I sooo deserve a gold bar.

Haha. Ai might kill me for posting this. BUT. I do! I do deserve a gold bar!

Ai a.k.a. Dubai Girl was supposed to arrive in Beijing from Shanghai at 11:20pm yesterday. I was coming from a special screening of Sex and the City so I left the place at 11, thinking I'll be at the airport just in time to pick Ai up. I got to the airport at 11:45, already expecting flights to be delayed, as is the norm here in China.

But I was not expecting to be waiting until... (drumroll please) 3:30am.

I think I was half-asleep when Ai finally managed to give me a call at around that time. I had been waiting for my phone to ring for 3 hours, and when it finally did, my heart fell when I saw that the area code was 021. Shanghai's area code. I knew what it meant. Somebody was still in Shanghai.

Hahahahahaha. I laugh about it now but last night (well, effectively, it was already this morning) was quite an ordeal, I must say. Sleeping at the airport is never fun. And I was still in my office clothes because I had to do overtime at work then I headed to the SATC screening directly afterwards. Add to that the fact that this morning I still had to drag myself to the office since I had only filed for half-day leave. Oh well.

And that is why... Ai, I deserve a gold bar! Gold bar, gold bar! Pa-gold bar ka naman! :)

Random Rants

I used to post random thoughts on my blog when I am too lazy to organize the million things floating around in my head. But due to my cranky mood which has been going on for quite a while now, I figured "rants" was the more appropriate term.

1. Meron akong mga officemates na hayop sa lakas magsalita. Walang pagkakaiba ang lakas ng boses niya kahit pa nasa telepono, o kausap ang kaharap niya, o kausap yung sa ka-team niya na nasa kabilang side ng department namin, o kausap yung mga taga ibang planeta. Ano bang problema niya?

2. Pag sobrang ingay dito at gusto ko nang sumigaw sa pikon, ginagawa ko, nakikinig nalang sa iPod to block out all the noise. Oo NOISE talaga! No.1 hindi trabaho ang pinaguusapan 70% of the time. No.2 yung lengwahe nila, well, it's not the most melodic language. Pero ang masaklap dun kahit naka-todo na yung volume (and I almost risk shattering my eardrums) eh naririnig ko parin sila. Kakaiba diba!

3. May isa din akong officemate na akala ata niya beach etong floor namin. Kakaiba ang outfits. Katulad ngayon - ang suot eh normal na sleeveless, white skirt na flowy at mala-gladiator sandals. Huh??? Oo summer na, alam ko, pero sa loob ng office eh air-conditioned parin naman. Plus, hello, corporate office kami. Marami-rami ding pinakamatataas na leader ng organization namin ang nandito, sa floor namin mismo. Besides, Deputy General Manager na siya (mataas ang job grade yun). Naiinis ako kasi di ko ma-take na sa team namin mismo may mga taong unprofessional.

I know - live and let live. Pero bakit ba, blog ko to. Che.

4. Andaming trabaho, walang motivation.

5. Bakit kaya sa buhay, napakahirap gawin ng mga bagay na tama. In the same note, bakit kaya sa kumpanyang to, gustuhin mo mang gumawa ng tama, napakadaming pipigil sayo - the nature, structure, culture of the organization - something always gets in the way.

6. Malapit na kong mainis sa mga tao na nangungulit na sumabay sakin pagpunta sa gym. Haler. Pag nasa gym ka eh makikipagchismisan ka pa ba? Sakin kasi di talaga social activity ang pagpunta sa gym. Hingal na hingal ka na sa treadmill, poproblemahin mo pa ba ang small talk?

7. Vanity irritates me. To the highest level. Ayoko talaga sa mga taong high-maintenance. Palibhasa may pagka-cowboy ako. Pero ewan ko ba. Naiintindihan ko naman na kailangan mag-ayos. A healthy level of vanity is always needed, and in fact, appreciated. Pero pag OA na, uhm, parang hello ano ba. Di naman umikot na ang buhay mo sa pag-aayos sa sarili? Oh well. Like I always say. I don't like the things I don't understand.

8. Napag-usapan na namin to ni Jaybee dati. May pagka-balahura talaga sila. Walang finesse most of the time. No, not even finesse. Basic hygeine nalang. Is that too much to ask?

Well it seems hindi lang ako cranky, borderline racist pa ko. Joke lang. I'm tolerant most of the time. Wala lang talaga ako sa mood right now. I apologize na.

9. Kamote, kamote. Men are innately kamote. Period.

Ang dami ko palang rants. Hindi na healthy to.

Some people scare me

When I was in college and we were asked to draft a write-up for the yearbook, there was one question that made me pause and think: What is your biggest realization in college?

Eventually, I had answered that it was this: that you cannot expect people to have the same values as you do. People are raised in different environments, go through different experiences, and that makes us all fundamentally different. And what may be logical, natural or ethical to you, may not be for the next person.

Fast forward to four years later. It's often said that politics is inevitable, specially in the work arena. I understand politics despite refusing to be party to it most of the time. However some people either take it to the next level or just do things that can no longer be justified by 'naturally-occurring politics' - it's just plain stupid rude and these are the ones whom I don't understand. Don't they think that people can see through them and their blatant lies? Are they not afraid of the truth coming out? Of being confronted by the people they back-stab?

We are not able to and should in fact not hold people against the same ethical standards that you hold for yourself - this much I accept. I just find it hard that some people find amusement in messing up other peoples' lives. Have people grown so conniving that it's too much to expect anyone to just live and let live?

Well. *sigh* Work woes. You gotta have them, right? Back then I used to think my university was a melting pot of all kinds of people - hence the realization. In the course of my work experience I have met quite a number of interesting characters as well, including those who fit in the category I have just described above. I really don't understand them. The things that we don't understand, more often than not, scare us. And these people do scare the shit out of me.