What Now?

2 cups of rice for dinner, 3 pcs of buffalo wings, 1 fried fish dipped in vinegar with bagoong with a can of ice cold Coke Zero. Seems like there's no tomorrow, huh! This is not my usual dinner or should I say, I am not really taking any dinner at all. But since I'd be on a graveyard shift this Saturday, 1AM-10AM, I need a lot of energy I could get to keep me going.

An hour before my call time, when I was about ready to go, with my make-up on... shutting down my lappy... I got a call from Roselle, my teammate that I don't need to go in the office at 1AM because I got nothing to do anyway. One of the ITOPs is on ML and there's no one to do a four-eye check to.

This is how the Production Weekend goes monthly. As part of the Configuration Team, we need to be at the site doing four-eye checking on Operations. In short, it's a buddy system, ITOPs are doing the actual deployment while us, seating beside them and making sure that all the documented instructions is followed. And now that one of the ITOPs is not around, the schedule suddenly has changed.

So what's the problem? Why am I blogging instead of sleeping at this hour? It's not about the abrupt change of sked because we all got used to it anyway. I'm bothered about...................

all the calories that I took a while ago expecting that they will all get burnt while on GY shift. But now that my call time has changed from 1AM to 8AM, I need to get a sleep.... even if it would mean... I will sleep with all the carbs inside my bulging tummy.... waahhh... :((

Celestial Resort

It was weeks ago when a friend/officemate invited me to join her and some of our friends to explore the northeastern island of Pulau Ubin. Since the 4-day celebration of Chinese New Year would definitely be boring (malls are closed), and plus the fact that I've been wanting to see more of Singapore and not just shopping malls and sale outlets, I excitedly accepted the invite.

Roselle, made all the planning: searched for an affordable resort that offers various water and land activities; verified to the resort personnel that everything posted on their website would be available on day of stay; even asked if there was an available hair blower in the room (my special request :D). Positive! We booked our stay at Celestial Resort.

Februray 14, Valentine's Day. We all met at Punggol Marina Country Club where a service boat will bring us straight to the resort. We missed the first trip and while waiting for the 2nd one, we had our photo shoot first at the port.

It was only a 10-minute ride from the port to the resort. Since we were 2 hours earlier from the standard check-in time, we asked Ate Jenny, the Filipina receptionist, if we could go for an early check-in. She said, no room was available at the moment and maybe we could tour around the resort first and she would just give us a call. But before doing so, we asked for the schedules of the acvities we inquired about prior to our booking. And to our surprise, NO SINGLE ACTIVITY was available on that day and on the following day!!! WTF!!!! The reason? It's Chinese New Year and most of the staff are in a holiday. WTF again!!!!

I am not questioning how they celebrate CNY, but for hell's sake, why did you tell us that the activities would be available on that day. You did even confirm the price of each activity. Que horror!!!! This is a HUGE, OBVIOUS LIE!!!! We were also on a holiday break and we wanted to relax, to have fun.... but how could we if there's nothing to do but count the trees and leaves around us!!! The biggest question still is, WHY THE HELL DID YOU LIE, PEOPLE??!!??!!

But this is just a beginning of a terrible experience at the resort. We tried to bargain with the staff like letting the seven of us stay in just one suite. But the caucasian lady arrogantly turned us down and with a sarcastic look on her face, she said, "You booked for 2 rooms, you must take it". Oh well, that's customer service for them.

I may sound furiously angry but believe it or not, we all kept our heads cool and relaxed while trying to accept the fact that we were fooled by the resort. No arguments nor altercation arose.

After about an hour of waiting, we finally checked in in the first of 2 rooms we occupied. We put down our bags, checked the whole suite and planned for our next activities. I wasn't in the mood to take photos of the rooms, but somehow, it's good that I did not 'cause for sure, everytime I'd get to see those, I might end up with nightmares. The toilet was clean, but the rust and stains on the toilet bowl and tiles were too creepy to stare at. There were 4 cups at the side table but no coffee nor sugar was present, what's the use of these cups, huh? I checked on the toilets again, NO HAIR BLOWER!!!! This is what I call, DISASTER!!!!

Before this tragedy get into our nerves, we all headed to the restaurant for our lunch. The food was good.. nothing special, though. We even had more fun time playing foosball than getting satisfaction with our food.

After a short meal and playtime, we inquired again for the day tour. The receptionist just told us to go to the other side of the resort and wait for a van that offers day our package, no coordination from them at all! Sariling diskarte kami!

And how did the daytour go? Again, nothing special.... the van brought us to Wetland Check Jawa, a downtown village where we had our very early dinner and a couple of stopover to take pictures with not-so amazing natural backgrounds. We started and ended the night with videoke and booze and tried to leave all the misfortunes behind.

We started the following day with the usual buffet breakfast that most, if not all, resorts and hotels offer. But then again, the disappointments keep pouring in. Breakfast without bread and egg?????? That's not breakfast at all!!!! How about serving 2 sets of the same sausages, one is fried and the other has overflowing sauces. Here's more, 2 kinds of noodles that both lack ingredients. Whew!!!! How bad the food was? We were not thru with the breakfast yet but we were already planning where to have our lunch :D

And up to the last minute, we couldn't help but to burst out our frustrations when we found out that our trip back will get delayed due to lack of boat, or was it because there were too many people wanting to go back asap. While waiting for our turn, the owner even advised us that the next time we visit the resort, we should take the other way to avoid overcrowding at their own port. And that's big B*LLSH*T!!!! Telling your visitor to take a different route where it will take them both boat and land transfers before reaching the resort instead of making a commitment to improve your service and facilities. Never mind, sir! There will be no next time, and that is a PROMISE!!!!

Despite of all the disaster and tragedy that went our way, good thing though, I was with a bunch of wacky and awesome people that this short experience is still something worth looking back to.

Thank you and 'til the next adventure, guys!

For photos, please visit my multiply site.

BBS JAKE

Now that the Big 5 has been revealed... it's time to officially announce my Big Bet to be the Big Winner :)

I've been following the Pinoy Big Brother since it started in 2005 and only this time that I really got hooked on it. Never missed a single episode, big thanks to my co-addicts who constantly uploading each primetime episode on youtube.

3 weeks had passed and still, I'm persistently begging all my friends and colleagues to vote for JAKE to be this edition's BW. Why Paul Jake Castillo? Here are just some of the 101 reasons:

1. He is a fighter, he knows what he wants and how to get it done. In every tasks and challenges that BB gave them, he has shown his determination and always comes up with a game plan.

2. Despite of his social status, oh well to simply put, despite of being a rich guy, he never put down anyone in the house and treated them equally and just. Marunong makisama, 'ikanga.

3. A very intellectual guy, analyzes each given situation logically but still shows his big heart.

4. Respects other's opinions and decisions. The Tower Task just proved how broadminded he really is. Eventhough Melissa and Jason did not join the rest of the guys to defend the tower domino, Paul Jake never lost his focus and instead just accepted the fact there are other housemates who oppose him. "Gawin nyo yung gusto nyo, gagawin ko yung gusto ko, that is to defend the tower."

5. One-woman-man. I never thought that there is still a guy like him who remains faithful to his partner and no matter how tough we see him... he really has a marshmallow heart when it comes to his la-love, Denisse. Lucky girl! :)

6. Never a time that I've heard him say nasty things about any HM.

7. Has a sense of humor. Yes, he has! In real life, it's not always about winning and surviving, it's about winning and surviving with a smile on your face.

8. The only HM that remains consistent since Day 1. He has shown his true self and knows how to improve himself. He defends his belief bravely and delivers his thoughts without being defensive.

9. Confident. When some sees him as being arrogant or mayabang, correction please he is just being confident.

10. He's gwapo! :D

BBS JAKE
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