Yesterday was the last day of one of my teammates. He's flying to Singapore for greener pasteurs ergo better opportunity, higher salary, smaller taxation and higher cost of living. He was a good consultant. I can't help but be emotional about his leaving because I was the one who interviewed him when he was applying for a job here, I was the one who highly recommended him to be hired, he was my padawan for the last 9months, I personally handpicked him to be part of one of my successful projects. It pains me to let go of good people but as a good leader, I will never hinder them from growth and moving on.

It just sucks to know that most of our highly skilled professionals are migrating to other countries because of the lack of financial stability here in the philippines. Let's cut the crap out of nationalism and serving my fellow men. I've been in manila's corporate rat race for the last 6years and I've seen how difficult it is to do business here in manila (talk about a lot of legal holidays declared by the president, inflation rate, political instability, corruption). My salary as a paid employee can only go as high as what my company can afford paying me. But even with having enough money to afford my luxuries, do you really think the philippines is where you want to raise a family when there could be some place better? If there is another job that guarantees to give me better pay to afford and sustain more luxuries in life, a better life after retirement, I will not think twice. Hypocrisy aside, it's all about the money.

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Ok... I just finished proofreading what I wrote above. Wtf! It's verbal diarrhea! I'm too lazy to do my work for today so I'm keeping myself productive by blogging. Hehe.

My weekend slacking activies:
- Download the rest of Grey's Anatomy season 3 episodes. Of course watch them afterwards.
- Play my newly downloaded flash games: Chocolatier, Fashion Story, Burger Island
- Download the Catherine Zeta-Jones movie "No Reservations"
- Watch more dvd's
- Babysit emails
- In-between the tasks I listed above, I intend to catch sleep

Fyi, this is my usual weekend activities. I could stay in bed for 2 whole days with only bathroom and meal breaks. Yes, I have a barely existing social life and an uncomplicated love life.

And oh btw, I got my schedule for the embassy interview. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Dizizit!

As much as I would like to be very professional with my job, sometimes it's inevitable to be emotional. Like for instance when something went wrong with a past project and the client complained about the PM's decision, boss would bring up the same topic over and over even during company GA's and weekly mancom meetings. Annoying really!

Whenever I make project decisions, I have always made it a point to consult my superiors. If I have made wrong calls, I have always been accountable for them even if the decision was approved by my superiors and a consensus of the team. I have suffered the consequences of these wrong decisions and for my boss to continuously dig and bring up those instances is really getting into my nerves. Adding more insult to injury is just way too much.

- Luxury cars overload... Every couple of minutes (err..seconds) walking down HK streets, I was salivating over the luxury cars that passed by. I've been to europe but the number of luxury cars there was nothing compared to what I've seen in HK. Latest BMW, Audi, Porsche, Benz and Lexxus (my luho dream car)!
- Did you know that HK has clean air and streets. I tried walking on flip-flops for 1 whole day (literally walk and walk and walk) and guess what?! When I got back to the hostel, the soles of my feet are still squeaky clean. Look ma, no alikabok! Amazing!
- HK Tsim Tsa Tsui area is infested with bumbays so beware! Their smell is so revolting.
- When HK subway (otherwise known as MTR) crosses with another subway line, the drawing in the map is not realistic. They may appear as 1-2mm away from each other in the drawings but in real life, they are 1-2kilometers apart. Expect to do a lot of walking and climbing stairs.
- Harbour City is literally a city in terms of how huge it is. Probably that's the reason why it wasn't called Harbour Mall nor Harbour building because it's as big as a C-I-T-Y!
- It really is a shopping haven. I could spend an entire day inside the Esprit outlet and SaSa perfumery.
- Ocean Park is extremely crowded on weekends. I mean Divisoria-like during Christmas season crowded!
- Good food is everywhere.
- I thought Manila bus drivers are the worst, I had to reconsider when I rode a mini-bus in HK. The driver was speeding at 60kmph in a tiny street with lots of cars parked on both sides and pedestrians crossing. Scary!
- Mineral water doesn't come cheap especially inside Disney and Ocean Park.
- Never trust the weather forecast in HK. Before I left Manila, weather report in HK said there will be rainshowers and will be cloudy. During the 4 days I was in HK, it never rained and it was f*cking 34+ degrees hot.
- Tsim Tsa Tsui area reminds me of the old Ermita.
- They don't serve spaghetti and gravy in McDonald's and KFC.
- The IFC mall in central is infested with Pinoy DHs.

- it's difficult for me to sleep when I have pending deliverables
- it's normal for me to sleep at 2am then wake up after 3hours and go to work... my officemates probably think I'm an alien
- even if i arrive at the office early like 7am, i never leave the office earlier than 7pm
- i sometimes think aloud. yes, i talk to myself, my laptop or some inanimate objects
- a failed/nearly failing project is a big no-no. who doesnt?!
- i have high expectations for myself
- i have high expectations from members of my team
- i worry too much even with the things I am not supposed to worry about.
- i like being intellectually challenged
- i hate working with unprofessional people.
- i complain a lot but still get things done even against my will
- if i dislike a project, it doesn't mean i will under-deliver... it gives me more reasons to perform well and prove I deserve a better project.
- in my mind, I am an escapist but I will never leave my project until it's done nor leave my project team in the middle of a battle
- i hate cleaning up somebody else's mess... literally and figuratively
- at the end of a draining and frustrating day, passion is the only thing that fuels me
- i am strict with deadlines and accountability
- admittedly, i am impatient but it takes so much to piss me off
- i am a control freak

- Belated happy anniversary to HH and I (Aug. 1). Thank you for the eat-all-you-can buffet lunch at Brazil Brazil. =)
- Belated happy birthday to HH (Aug. 7). Thank you for the Persian dinner you spent with me and the eat-all-you-can korean barbeque+shabu-shabu buffet last week.
- Belated happy 27th anniversary to my parents (Aug.9). Wow!

Upcoming celebrations...
- John's birthday on Aug. 17. (I hope im invited to his party.)
- Kuya Vince and Ate Sam's wedding in Bohol on Aug. 25 which Im afraid HH and I can't attend because of hectic schedules although I'd really love to fly to Bohol at this time of my life.
- My pop's 52nd birthday on Aug. 26.

So many events to celebrate. Too many eat-all-you-can buffets to try. After this month, I will be going on a diet. Promise!

I've been a lazy blogger. After I came back from Hong Kong last week, my workload tripled. I don't know where and how to start digging through the tons of things to finish. I don't have enough power to narrate everything we've done in Hong Kong so instead, I'll just be posting pictures.

*photos removed by author.*