoughts better, and add some visual spunk to your presentation. They weren't called AIDS for no reason, otherwise you only got some visual there, and that's not cool. 

MULTITASK AT ANY GIVEN TIME

(c) Yan Birog

i believe we're all multitaskers, one way or another, and we all have breaking points. points where we couldn't take any more roles than our hands could take. we all want to do a lot of things at the same time, i want to keep my day job, start an online business, blog often, and do freelance design work, but one body and 24 hours a day doesn't seem enough! luckily, yer KitKat can handle that! go on and break some!

NEVER FORGET ANY DETAIL

(c) Yan Birog

Ah! my favorite!  if i were to unlock only one skill out of the things i've mentioned, IT WOULD BE THIS. how cool would that be! it's Power Memory all over again! just thinking about it makes me so excited! with a super memory i wouldn't have to bring a grocery list anymore. no more recording an entire meeting at work whenever i'm tasked to do the MOM (minutes of the meeting). no more headaches trying to remember who owes me (i'm in the prepaid loading business!). and most of all, NO MORE STRESS! for me this is already tantamount to the very solution i needed to enjoy my job better. better memory = more productivity! i consider this not just a skill, but a super power!

How about you? if you were given a chance to unlock any of the skills mentioned above, what would it be and why?

Join the KITKAT Break Movement and be amazed at the powerful skills you'll earn by taking a break with KitKat! i assure you it's going to be the best break of your life!

If you're still wondering how it could possibly bring out that awesomeness in you, let me supplement you with this article i found about chocolates and productivity. happy employees do a better job by 12%, specially if they have chocolates! You sure have read about happy hormones right? chocolates promotes serotonin and endorphins production, which lowers stress level and generally lifts our moods!

And there you go!

Have a break, Have KitKat!