We're on our 2nd year....and counting :)

How time flies...!!!

Exactly 3:00PM. 10th of March, the year was 2007. Started to change our lives. Me and my wife, walking down the aisle to accept the sacrament of matrimony and to officially become husband and wife in the eyes God and of the people.

And since then on, we started to act as married couple. Shared happy moments, experienced challenges as husband and wife, reaped sweet success, and many more. I know we have a long way to go and as we go along with our travel, we will still meet failures, challenges and succes as a couple.

Just hoping the we continue our great relationship so that I will not just write our 2nd anniversary but all throughout our golden anniversary and even diamond years.

Below are just some clips of our wedding. Enjoy!!!

Philippine No. 8 (...remembering his greatness...)

Just want to share bits of information and some video clips on one of the deadliest shooter and most feared 3-point artist that graced the PBA and even the Asia.

Excerpt from Wikipedia about the Triggerman:

' Whilst in the league, he was considered one of the best three-point shooters in Asia. The vaunted Chinese national basketball team recognized his ability by always reminding their players to be on the lookout for "Philippine No. 8", referring to Caidic's regular jersey number while playing for the National Team. '

For complete information and biography, refer to the site:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Caidic

Here's the video Clip:

..during his prime time..



...still the same as before..



Right now, Caidic has his own AutoBiography that I recommend everybody to read. A very inspiring book that encourage everyone to pursue their dreams and never give up.



Grab a copy now! :-)

Life of a Call Center Agent...

" Thank you for calling. My name is Joel. How may I help you today? "

" How can I help you have a better online experience today? "

A very common phrase that you will hear when you visit any Call Center here in the Philippines. With accent, twang and all for you to hear the phrase in foreign language, you will hardly noticed that the one speaking is a Filipino. Assisting a foreigner, typically from the United States, whether it is an inquiry on the service, complaints, technical issues and many more in between.


Being a Call Center Agent is not really a " walk in the park " job. You will be in a long queue for your initial interview together with other applicants that will lasts even in the wee hours. Before you get this job, you will undergo rigid interview, exams, language assessment, exam again before you go to the final Interview. If you passed all of those, you will be all set to enter the Business Outsourcing world where you will meet with your fellow agents.

Once you get hired, you also start with the training. You will still undergo language Training and series of test until you are ready on the production floor. From there, you got to experience talking to different level of customers. There are highly technical one that they are more knowledgeable that you, an average caller, and there are also callers that you need to spoon feed them before they can follow your steps. These are the callers you want to get rid of right away. :-)

I actually started my carrer in a Call Center industry last February of 2001. The company I worked for actually started as a Service Center where we cater Live Chat and Email for Technical and Billing Support. We do not have Phone Support yet at that time. Call Center on that year is not yet so popular that we do only have two Service/Call Centers at that time inside the Economic Zone. So, we can say that we are the pioneer of Call Centers :-)

And as a Tech Rep, I share the same fun, excitements, bloopers, perks and many more, that other agents have experienced. I used to get to work at night where it is common to call centers who is servicing foreign countries where Time Zone is exactly the opposite. We are Nocturnal as they say. On the GraveYard shift. But has more pay though because of the night differential. :-)

For more than 8 years of being a Call center agent, I can almost say that I have experience all the ins and outs of being an Agent.

...There is you sleep during your shift :-)
...Caught doing non-business during working hours
...Eating on the floor
...You get to issue, written warning, verbal and the like
...Get cash rewards or Gift Checks for performing well
...Awards for having perfect attendance
...Promotions and salary increase
...Recognitions
...Irate customers/callers
...Raving fans
...Anniversaries

and the list goes on....

During your shift, you will do the same usual routine. Check your mail for updates, Pre-Shift briefing, start logging on to your tools. Prepare your scripts. Then start taking member's call and with their issues. And the cylces goes on....

If you will think of that routine that you will do every time you go to work, you may get tired and burned out. Thinking of resigning or not going to work anymore because it is better to sleep. But at the end of the day, you will still tell to yourself and to your customer....

" ...It has been my pleasure assisting you. Have a great day! Goodbye! "

13 Going on 30 ( Turning 30... )

It's a shivering feeling that I will be turning 30. Time flies so quickly that I will now be leaving my 20s and enter a new chapter of my life.

That's the reality.

I should accept it. And that includes the challenges and responsibilities that will come along during my journey.

2009 will be the Year that I will celebrate my " Pearl " year of my life. To be exact, on April 21, I will be turning 30 and I am thinking, what I have done for the past 30 years of my life and what lies ahead of me, 30 years or more.

They say life begins at 40, but for me, I will start my life at 30.

Truly, it was a fruitful and meaningful years of my life. There are a lot of things that happened. Experienced ups and downs. Some comes, some stayed, others left and one added to my life. Celebrated success and cried for agony/sadness. Shared secrets and keep secrets. Played basketball, got injured and then played again. Participated in art making contest. I had won and lost.

What really I have achieved for my life this past 30 years of existence.

>> Got my first job
>> Then my second job at present
>> Have my own family
>> Buy my own house...
>> Traveled to different places

and the list goes on.....

Those above mentioned will not be in placed if not for the guidance of our Dear God, Parents and peers who encourage me to do things that I liked most, give advise and make sure I am doing the right thing.

And right now, it will be much doubled the excitement when I enter new phase of my life. Here are some things that I want to do in my next 30 years and beyond...

>> I want to study again
>> Travel more places I've never been before
>> Create my own business and get another job
>> Pamper my self by going to Spa and Massage parlor
>> Be stressed-free and look young even after another 30 years :)

Hopefully, God willing, I will accomplish those and have more years to come and even beyond. And still feels like 13, with 17 years of experience....

A Blessed Weekend and a new way to start the New Year!!!

I don't know what made me decide to write this specific topic but one thing is for sure, this has given me sense of belonging and feel blessed because of what happened during the weekend.

At around 6am, Sunday, January 4, 2009. Windy and too cold that we are having hard time to wake up. It's better to go back to
sleep than to wake up early in the morning.

Nonetheless, we started to get out of the bed and prepare ourselves for our Sunday Mass. This is not just an ordinary Sunday Mass because on that day, it is also the 24th Birthday of my sister-in-law. The whole family of my wife is complete including ME, plus the uncles, aunties, and many more ( including Trixie, our pet dog ).

Our destination: Sanctuary of the Risin Christ, Monastery, situated on the very top of a mountain located at San Jose, Tarlac, Philippines. A 45-minute ride from the heart of Tarlac City to the mountains. A very cool and solemn place, perfect for your spiritual activities, picnics and recreation for the whole family. And even colder because of the weather at that day.

Becoming a destination of Tourists, devotees and Pilgrimage, not only from the nearby towns of Tarlac, but all over the Region and from different part of the country. They say that the relic or part of the Holy Cross, where Jesus Christ used and where he is crucified was on that Church, that added more attraction from devotees to visit and see the place. And even take a closer look at it.

But before anything else, we attended the Mass that lasts for almost two hours. It started at 10:45am and ended at around 1:00pm. Right after the mass, my wife ask me if we could lined up later for us to take a peek of the box where the Holy Cross is, and as well touch it. And so, we go. We lined up for the long queue that took us several minutes to finally take an up-close with the box where the relic is. I don't know what I felt that moment when we are in front of the Holy Cross. My heart started to pound heavily while touching the box. Still cannot believe that what I am touching was the relic of the Holy Cross. It was a great experience and made me realize that I am not alone in this journey of life. I was blessed and what a way to start the New Year!!!

After that, we go straight the nearby picnic area, still on top of the hill and we made our celebration in there. Mass Celebration and a Birthday Celebration in one. We eat, took pictures, eat and have fun. That lasted for the rest of the day that when we get back home, all were exhausted and everyone fell into an early & sound sleep.....ZZZzzzzzzz...

Below are some pictures from the site...

the picnic...

scenery ( mga motor...hehehe ) ang magBF/GF (magkapatid pala)...

mag-ina + kapatid sa labas...
kaberks... cyemps...the couple....

Days that changed my life.....Forever!

What Matters Most, playing on the background while writing this...

" It's not how long we held each other's hand
What matters is how well we loved each other....
It's not how far we travelled on our way "

Late afternoon at McDonalds, with my friend, we were supposed to see someone that my friend longing to meet personally. Coincidentally, she was also there. This was a set up by my female board mate, not for me, but for my friend and her co-worker. She's the one responsible on this.

There, the usual greetings and a little " getting to know " happens while eating our Cheeseburgers and Spaghetti. At first, it's just normal to me those things. Noting special, no tickle feelings, no magic....

But the first meeting did not end there. We meet again and this time, we watched movie. Again, together with my friend. This time, we spend longer hours than the first meeting. Then, followed by another one, we start going to mass. Started exchanging mobile numbers, shared common things, lend each other books which we both love reading and went out frequently. And the rest, they so called,...is history...:)

March 10, 2007, 3:00 PM. The Wedding day! Mixed emotions filling up my senses. I don't know how will I react or do while waiting for my Bride at the Church. The moment of truth. No turning back. While waiting at the Church, I was sweating. I don't know. Maybe because of high humidity outside or just being excited and hyper for the event.

I didn't even noticed that she has arrived. When I look at the front door, she was already there, coming out from the car, dressed in white-silk bridal gown. The time has come. I was already called to prepare for my march and wait at the aisle.

And when my wife-to-be announced her name, closed the church door and started walking down the aisle, I knew she is the one. The one that will make a big difference on my life as an individual. My lifetime partner whom we will share our success and failures. Built my own family and spend the rest of my life not only till death do we part, but 'TILL LIFE AFTER DEATH....

...twilight...

The saga has started!!!

Everyone is already buzzing around this film/novel. Whether you are at work, at school, on TV or on a jeepney riding your way to work or at home and basically anywhere, everyone is going crazy on this film. If you will go to the Malls and plan to watch the movie, you better be early to avoid multitude of crowd lined up to get tickets and experience Valentine in November. Love is in the air again!

What's really special on the film/book? Is it on the story? Or the characters? My answer...I DON'T KNOW because I haven't watch the film yet nor read the book. I just do not have time reading it and it is too lengthy. We are just planning to watch the movie this weekend.

Based on what I am hearing, TWILIGHT is a Love/Romance Story but not the usual love story that we see in movies. This is because it involves two different type of creatures. A vampire and a mortal who wants to be a vampire as well just to be with her loved one. And a twist in between.

I may not need to elaborate the story because I know, most of you have already watched the movie or read the book. And even knew more than me.

So, if some you, including me, didn't read the book yet or watch the film, we may better start reading the book or watch the movie so that we will not be left out on what's happening around us....