sunday dinner.
------

i made dinner last sunday, and here are some photos. the photos are blurred, i don't know how to make it not - maybe it has something to do with macro and micro shots. i don't know, i have yet to study photography. HAHA!


i made sauteed asparagus and mushroom with shrimp.


another shot.


i used penne and spirals as pasta - i was supposed to use green ribbons which would look much nicer since its white sauce on green pasta. i will make that some time.


i also put some mushrooms and tuna as part of the sauce.

anyway, i don't think i will cook for the next few weeks. i was still sick when i made this, and i had to cook for 6 people, after this, i was more tired then usual. HAHA! anyway, i enjoyed it and till my next kitchen adventure.

so, am staying.
------

so with the recent turn of events, i was convinced to stay, and i have the following reasons (everytime, i think about leaving, i should remind myself of these reasons why i should keep on...)

1) i like my work - i like working with P&G, and i like the brand i am handling.
2) i am blessed to work with people that i work with - from client, to SSM (local) teams, GBU, MDO, etc.
3) i am comfortable here - i can say what i want, and do what i want
4) CCT still has some great people, and still i do have really good friends there - ryan, on top of that list.
5) they are giving me what i want - despite of global recession, etc
6) they are giving me what i asked for - and its a 2 months worth of sabbatical leave. actually, i really need to take some time off.

anyway, i'll be out from august to september, and will only be back in action in october 2009. i can't wait for that. i have to make sure that i use my leaves well. some of the things, that am thinking of going are the following:

1) aug 5-9: hk-macau with mom (again!!)
2) aug 10-14: pagudpod and vigan with lester would be fun
3) aug 19: chicho's birthday
4) aug 26: dad's birthday
5) sep 10-13: boracay with my cousins is being planned.
6) sep 17-21: taipei is a definite go with cho.
7) NY to visit paulo - but i am afraid to take 17 hours in the plane. (not sure)
8) sydney to visit sarah and ahya ichi and achi michelle. (not sure)

well, lets see, i have one more month of being here in SG, and i can definitely plan to go wherever i want. anyway, am also booked this july, am flying off to 2 destinations

1) bkk, july 10-13, i booked this apartment called ROYAL PRESIDENT (www.royalpresident.com) - seems to be a good place, recommended by a thai friend, it costs around 7,500THB for 2 nights, with 3 beds, am sharing with simon and sarah. simon and sarah leaves on sunday night, and i will be staying until monday, so i booked myself (so excited) at lub'd (visit www.lubd.com) which is a boutique hostel in bangkok. please go and visit the site, i was so excited when i saw the place, one bed costs around S$30, i can't believe i will be staying in there. i mean, i have never done that before, and this is just so exciting. first time for everything as they say. YAY!

2) kota kinabalu with mech on july 23-26, we haven't booked any hotels yet, but we will try to settle this by tomorrow. but what we are looking at is:

1st night - shopping at city center
2nd day - island hopping and beach escapade
3rd day - nature park, reserve, trekking, etc

and that should complete the trip, and the back to manila, where i will stay for 2 months. YAY :) big grin.

client update.
------

so i had a chat with my client earlier today.

Client says:
separately Anton, I hope everything is working for you on a work and career standpoint, let me know if you need to talk

Anton says:
oh, thanks. appreciate it a lot. so, i guess you know already?

Client says:
tell me...

Anton says:
oh... uhm, J spoke to me already, and i said that i won't be able to stay.

Client says:
are you very sure Anton?
are they still not able to meet your expectations?

Anton says:
well, i told her that as of now, yes. because i was very tired already (not from working on P&G). i told her that it is unfair since i could not give my best to both starcom and P&G.

Client says:
but what are you looking for? what do you want?
have you found something better?

Anton says:
honestly, nothing yet.

Client says:
I would like to know wat you are looking for and see if P&G/Starcom can meet it
tell me what you want Anton.....

Anton says:
i just wanted to have a break, some time off to clear my mind.

Client says:
seriously Anton, if there is something u are looking for, let me know, cos I really want to ensure, we have done what is required to see if we can meet them
I want to ensure you have thot thru, explored all options and not making a rash decision

Anton says:
thanks. i think i need a break to clear my mind. i hope you understand that my issue is never with P&G.

Client says:
thus more so reason why I think you should think carefully. Do you need some time? I can talk to J again.

Client says:
Don't worry Anton. Just call me if you need to talk...

Anton says:
ok thanks. i would think about it

--

and now, i am rethinking. OMG!! can someone help me?!

i love sneakers.
------

i love sneakers. i saw this nike hi-cut sneakers in full black and pink soles that i would really like to have, its just that it costs S$150 - normally, i would not have any problems with that. its just that now, i don't want to have unnecessary expenses, especially that i don't know what my next step would be. all i know is that i wanted to take some time off and rest for a while, meaning bum/jobless but thats cool. i am in no rush to find something new.

anyway, i love what i got in H&M SHANGHAI, its perforated, blue sneakers.



apart from that, with just a few weeks left (i have to really update my blog with whatever is happening, but i just want to update the final ones and not every small thing) - i have to do a few more things before i leave, its written in this small yellow notebook of mine. HAHA! some things on my list are the following:

1) go to woodlands and eat my favorite roasted chicken rice with charsiew.
2) buy lao hu tzi comic books for domi.
3) go to orchard and get boxes so i cah shift my stuff back to manila.
4) fix my credit card and phone bill statements
5) book the hotel for my bangkok trip
6) buy bak kwa for colleagues in bangkok.
7) shop for good finds in bangkok/jatujak, need to buy lots of boots no.7 products.
8) fix prices on clothes i have to sell - back in manila
9) shop for more finds in singapore
10) once am back in manila, i have to plan our taipei trip with my cousins in sep. thanks to achi michelle for giving me tips and contacts. i just have to fully utilize that.
11) and of course, enjoy the hk trip i'll be having with mom come august.

anyway, i still have a lots of things to do, and being the OC that i am, i can't wait to scrap them off my list. HAHAHA!

final.
------

so, my last day in here is on july 21. i really can't wait, am so excited that i have finally decided to go and just leave it all behind. its a liberating experience, and am looking forward for some time off actually.

plan is to really take a break, my cousins and i are planning to go to boracay come august - chopoy, twing and marj confirmed, we will send out invite to everyone when am back. am really crazy excited about this. its like a welcome back, take a break kinda thing, plus the fact that i have never been to boracay for the past 26 years of my life. HAHA!

also, lester invited me to go to vigan/pagudpod for one week, he works for unilever sales department - and that is his territory. he has his own place in vigan, and i really can't wait to be back there again. i will bring tracy along with me, so when lester is working i still have company naman. shucks, so much plan. but definitely on the 19th and 26th of august, i have to be home, its dad and cho's birthday kasi. i missed chicho's birthday for the past 3 years, and i can't miss it now.

come august too, when ryan will be home, we will go for a roadtrip with pat. i hope tinan can join too para masaya, and its the first time we will all see each other in manila. YES.

also, mom and i might go to HK kasi she wants daw. sana matuloy. am sure mom would hoard a lot of kikay things na naman - make-up, fake lashes, lip gloss and skincare stuff. speaking of skincare...


anyway, i asked cheryl lee to buy some skincare products for my mom in bangkok, its called boots no.7 skincare range, this is a toner and a lotion.


i bought SK-II products for mom. i also need to buy for marj and tita bot.

talk about pampering your parents. i have read in one magazine that kids should really pamper their parents, and i am beginning to adopt that kind of attitude.

shanghai, june 2009.
------

after 3 days of touring beijing, we flew to shanghai to see the city. i mean, how could you go to china and not see both cities right? rather than doing it separately, i decided to just see both at one go - i don't have a lot of leaves, and that is the worst part of working outside your home country. i want to see my family every quarter or 2x a year, and i want to see the world as well.. HAHAHA. plus the fact that i want to be home for their birthdays and special occasions. but it won't be my problem soon. :)


we went on a river cruise to see how the city looks like. they say it looks better in the evening with lots of lights covering the entire city, but the afternoon was worth it as well, as we were super exhausted by the evening.


AURORA gold building in shanghai - the gold shimmers that is reflected in the water is beautiful.


this is shanghai old town, it was fascinating, i really enjoyed being there and i wish i could have spent the whole afternoon hanging out in there.


i had to have a photo in shanghai old town, probably the best place that i have been in shanghai. it feels like chinatown, although yes the whole city is chinatown.


jenny, our tour guide was saying that this xiao long bao is really famous, and its located in shanghai old town which is like a tourist spot. the queue was so long it was crazy.


it was a long line, and i really made that face to show the burden of having to queue. patience is a virtue, and that is true.


my favorite thing on earth - taro milk tea, 6RMB each.


jerry is one of the famous papercutter in shanghai. he told me that he will be in the US touring for the next 2 months to showcase his products. i was so amazed by him that i went to get something for myself, for mom and dad, and for sarah.


i went to this store that sells dried pickled fruits, i know my ama (grandmother) loves them so much that i decided to get for her.


sintiandi is where the expat community of shanghai would go and have drinks after work. its a place where business meeting are held, as food is really a part of the chinese culture when closing business deals.


there is an elevator in the zara store, and the funny thing is, there are just 2 floors, unlike H&M which has 5 floors, and has escalators inside. HAHA

by the end of the trip, i was in love with the city. though, currently, i dont know if i still want to go there and work. i missed my family so much, i missed manila, and its really calling me to go back home. lets see, where my next adventure will be. :)

beijing, june 2009
------

greetings from manila. i just came back from cafe breton, i had to catch up with lester. we talked for a really long time, maybe 2 hours, we had to update each other with whatever has been happening in our lives. we seldom talk, but he remains to be one of the few people updated with whatever is happening to me. HAHAHA!

i came back from my china trip last saturday night, i cant believe i have been in a plane every 3 days with this kind of itinerary - i really wish i could have stayed here longer.

i spent the whole sunday afternoon with mom - we went to trinoma and i accompanied her shopping, she went on to buy a dress, zara top, etc. i did buy something but not for me. i didn't even want to look at stores anymore since i had my fair share of shopping in china - that left my credit card in a lot of pain, and that also means i need to find a job right away. i shopped for my family as well, i got mom like 4 dresses, i got dad 4 polo shirts, i got cho 3 shirts and 2 necklaces, aggie got like 2 tops and pearl earrings, and a lot of pasalubong for some friends that i owe. HAHA! so there.

beijing was fun, tita bot liked it so much, it has so much history that i cannot even comprehend. we had a driver, car and a tour guide just for the both of us - so i kinda felt like a VIP, and we were so efficient since we did not need to wait for other tourists. i said what i want and where i want to go, and it happened.


great wall of china, a must see. i was telling mom and dad over dinner that i know they love HK bec it is a shopping heaven + good food and yam cha, but they have to go to beijing just to see so much chinese history. i have to say that i didn't like the food in china, it was super oily.


this was by the river outside forbidden city or summer palace - am not really sure anymore since our itinerary was so packed, it left me breathless.


forbidden city photo taken by tita bot. we walked the whole 700+ hectares of it.


i love taking photos of flowers, it started when we went to HK disneyland back in 2006. now, i have a lot and beijing has a lot of flowers, may i say? this is just one of the photos i liked - i have them in every color. this is in wangfujie street, its their shopping district, obviously we went there to shop.


i saw a church and was supposed to enter, but it was closed. its a beautiful structure, i fell in love with it.


don't you just love it?


i went to uniqlo to shop, although there is uniqlo in singapore, it didn't have much designer collaboration as what was in the beijing store. i loved every minute of it, and i really went bonkers. they featured model AGYNESS DEYN in their latest campaign - i guess it was for their basic wears.


this is the 2nd uniqlo store i went to (wangfujie), the first one was in sanlitun where i also met up with jeanette, she accompanied me in H&M in qianmen and sanlitun. we shopped together, and had dinner - it was really nice to see her again. as you can see, i shopped, total worth of RMB 872 for these pieces. H&M was a different story and i spent around RMB 1,650 there. :(


i got cho this really nice necklace that tita bot first saw, i wasn't even aware of the brand - skull candy, anyway i took a photo of it.


being the dessert person that i really am, i went to buy this natural beauty muffin/cupcake at 6RMB each. i got the peanut butter with whipped cream and nuts on top, they have like 10 flavors, but everyone knows i love nuts and chocolates together (like reese's peanut butter cups) that i enjoy tremendously.

more of my beijing photos in multiply, i have yet to post. tomorrow, i will do a post for my shanghai trip. i need to sleep, since i have to wake up early in the morning, and do errands, (1) go to the bank and settle some things, (2) go to makati and meet trace for coffee @ 11am, (3) meet with pat for lunch @ GB, (4) dinner with mom's side of the family @ choi's garden in greenhills. HAY, bitin.