Sunday, December 27, 2015

TeenAge Rebels: The Reunion

There's a room where the light won't find you
Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down
When they do, I'll be right behind you
So glad we've almost made it
~ Tears for Fears 

After almost three decades, our 80s barkadas - Sheila, Jinky, Mike, Paul and cousin Tess got together last night. Missing were Joey, Jasper, Ronald, Rommel, Edmund, Cristy, Rene, and Bette.

We're party buddies back in the 80s, back when we all could think about was to find parties to crash and dance our hearts out until the wee hours. 

We lived and breathed dancing back then. Any song by Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears, Lotus EatersSimple Minds, or Madonna (!) among others, would make us want us to crash another party. It was our addiction. To get to a party (doesn't matter if we know the celebrant or not) was like getting 1,000 likes on Facebook these days. That's how shallow we were. 

We all had so much fun reminiscing how we mastered the art of jumping fences to elude strict parents. I know. Shameful. But. Nope. We were never into drugs or sex or anything really offensive. All we wanted was really to dance and dance some more. 

We never had cellphones  or tablets or laptops; we communicated by whistle. When one hears that special whistle,  it means P-A-R-T-Y and you  have like 5 minutes to dress up and sneak out of the house! 

It was great seeing them all after a long long time. We shared stories on our struggles, challenges, triumphs, family, kids, education, business venture, etc. We chatted like grown ups and giggled like youngsters. 

And we all agreed that whatever  fun we had back in the 80s, it will always be something we will all look back to with fondness and smile. 

So we glad we made it. 

P.S.

Thanks Mike and Armi for hosting the dinner. 

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Sad To Belong To Someone

So I'll live my life in a dream world,
For the rest of my days.
Just you and me walking hand in hand,
Is a wishful memory...
Oh, I guess it's all that it will ever be...

~ England Dan & John Ford

You ever liked someone who’s already taken (married, engaged, committed, etc.)? And you so like this person, you can only admire him from the distance, because he can never know that you like him. 

Have you ever liked someone so much you're dying to send him a message to say hello or just ask how his day is going, but you can't, because you just can't?

Have you ever liked someone so so much that his mere hug meant the world to you? 

Ang OA ko. Promise. At Frencheska Far ang peg ko according to Dani Hernandez author of Ang Maglandi Ay Di Biro. Promise, mahal ko na si Dani. Sobrang relate ako sa book niya.

I am too old to have crushes, but as one of my friends pointed out, it’s never too late to blush, gush or even have crushes... that as long as we have feelings we will always admire or crush on someone. 

And who knows this admiration might blossom into something real, tangible, or forever. Sigh.

But in my case, there's no way this is going anywhere. This crush lives on the other side of the planet and is very taken.

So what do I do?

I really have no idea. I guess, I will just sit here in my little corner of the universe and hope to the stars that this infatuation dies out soon.

I am too old for heartaches. 

Pero babalik daw sha ulet. 

Anubayan! 

#MeForever #UmasaTayo #MeHimala

Thursday, November 19, 2015

The 5 Truths About The Awesome Jay

Jay P, my awesome-st writer who has been with us for three years and more left  the company effective yesterday to pursue another career path. We miss him tremendously today. Like it's not a regular work day without his awesome presence.

And why is Jay so awesome? What makes him awesome?

#1 He Is Mr. Congeniality of the Universe 


It doesn't matter whether you belong to Content Team or not. He's just that friendly, he hangs out with everybody, especially when one has food. 

#2 He Is The Ultimate Eye Candy


I once told the team that I  need to hire an eye candy to inspire me more. He volunteered himself. I was left with no other option. I was cornered.

#3 He Has Wits All Over the Wall


 Only Jay can come up with come back lines that would make you question your sanity. Yep, that's him.

#4 He's Cool As Cool Can Be


Despite being constantly picked on for his brain-damaging wit, Jay remains cool and awesome. And that's why we love him a lot.

#5 He Is Best Friends To Great Cooks


Have I already mentioned that he's best friends with anyone who has food to spare? He's tight with the great cooks in the office. He sure does know how to pick his allies.

Kidding aside, I will miss Jay.

He was a fresh grad when he joined the company. It was like I gave birth to his career. I am so proud of what he has become. He has the ambition, the drive and the right wit to get where he wanna be. I will always be honored to have worked with him.

*Sob*

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Eight Things I've Learned As an Adult

To commemorate their birthdays, some would write the number of things they’ve learned according to their age. I am not going to do that. You seriously want me to come up with more than 40 something stuff?

Let’s just stick to the eight most important things I’ve learned as an adult. It’s more than eight, but in my book, they are the bestest things. Bear with me.

1. My Parents Rock. No. They Are My Rock.


Sure, there was a time in our lives when we wish our parents would just leave us alone or disappear in the middle of the night, stuff like that. We were all teenagers once. Hello.

I got older and went through several ups and downs; it’s when I learned that there are only TWO people who will never ever desert me no matter what – MY PARENTS.

We may have our share of arguments, fights, misunderstandings and such, but at the end of the day, my parents support me unconditionally. And I have to include my wonderful siblings. They are so throwing tantrums, I forgot to mention them. Doh

I love them all to the moon and back!

2. My Bestest Accomplishment - My Son



We all go through life wondering what we have accomplished, forgetting the essentials.

I used to think that I would be a failure as a single mom. As it turns out, my son brought out the best in me. Raising him was the greatest feat I have ever done in my whole life. He may not be the awesomest son one could ever hope for, to me, he’s the best thing that ever happened. 

Because of him, I’ve learned that in order not to get disappointed, I should never expect anything. Nothing at all. 

When are you going to buy me a branded purse?
Mom, you take the public commute. The branded purse would look like a knock-off

Bitch has a point. 

3. The More the Merrier. Not True. Few Friends Matter. 



When I was younger, I love having lots of friends, thinking that the more friends one has, the better. 

No. Not true at all. 

As you grow older, you will realize that you don’t really need lots of friends. You need QUALITY friends who will be there no matter what. Sure, these few selected friends can be judgmental bitches, but hey, they will never abandon you in times of trouble. 

That’s good enough to know. 

4. What Other People Say Don’t Count

Live life as you wish. The others can screw themselves. They don’t know what you go through each day. They can judge you for as long as they want;what matters is that you do whatever you want, and be happy about it. 

Life is too short to worry about what others will say. Do what you want, be who you are, and the world can fuck itself for all you care. 


5. Material Things Don’t Really Count

We spend so much time working. Sweating it out literally and figuratively, day in and day out, to make both ends meet. We always try to give the best to our family; buying them stuff we thought would make them happy, not really understanding that material things fade. 

What our family needs is quality time. 

It doesn’t matter whether it’s just a simple bonding at home, or an occasional movie and dinner now and then. The material things lose its value eventually, but the time we give to our loved ones, they will always treasure.

6. Love is Not the Be All and End All of Life



I used to love the idea of being in love. I was a hopeless romantic. I think I still am. 

Ehh

I can now look back at the past loves and laugh about it and wonder, the hell did I fall in love with that jerk. Those kinds of things. 

I’ve learned that while having someone to love and be loved back is great, being alone isn’t so bad after all. Life isn’t just about boyfriend or girlfriend. There’s more to life if we just open our eyes and set our priorities right. 

7. Action Movies Can Get Boring



I think it goes with aging. I used to love gory action movies. Now, am just bored to death. Hands and legs being sawn off. Boring. Death defying stunts. Horror movies. Boring. Boring. Boring. I’ve learned that as priorities change when we get older, and so do our interests. 

I used to hate James Bond. Sean Connery is old and I hate his British accent. 

Now, heck, I’m looking for a British editor! And I want to marry Daniel Craig! 

8. Kids Are The Best

Being an ESL teacher for more than five years in Korea taught me the value of loving kids other than my own. I used to hate kids. Seriously. To me, they are annoying little creatures created to torment me. 


Now, that I deal with adults daily, I’ve learned to appreciate children as better co-workers.

They throw tantrums, which is understandable because they are children. They change their minds as often as the wind blows, because that's what kids do! They play favorites, because children are entitled to have favorites. If anything, children don’t do positive scripting. They don't have to. They don't need to. 

I hate your dress. You look silly, teacher Mj. (Don't you just love the kids' honesty?)
Aw, you look fabulous yourself. (Good gad, where the hell is her fashion sense?!!! - Adult problems) 

Monday, March 23, 2015

Hashtag Separation Anxiety

"But I remember those simple things
I remember 'til I cry..."

I haven't written anything for a long, long time.

The last entry here was about my son graduating from college. Since then, I've gone through the 9 cycles of depression, stress and pressure; I barely have time to comb my hair, let alone blog and update any of my social media account on a regular basis.

I found one good reason to blog this weekend. I miss a dear colleague - our Marketing Director.

He's gone for good. That left me devastated (as you all probably have guessed by now that I have this separation anxiety thingy. Which makes me think that I might have been separated and exiled from my loved ones during my first life).

Anyhow, I was so sad I would cry myself to sleep since we had this little farewell party for him. Maybe I was crying for a different reason. But anyway, I find his leaving a really good excuse to cry. He and I, we were never close, but I must admit that there were several instances he saved me from my self-destruction weapon: tactlessness.

Among the people I've worked with, I found him to be free of any pretension, as he knows anyway that I could see past through him when he's trying to be civil or not, nice or evil, etc. Some would say he's a pretentious jerk; I thought otherwise. Maybe he just doesn't like it when people hate him, or think he's not cool. You  know, Americans. They gotta be cool always. 

I kind of miss taunting and annoying him every chance I get.

Hold my hand and I will have all blogs you need written asap.
Go away, Mj. 

And his childish bickerings whenever I let him.

You're such a drama queen, Mj. 
And you're the king!
Whatever! 

So we used to hate each other on a daily basis; there's no knowing when WWWIII would erupt in the office. But as time went by, he started to just let go of his prejudices against my Korean upbringing. (You're North Korean. Are you sure you're not adopted?).

One of the things that I miss the most is his dry sense of humor. I am not sure if  he really is an American. He is actually more British in the humor department.

Hi, I sent you an email. Could you please check it? 
You're an email courier, do you know that?

If you insist on having those 200 pages of content written in one week, I am going to jump off this building!!! 
Fine. 

Now, who wouldn't miss such an adorable person like that?

Sonnet to Fathers