New Year Happy

2011 has been one good year. It started a bit on the down side, but in general it has been stable and positive. And I guess I learned a lot and challenged  my self in many occasions this year. Got to admit, I have been feeling stressed out, lonely and dissatisfied about a lot of things (almost the whole year), but I believe that I have kept my composure very well. As my being workaholic took all the time (probably 99% of it) from my social life the two years before, in 2011 I have started to come out of my shell again and have a life. I have met new people, some of them became friends and close acquaintances.

Also, I have gotten to know a few who share some of my ideals and visions on different (and relevant) things. Or at least have the same level of passion or vision I have. Which made me feel really excited and inspired, as I love people with "substance" - in the midst of so much materialism and shallowness in Dubai, they are like gems.

Events this year:

My aunt whom is very close to me died last January. Really painful time for my whole family.

Watch Eric Clapton last February.

Got extremely busy with work. Lost weight and got a bit depressed. My parents are also getting sick and got so anxious to go home again (went home a few days during my aunt's funeral).

Back in Manila last June. I was best man to my friend from UP on his wedding.

Met new friends from UAP. Been busy again with UAP stuff.

I got to tour the old country of Armenia last August.

Had an accident in the fast lane of Sheikh Zayed Road, and fortunately did not get hurt.

I stopped taking on freelance work since October, as my health is not in its best.

Watched the F1, November in Abu Dhabi.

Did a Backstreet Boys dance for a Christmas party.

Back home again 27th of December. This new year's eve, my family was complete in one roof, which has not been after a very long time (since five-six years ago?) - priceless.

Looking forward to 2012...

Two Years After

Time passes by so fast. I just realized that the last entry I posted is already from two years ago.

On my last entry, I was only about to go into my new place and now I am here for nearly a couple of years and actually contemplating on moving again to a new place maybe mid next year.

The past two years has been quite busy, mostly with work. My old company closed eventually, six months after I wrote the 'Last Man Standing' post. This led me to freelance for around four months, doing exhibitions design and a few fit-out design work. If visa was not a big issue, I would have wanted to continue that set-up, getting enough money, managing my own time and giving me more freedom to do other things outside my work. But I needed to be employed to get a visa and after some job interviews and negotiations with different companies (I got job offers from interior design firms, exhibitions and event agencies and an architectural firm), I landed on a job as a Creative Head in a media and events company.

I became really busy with my new job and  I can consider it many times stressful with dealing with office politics and a few people who I am not in sync with in terms of how work is done. But on the other hand, my visa concern was addressed and I got to see another career path I could explore. I am one year and two months today of ups and down in this new company. Level of satisfaction is average, but I guess at this time of recession, no one can afford to be choosy.

I also got active in the Filipino architects community in Dubai. I tried to push an advocacy towards creating more leaders and managers in our community, which fortunately got well received by my peers. It is a vision very difficult to actualize, but it has to start somewhere and I am just happy to work with some great people to push it.

What is in my mind now? I am in an age that I really should put the different aspects of my life in a proper balance. Health, family and social life, work and professional improvement all needs to have their piece in my daily agenda. Seems getting tougher to manage actually; many times when I work on one, the others get a bit neglected. But this is the life challenge that I should face and overcome.

Overhaul

I am moving to a new place after more than five years of stay in my rented place. That is actually some feat for an Asian bachelor expat in Dubai. Getting and staying in one place for a long time is not easy in this city as shared accomodations are not encouraged (or illegal?). But anyway, I am not delving at that, I am some way excited (with some anxiety still) on this sudden development and the changes it will make in my daily life.

Not to give a wrong idea, the place I stay now is absolutely fine. My landlady is very nice, the house is always clean, my room is spacious and the location of the building is a block away from the train station. It is a 8 of 10 I would say (a 10 would be my own studio at the thirty something floor overlooking Jumeirah beach). But the situation is my roommate needs to go to accompany his sister in another place, plus my finances are still unstable thus maintaining the room is not really reasonable.

Right now I am busy on sorting my stuff and disposing things that are not essential. Essential does not include things that I can do without eventhough they have some sentimental value, they are cool to have or I 'might' be able to use it in the future. That makes the task pretty tough but I feel good about doing it. It is mostly the same as what I feel when I was able to reduce my luggage to one hand-carry bag or a knapsack whenever I travel. Well, maybe something deeper than that.

Last Man Standing

I got promoted. Not because I did exceptionally well but because the person above me got sacked. So did seven others in our team of eleven. Now I am heading a very small design team to take on a workload that is normally done by six to nine people at least. Really tough. I guess I will be biting off more than I can chew. No choice.

We are still very much behind with salaries, but luckily, the two guys that were retained with me are very patient and are just nice people. Delegating and pushing people to work are not really my specialty, but I guess those actions will be needed to be done for our team to survive. Though the other side of the potential 'unleashing of the slave driver' in me, I need to push management to take care of my guys with catching up with the pay and supporting us in this transition period of sorts after a drastic downsizing. And I have to continue my work too as a senior designer. A big exercise in time management, being responsible for others and probably some office politics.

Today was the first day of my new role, which ended with a long task list for the next two weeks on my hand. The day went well, I think, and hopefully the next days would too. I hope my next blog entry will be something really positive, or fun, or not work related. But nonetheless, I reckon that I am still a very composed person; trying to keep a positive outlook always. I still believe that at the end of this long dark tunnel there is light. And probably a pool, a party and many things bright and bubbly.

Recession Blues

I tried dealing with recession with positive thinking, but now I am getting affected with what is happening to the people around me. I myself am experiencing paycuts, delayed salaries and forced unpaid leaves since the past few months, though I have managed to pay up my bills with my emergency fund (well, which is already almost gone). Personally, I am still optimistic that the economy will rebound in the next quarter, so I am not really feeling too worried until recently. It is just that in the last couple of weeks, I am seeing more people (whom I know) "surrendering to the battle of recession". One friend lost her job the second time and decided to go back to our home country. A few quit their job since the salaries aredelayed for months already. And a lot of people in our office are now in too much debt and so much behind on their rent that they are about to face eviction. Really tough times.

Three words come into my mind: gamble, survival and patience.

Gamble. Should I stay in a company which seems to be going and going down or should I find a new job but risk being one of the new staff that they will easily let go when they need to downsize?

Survival. If I stay put, how much longer can I can get through my personal financial crisis? The more debts I accumulate the more difficult for me to recover. Which translates too less and less options in many aspects of my life in the future.

Patience. A lot of things are put on hold and this seems to cause me some negative emotions: loosing drive on work, on personal improvements and on planning ahead.

Just thinking aloud...

Getting Rid of the Useless Stuff

The past few months for me is a lot about getting rid of the useless stuff. I have thrown away many things I have been keeping for a while and occupying much of my space. I've got so much stuff in my room, probably four times of the volume of what my roommates have combined.

For most of them, I just applied a rule: anything that I have been keeping but haven't used for at least a year, I dispose of. Magazine, old bank statements, manuals of some gadgets, some clothes, etc., all went falling down through the garbage chute. Little trinkets like souvenirs from countries I went to, from trade fairs and some odd stuff, like canisters of play-doh, my old PDA, etc. were also thrown away.

I feel a certain satisfaction on doing this and I guess it can be translated to real (personal) life in some way. Well, it wouldn't be like useless stuff to "useless people", which is pretty harsh. It would be more on habits or activities, choosing and not choosing which ones I allocate my time and money into. And it is working well for me.

Maybe, I'll drop 'blogging' too. But maybe not today.

Lenses and brushes.

I attended a photography workshop last weekend with the objective that I will be able to do my camera settings in an objective, technical approach rather than "by feel", which was mostly my primary way of doing things in all my creative-led activities (like designing at work, painting, etc.)

My objective was fulfilled, but suddenly I realized something. That I am not very excited with photography that much. And that I really missed painting. I compared, and knew how much more satisfaction I get doing paintings than taking pictures.

I used to have painting sessions with different people back in Manila, but here in Dubai I don't know anyone yet who does painting as a hobby. I am thinking of attending art classes just to have a venue to paint. But then when I look up workshops; I'll be attending like four to six beginner classes with fixed topics, which is quite restricting, and I thought that this is not the practical way to start my hobby again. With the money I'll be paying, I can go to ten to twelve sessions in JamJar (a painting studio "for everyone" in Dubai, you can Google it) or just buy more materials and paint at home.

What happened between my two last posts...

Recession hits Dubai, suddenly I am not too busy with work.

(well still busy, but not my usual super-workaholic self)

I developed a habit of drinking a can of soda after lunch (I have not been drinking soft drinks since college years, except for a very few occasions). And for some consecutive weeks I enjoyed having regular Thursday night Beer sessions. Result: My first beer belly experience.

I started using facebook applications and got hooked. Farm town!

Thrown away a significant volume of trash. But I still have a lot of stuff in my room.

Became best man to a close friend in college. Stag party was a success. And the wedding was beautiful.

Ang Mga Paborito Kong Ulam

Tinanong ako ni MF kung ano ang mga paborito kong ulam, eto ang sagot

1. Sinampalukang Manok na may totoong usbong ng sampalok at walang artificial flavoring (extra points kapag bagong katay ang manok, yung dugo ay isasama sa bigas at ilalagay sa sinigang)

2. Lumpiang Sariwa na kompleto ang rekado, as Bulakenos prepare it, may kamote, baguio beans, fried pork bits, shrimps, etc. (bonus points kung galing sa pinas ung pambalot, ung manipis na manipis)

3. Three-day old Paksiw na Lechon na may tamang balanse ng tamis at asim (bonus kapag sobrang lambot na ng meat, na-may naghihiwalay nang fibers)

4. Steamed Crab na dapat ay sariwa at matataba o may alige (bonus kapag may kamatis at bagoong) -eto yata ang pinakasimple

5. Tinolang Kabiya/Tulya (Clams), sariwa din dapat (nalalasahan ko na kapag hindi fresh ang seafood), yung maraming luya (bonus kapag malunggay o saluyot ang kasamang gulay)

Trying to ReStart

I had my plans on starting my 2009 right, but putting those in place has not been so easy it seems. My 'reStart' was supposed to be last 10th of January, coming to Dubai from my Manila holiday. But I was welcomed by tons of work from the office and so much other things that kept me from doing those things I planned doing. 

Then today is my first real weekend -  slept over at a friend's house, had beer, woke up late, watched TV all day and ate real home-cooked meals. Hope I go back to proper rhythm tomorrow... 

Singing 'Manila, Manila'

I'll be having a week's holiday in Manila in a couple of weeks and I am so excited about it. I missed my family and friends a lot and I hope I can plan my days properly to have quality time with them (planning my holidays is not really my talent, but I will try my best). I don't have an itinerary yet but i have I few things in mind that I will make sure that I do, when I am back in your arms, Manila...

1. Have a drinking party in one of my friend's house, with the long table, sisig and lechon manok and overflowing cold San Mig!

2. Jog in UP early at daybreak.

3. Have a hearty 'Pinoy' breakfast every day of my stay. (sinangag, tuyo, fried egg, tapa, dilis, etc. etc.)

4. Play PlayStation games with my two kid brothers, all day.

5. Play billiards with my cousins and.. drink, of course. With Pancit Malabon, from Malabon.

6. Set off fireworks on New Year's eve.

7. Dine out and go 'mall-ing' with close friends. Finishing off with a late night coffee in Tomas Morato.

8. Buy DVDs of complete seasons of anime cartoons, Koreanovelas (hehe) and some TV series, which I can bring to Dubai for my and my OFW tropa's viewing pleasure.

No beach and out of town trips this time. Just staying in Manila, Manila... Simply no place like Manila.

Vignettes of 2008

Vignettes of 2008

1/7

I supposed to have ended my addiction to computer gaming last 2006 (with my last game of Guild Wars). I sent all my PS2 and pc games to Manila and started a normal peaceful life. That year, I have also withstood the temptation of buying an X-box or even a PSP. I don't have my network gaming buddies here in the Middle East, and that help in my "rehabilitation of sorts".

But the gods of the gaming did not want me to walk this path... some time this year I got zapped back to a regular gaming routine (I can't recall how it happened)...

and now we have some kind of PSP mini-tournament in the office, so what can I do? 

6

Going to Hanover was one of my 2008 highlights. I loved the cool weather, the fine architecture and the vibrant picturesque town. 

5/8

This year is probably the busiest year of all my four years in my company and in Dubai. A got to do a number of good challenging projects and I enjoyed working on them. (I am actually enjoying working - weird, hehehe.)

I also started working out in a gym...again. Not very often, but I always try to squeeze it in into my schedule whenever I can. 

3

The year when a threw away the most useless stuff.

9/4

I changed my platform at home from PC to Mac. Not much adjustments since I've been using the later in our office since I came here in Dubai.

There is not a lot of games for Mac available in the shops I went to. The only game which is installed now in my computer is Spore (www.spore.com). Equals more time for PlayStation.

2

Early this year, I tried photography as an hobby. Not really easy, but quite gratifying. I love doing portraits.

The Return of the Blog

Finally, I found time to 'resurrect' this blog account. I have tried doing it a few times, some months back, but only now, that I've guessed the right passwords and user names. So...

I am still here in Dubai, four years and three months to date. Still in the same company, same job and same house. The only difference is a have more money now (hahaha). Kidding aside, I guess I can say that I am good staying here in Dubai for the present time. Work is still okay, the weather is nice and I have some good friends around. 

:)