Losing my phone again and again!

On May 18, the thief struck again. This time, in a holy place like a church. Yes, the thief spared no place at all. Even the house of God is a place for thievery. Well, it's not surprising at all since even the church's artifacts are often best targets by bastards.

This is now the second time that my phone (this time a Nokia N93i) was stolen straight from my jeans' pocket. Am I just silly or just too trusting? I never learn. The last time it happened to me was inside the MRT train (Damn this number coding that I had to commute!). Same methodology, same pants. Damn, I really have to get rid of that pants! Grrr.

I have already informed my employer about this. In due time, I will have my same number back since my subscription is postpaid. It will come of course with a new phone (again!), but this doesn't come cheap. I have to shell out money (again!) payable in three gives through salary deduction. Arggh!

Mother's Day

Together with my wife, my mother, my two siblings, my two 'pamangkins', and other 'sabits', we went to Tagaytay particularly Leslie's. We arrived there at around 1:30PM and was able only to eat our lunch at 3:00PM. The said restaurant was jam packed. We were numbered 22 on queue. I just can't imagine if there's really the so-called crisis in the Philippines. We had no choice but to wait for our seat. We didn't consider moving to other restaurant because it was just the same thing -- restaurants in Tagaytay were simply jam packed.

After Tagaytay, we paid a visit to Sisters of Mary School (SMS) Adlas, Silang, Cavite, but it was just a very short visit. Then, we went to Baclaran church for a mass. Afterwards, we went to Mall of Asia's seaside.

It was a tiring day but it was one of the happiest days for my mom. She just can't express her happiness especially with all the care, hugs and kisses she got from us.

P a p u a N e w G u i n e a ' s (P N G) blunder

Just before the Holy Week, our agency said that our employment contract for P N G (P a p u a N e w G u i n e a) had arrived, only to be returned back due to some discrepancies. The contract stipulated a wrong number of years of employment and the salary was not the agreed one. Now, it's another waiting time. It's been a month since the wrong contract was sent, but still we are in this dilemma. We are a total of 9 IT specialists waiting for the contract. Five are Oracle developers, two are network administrators, and two are Oracle database administrators (including me with a senior position).

I have read that P N G government has a notorious bureaucracy. One forum site said that even those Chinese workers already in the mining field in P N G had to wait six months for the work permits to be issued. Another site mentioned that even missionaries waited more than six months for their visas to be issued. Is this the kind of government that I will be dealing with in the next chapter of my life? Am I ready to deal with this kind of bureaucracy? I will be working with P N G's Department of Finance, and being a future government employee, I will be part of this bureaucracy. Tsk, tsk. But I hate this kind of slow-paced processing of papers. Grrr. If not for the juicy offer, I would not have waited this long. Luckily, all of my future colleagues are still willing to wait. According to them, the fortunes that we'll be receiving are worth the wait. Probably, that's the reason why P N G is hiring a lot of IT specialists to improve its processes.

Lord, please give me more patience.

Pagbabalik tanaw sa A-E-I-O-U

Matagal tagal na ran akang handa nakakapag-blag. Sa wakas ngayan ay nagkakaraan aka ng aras na magsalat sa blag ka.

Ewen ke be pere peg gemegewe me entre pere se bleg ke, newewele peged ke. Pegtyegeen me ne leng eng entre ke dete se bleg ke.

Hindi ki ling din mintinidihin king niintindihin mi iti. Piri bilib mi si iyi pig nintindihin mi iti

Nopoporol ong otok ko pog hondo oko nokokopog-blog. Koyo dopot tologo ogoloon logo ong pogbo-blog.

Sulumut su pugtutuyugung mugbusu nung blug ku. Usu ku ngung wulung muguwu su buhuy. Mubuhuy ku!

Becoming A Technical Manager Or Going Abroad?

My boss now wants me to become a Technical Manager in Nokia Siemens Networks. What shall I do? Should I signify my interest knowing that I have plans to go abroad? He is giving me today and tomorrow for the final decision. It's causing me to think deeper. Another sleepless night of thinking? Sometimes, opportunities come in droves but you'll have to decide which one is the best for you.

Being a manager here in the Philippines won't be a problem if I will just live and work here the rest of my life. But, I really want otherwise. In fact, I'm just awaiting the employment contract from overseas. Should the contract come then bye, bye Philippines. The position that I'll be having abroad is a Senior Oracle Database Administrator (a position I so desire), and I will command better pay than being a Technical Manager here.

It's now a matter of career advancement vs. money. I'm just praying in the end that my final decision is right. Help me, God.

Puno for President

Well, if you can lead the country, and if you feel like leading it, you'll have my support, and I hope other well-meaning individuals will support you as well. We need non-trapo leaders. We need a leader like you. From the looks of it, neither the administration nor the opposition can field worthy candidates. All of their candidates are craps!

New Year, New Hope

The year 2008 was a bad year for the entire world. Global financial crisis, that is. It also made my lifetime savings disappeared in a snap due to a forex scam. Amf!

My year 2009 will be characterized by the following:

- A new hairstyle (I have just recently had my "semi-kalbo" haircut)
- A new career (I'm looking forward to work overseas by refreshing and enhancing my Oracle DBA skills. I'm tired of working with Nokia applications. I will be better off specializing in Oracle database administration because this is a better passport to work overseas. So many opportunities are really available for database experts all over the world)
- A new strategy in life (I'm looking forward to permanently migrate to other country and finish my MBA there instead. I'm actually narrowing my choices between Canada and Australia. I'm no longer interested to finish my MBA here)
- A new outlook in life (being more optimistic and patient in dealing with others)

The above-mentioned are not my new year's resolution. They are far more than that.