The 3:30 Habit

Let's face it: no matter how much we're used to waking up early during workweek mornings, the thought of having to trade the comfort of your bed with having to get up and brush your teeth is never a pleasant one. And I, being on a new 7:30 a.m. work shift, should know.

These days, the situation of Cavite traffic has deteriorated to that point where leaving the house around 5:30 in the morning no longer guarantees that you'll still be able to catch the morning shuttle going to work, especially if you're working in Makati like me. Your two alternatives: 1) the super crowded bus, and 2) spend the next two hours in queue for the next shuttle that will be coming back from Makati. Either way, you'd still have to deal with the dreadful northbound traffic. As pitiful as it may sound, it's become a way of life for me and many others. That's why I was forced to develop a new habit - the 3:30 habit, that is. It's quite simple: I set my alarm at 3:30 a.m., haggle for a couple more 15 minutes before parting with my beloved bed, and then leave the house around 5:15 a.m. I usually arrive in Makati around 6:20 a.m. or latest by 6:45 a.m. Pretty simple BUT it entails a Herculean effort to accomplish on a day-to-day basis. So far, I was successful in carrying it out for two consecutive weeks. So I guess there goes one hurrah for me! ^_^

Honestly, arriving at work earlier than 7:00 a.m. may seem ungodly for most people, but it does have its perks, too. The city walkways are not yet crowded with the rest of the busy working class, Manila-bound travel takes only about 45 minutes top, and you get to relish the city as it eventually wakes up to its usual hustle-and-bustle self. It could be a simple treat for the sentimental, but a torture it is to those who are sleep-deprived. I guess you might say I'm a bit of both. And no, I'll never get used to waking up on early mornings BUT I do appreciate the simple perks of being an early bird in the big city. Wish me luck in keeping up with habit. My paycheck is counting on it. Haha! Kidding!

Foundations

It seems only like a couple of months ago when we were a bunch of classmates attending our basic photography workshop in Fort Santiago. Today, we just formally drafted the official name of our founding camera club - The Visionaries Camera Club. Naks! ^_^

Call time was supposed to be nine in the morning, but since I was feeling a lot more lazy than usual, I arrived around 9:35 a.m. at McDonald's in Greenbelt 1. We were already a company of seven that time; too bad Fatz came down with fever and couldn't make it, while our other batchmates couldn't make it as well due to variour personal reasons. Nevertheless our crew was still able to accomplish much - from plotting group activities until yearend and finalizing the founding provisions of the club, to coming up with our very own club name and logo. As for doing a press release for our club logo, I won't be pre-empting anything yet, because some minor details are still being finalized. Stay tuned, though; the next time I blog about our camera club we'll have set up our own site, complete with our official logo, by then. ^_^

The Founding Members... naks!!! :P

(Shot by Marlon Naboa; thanks to Ruth Tubon-Spence for uploading the pics in our Multiply site

Thanks to Maan for taking the initiative in organizing the very first GA for the group, the times we spent together and the learnings we acquired during the workshop and afterwards will go a long way. And, hopefully, so does the bond we have as a team. ^_^

A La-Z Saturday Movie

I missed going to the movies!!!

Okay, maybe I'm just a little bit exaggerating with my unnecessary use of too many exclamation points, but still...

It's the first time in many Saturdays that waking up in the morning truly feels like a weekend - an idle feeling that lets me lounge around the dining table after a leisurely breakfast of scrambled eggs and pancakes. Mmmm... I love it! ^_^

Originally, I intended to indulge in a video fest the whole day since I've nothing much to do, not with an empty pocket, at least. Haha! But since dad wanted to catch G.I. Joe on the big screen (Plus I've been getting rave reviews from friends who've seen it.) so I tagged along for a movie treat from dad, in La-Z-Boy fashion! Yey!

Three things: 1) action (A hell LOT of it!), 2) love story (Which I thought was a bit of a cliché but with appeal.), and 3) Channing Tatum (He's H-O-T even with that fake scar on his face! ^_^ ). So yeah, it was one kick-ass movie even if my guy friends tell me it steered away from the original G.I. Joe storyline. See, I never really followed the cartoon from way back. But as far as my being a moviegoer was concerned, it was a good movie that well worth the ticket and popcorn.

G.I. Joe Movie Poster

So there. Me and my cuzin are currently watching Watchmen as I’m posting this entry. Tomorrow I’ll be meeting up with friends from FPPF Batch 9 over coffee and probably lunch as well. But that’s for another entry. I guess I’ll end this blog right here so I can concentrate more on the movie. Enjoy the rest of the weekend, everyone! :)

Ta Ta

This week’s Friday is my last day with SMART, and for some reason I don’t feel a bit sad about it. Maybe because this was what I’ve been wanting all along – to move out, spread my wings, and breathe. Figuratively speaking.

I can’t help but compare the feeling back when I left the first company I work for after college. The moment I tendered my resignation to my former boss, I instantly felt a tinge of sadness with the realization that I’ll be leaving a lot of good things behind. Aside from the phone-and-headset combo that allowed me to multitask during virtual meetings, a month’s supply of meal tickets worth PhP 50.00, the air conditioned shuttle that took us to and from work, and the ergonomic chair, there were the memories of good times (and otherwise) with people who – in some way or the other – have made their mark in my life. From friends, ex-boyfriends, colleagues, and bosses – it felt as if I never really left even after a couple of months (or years even) following my resignation.

Fast forward to the present, and now I’m about to draft the farewell email that’s almost like a tradition whenever an employee separates from a company. In every company, so it seems. I opt to steer clear of any flowery words and will be careful enough in not trying to sound bitter. I guess it will be pretty much straightforward – kinda like a friend talking to another as if the following days would be just like any other day. But we all know it’s gonna be different from this point. Different, at least, for me.

The last months have been very challenging for me, as an industry practitioner and as a person. As an industry practitioner, there were times when I began to doubt my capabilities in having to adjust in a traditional Filipino setting of a workplace. It’s hard when people around you are glued to the conventional methodologies of doing things; it’s even harder when their conventionality and conservatism suck the creativity and enthusiasm out of you. That was how I felt. And for what? Well, call it a minuscule adjustment in the paycheck. Don’t get me wrong, it’s never always about the money. But I know my self-worth, too. But at the end of the day, you really can’t entirely blame the bosses, because it’s all rooted at how the organization’s culture was in the first place. And that’s the point where I realized I had to get up and do something about my career, even if it meant ushering in a great deal of change and stepping out of my comfort zone.

As a person, this has got to be one of the most emotionally trying times I had to withstand. What do you do when all your life you’ve been in the company of good friends and then one day, out of the blue, the girls in your team start to alienate you? For quite some time, I began to question myself as a person and began wondering whatever’s wrong with me. In the end, I realized that I can’t be apologetic for something I’ll never know I’m guilty of. I did my part to initiate confrontations, but the fact that they won’t open up whatever my fault was and let me get away with is their problem; their loss. They may hate me, gossip about me, and continuously magnify my flaws all they want. They can even spill my secrets if they choose to, I really don’t care now. After all, I don’t want to spend every day of my life trying to please everyone just to fit in and in turn lose my identity in the process. And for the record, I don’t hate them. I’ll just keep in mind that, once upon a time, we were all part of a happy bunch.

Whew, this one’s getting pretty long. In closing, I guess I just want to be thankful for the last two years it has been. There were more good things to it than the bad, and I don’t harbor any ill feelings for anyone. Whoever said that this world is way too small to have enemies was telling the truth. The things I shared in this blog is my way of breathing out some things that have weighed down my emotional side for quite some time. It’s time for some fresh start; a clean slate. And for everything and everyone, thank you SMART. :)