Spent the evening cooking up this header for my team's corkboard. Wish I had more photos to use. I will revise it once more raw pics are available.
We have already spent around 2 months as team, and learned a lot along the way. This month the team is going for the kill. Everyone passes, Everyone gets regularized.
Scarlet Moon Clan is now in posession of the Fortress of Resistance Clan Hall.
Many Thanks to our ally clans for their assistance.
New members welcome!
This past month I have been consistently craving for 2 dishes I have recently tried.
Hk style / fried noodles - a friend of mine told me that they had this in Galleria, went there 1st wk of March and have been eating there at least once a week. The nice thing about this noodles dish is that its cooked fresh every time you order, plus the unlimited amount of sauce that is available for your noodles adds to the novelty. Ive tried 2 different vendors, the one in Robinsons (and St Francis Square) uses a firmer type of noodle while the HK style noodle (which have branches in Carriedo and in Southmall ) uses really soft almost mushy noodles. The HK style noodle kiosk uses thicker sauces while the one in Galleria has a more diluted consistency. A warning on the Chili Sauce, IT is HOT, and there has been a tendency for first timers to put in too much, which spoils the whole meal. Still its very filling, has veggies (Bean Sprouts!) and free choice of sauces... but the one thing that is really enticing is the price, at P26 pesos (or 52 if you double up) its a quick and cheap way to kill your hunger. I also saw one in the newly renovatd ATC food court and one street vendor too, will try both next time.
Now on to something more Italian... hehehe
Me and my significant other have been eating in Le Meditteranean (in ATC) for sometime now, i usually order the lamb dishes, she goes for the gyros. The last time we went there ( Wednesday last week) I ordered the Margherita Pizza. This is THE original pizza. Its made of Sliced tomato, tomato puree, Basil and Mozarella cheese on a crust made of flour, salt, olive oil and water. It was light, it was tasty and it really was the most delicious pizza Ive had. Plain, Healthy and Fresh. The difference is in the freshly made crust, our local fast food pizzas, either use a crust thats too heavy and oily, thick and bready, OR worse - frozen pre packed kinds, which produces a pizza thats either bland or cloying for my tastes. While innovative and exotic toppings are nice once in a while, its the simplest but well cooked dishes that leaves you hungering for it again and again.
...Hungering enough to try it at home, hehehe gonna get me a baking stone first...
TC all and keep cool, the temperatures right now are headache inducing.
I have been playing Lineage 2 since late September of last year, first time I tried an Online RPG - I prefer turn based strategy games (Civilization, Master of Magic, Colonization - pretty old school, hehehe) and real-time management games (Caesar series and Medieval Wars - ROME). I also played a lot of ADOM for a time (look it up its a Rogue like game, Ascii graphics, extremely detailed world - www.adom.de).
The experience reminded me of the time we tried D2 LOD with my friends at a lan shop I was managing. Fast forward to March 2008, the game is pretty competitive, very high maintenance (as with all MMORPGs), but extremely fun to play. I've found out that the biggest secret to progressing in the game (barring bot usage) is to play as a group - its more fun and efficient.
We attempted to get a Clan Hall last week but got shot down by the opposition. I believe that the biggest challenge was the inherent problem of coordinating of 15+ players playing remotely and lag. Ive seen it with Counterstrike players before, if your a group of lone players connecting from home and your up against players who are in a lan shop, chances are they will always know where you are and where to best take you down. Even though we lost that attempt, future attempts are in the works, and with the dedication of the the clan I joined up with, it is inevitable that we will have our own clan hall.
TC All, expect more to come plus the Bohol Trip has been green lighted!
Lineage 2 details- Alfedor, Lvl 52 Paladin, Blackbird Server - Scarlet Moon clan -
I'd like to greet everyone a Happy Valentines day, my apologies for the lateness.
First update, I will be getting a new team and it seems a new OM too, understandable since my current team is in another line of business and ill be handling a team in another one.
16 fresh hires, 3 with no CC background. New territory to explore and fresh talent to develop. It's time for me to let go of the excess emotional baggage and start anew.
My current team will be reassigned to other veteran TLs, a major reshuffle on the way due to compacting of understaffed teams. These guys have become my comrades at work and having them as friends rather than subordinates
make for more interesting and lasting friendships.
TC all and good night.
Our househelp came from the province earlier last week and brought with her the sinamak vinegar I ordered. I'm using it as my dip for all my fried food. The tart, sweet scent of the vinegar (reminiscent of tubá or coconut toddy) boosts my appetite big time.
The scent also brings back some childhood memories of the time I spent a month in my mom's hometown of Cadiz in Negros Occidental, staying in with some kind relatives. The sinamak and fresh ginamos (dry shrimp bagoong) never fail to remind of those happy times.
It is a wonder how some scents trigger specific memories very vividly.
A perfume usually reminds of a specific person - Estee Lauder Pleasures and D&G Blue for my sweety. The scent of salt water and diesel fuel trigger memories of sea travel - crossing from Gen San to Saranggani on a pumpboat or my old team's last trip to Puerto Galera. Freshly baked pan de sal from a wood oven - memories of traveling to Manila at dawn on my uncle's jeep service from Batangas (circa early 80s, we usually have a stopover at Lipa to buy bread from a bakery there, their oven was fueled with wood).
Memories trigger emotion, I look forward to the happy memories for strength in my daily grind. I guess everyone has had the experience of being perked up from a bad day by catching a scent from happier times.
I'd love to know what scents pick you up when your down.
For me its that burnt floury smell with a hint of fresh onions and roasted beef from a freshly made shawarma, the very first snack that I got treated to by my loving partner, those were happy times indeed.
TC all and good night.
(btw I had to edit this several times as my perfume names got mixed up... tnx hon ^_^)
Alternate commuting routes. - Ortigas to Las Piñas
Its been 3 years or so since I started working in the Ortigas Area.
During that time, Ive tried different routes to break the monotony of my commute. Taking a taxi from my place to my office costs around 300+ one way, very impractical.
My normal route would be taking a jeep running the Baclaran Coastal trip from the Casimiro intersection and taking a regular bus from Baclaran to Guadix ( a street before the Ortigas flyover). This the cheapest way to get the office, around 36 pesos one way, but I only do this if my shift is in the late evening or early morning. Its not advisable during peak hours as being stuck in EDSA traffic on a regular bus during noontime is probably close to what a ham feels when its being smoked and cured. Taking an aircon bus is a test of patience as a 20 minute ride ends up being an hour long. I have seen a violent incident occur because of slow aircon buses. More on that next time.
The route I'm most comfortable with going home would be taking the MRT from Ortigas, transferring to the LRT at the Pasay Rotonda area, going down at the Buendia LRT Station, then taking the aircon buses that run the Southmall Lawton trip. Its somewhat roundabout but the main advantage is the ease at getting on a comfortable aircon bus at Buendia. These buses are usually packed once they reach Baclaran. Cost is around 49 for a one way trip (mrt 12 +Lrt 10 + 27 aircon bus).
Fastest routes : Baclaran Coastal jeep from Casimiro to Baclaran, a jeep to
the MRT Station, ride the MRT to Ortigas. It takes less than an hour usually, though its not a very comfortable ride. I take this route if I'm on the morning or afternoon shift. Cost is around 38 pesos ( 18 jeep + 8 jeep +12 MRT).
If I have to meet with my SO at the ATC, the fastest way would be to take the MRT at Ortigas, go down the Magallanes Station and take a bus to Alabang (make sure its says Derecho and Skyway for the quickest rides). Once you reach Alabang there are 2 jeep terminals that have the jeeps going to the Alabang Town Center. 1st Terminal is in near the Alabang public market, the other one is on the Alabang Zapote road just pass the South station commercial areas. Festival Mall is just a short walk from both terminals. Cost is around 52 pesos one way (12 MRT + 30 Bus + 8 jeep).
The routes I mentioned are what I take most of the time, if you have a need to travel to any places near the landmarks I've mentioned (Casimiro intersection, Southmall, ATC, Festival mall) you can follow these for your initial leg of the trip.
There are Fx and Van terminals along these which I take quite often, the only problem is that they're usually available only during early and late morning and late afternoon to early evening. They pattern their operations to office worker's schedules. There is one in Makati at the Landmark and near SM Makati, theres one at Metropoint at Pasay Rotonda, Megamall also and Starmall at Crossing. MOA has the most spacious FX/Van Terminals I've seen so far. But dont' plan on riding these if its still office hours (10am to 3am) they don't usually have trips at these times.
TC All, and keep your wits about you all the time.
First Post! 'nak ng teteng... may content na!
Tough day today, almost got robbed on my regular route plus a supersized roasting at the office...
230am Baclaran, rode on a DMTC bus to Nova, paid my usual fare and made myself comfortable for the ride. 15 minutes later, a group of 5 men that came on the bus with me at Baclaran, stood up, ask the bus to stop at a dark and deserted spot along EDSA (before Evangelista) and nervously shouted "walang manlalaban bigay nyo lang ang kailangan namin". One of them tried to fish my cellphone out of my pants pocket and pulled hard on the lanyard. In the confusion and shouting , the driver stepped on the accelerator and the bus lurched forward. This scared the gang and they rushed out of the bus even though it was moving. The would be robbers got nothing from the other passengers, and my only loss was my cellphone's lanyard (mahinang klase pala)
.
We didnt bother to report it since nothing was lost and the bus was already travelling fast northbound. Once I got down the bus at Guadix I breathe a sigh of relief and mouthed A Big Thanks to the Protector above.
My Takeout: Presence of mind is critical when commuting. Especially after midnight and early dawn. This isnt my my first time to witness this kind of incident, Ill post them here in the future.
Time to get myself a concealed TASER. heh.
Later on my shift I had to report about my team's attendance performance and I got expertly grilled by the Ops team at my account. It was an hour of hard questions,deep dives, feedback and action planning ( gotta love workplace parlance and its pervasive neutrality, I mean I have problems using those terms consistently ^^;)
My Takeout from the session: The realization of my AFIs as pointed out by my direct supervisor. A lot of things to ponder upon and suggestions to consider. And a burning determination to make things right.
thats it for today, TC all.
