Profile
The name is Elaine or Ien or Pssst or Hoy ...or whatever suits you
...from the city of Davao
...26 with fine lines and wrinkles already
...short-haired, two-eyed na! (thanks to constact lenses), right-handed, flat-footed
...wants to be a Buddhist and a United Nations interpreter someday
...confused about life in general
Song for the Moment
You Are The One
Arki Stuff
Design Intelligence
Death By Architecture
Design Boom
Loud Paper
Residential Architect
Interesting Stuff
Kath's Long Journey
Almighty Fong
Dubai's Darkest
The Lazy Blogger
Poni's Bed
Busy Mind w/ Net Access
Des is for Lourdes
Where Everyday is Sunday
The Sassy Lawyer
Lex's Hidden Curls
Chick Cartoons
Some Kinda Blog
Global Stuff
The Japan Times
El Pais
Le Monde
La Repubblica
Seek & Find
Email Me
Archives
Tuesday, April 26
B-A-NAN-A-S
anyway, i heard this crazy meaningless song of Gwen Stefani with the word "bananas" in it. goddamn! she's the only chic who can make a song like that a hit. one look at the video made me suffer instant LSS and continous images of japanese cheerleaders spelling bananas. kainis! sinsayang ko mga neurons ko sa walang kabuluhang saging!
anyway (part two), my peyups kaberks Des visited Davao for a survey/research project for their client. We met up at my place of work and had dinner later in the evening. i don't know, na sa-nuno yata ako that night, i got rashes the next 3 days. well, i'm ok now, but some of my joints are still hurting. may rayuma na yata ako. scary!
i need to render a few more hours at work, then i'll be free for the rest of summer. yipeee!!! where will i spend it? i dunno. too many time, so little money. hahaha... my sister and i started organizing our HK trip pictures last weekend, that seems to be a good start to spend summer. probably i'll try my hands on gardening this coming weekend.
i've been downloading MP3's lately and i fell in love with the song "Nerbyoso" by Rivermaya. i dig these phrases...
Bigla akong tinawag
Uwian na pala
Pag-lingon ko'y wala ka na
Ilang gabi na 'kong lubhang nagdaramdam
Kahit pangalan mo'y hidi ko pa alam
Nais ko sanang makapiling kang muli
Kahit saglit lang kahit lamang sandali
Pagka't ilang gabi na 'kong nagdaramdam
Pa'no kung di ka na muling matagpuan
Tangina!!! Lakas tama, pre!!!! Of course, lam nyo na kung sino...
anyway, i heard this crazy meaningless song of Gwen Stefani with the word "bananas" in it. goddamn! she's the only chic who can make a song like that a hit. one look at the video made me suffer instant LSS and continous images of japanese cheerleaders spelling bananas. kainis! sinsayang ko mga neurons ko sa walang kabuluhang saging!
anyway (part two), my peyups kaberks Des visited Davao for a survey/research project for their client. We met up at my place of work and had dinner later in the evening. i don't know, na sa-nuno yata ako that night, i got rashes the next 3 days. well, i'm ok now, but some of my joints are still hurting. may rayuma na yata ako. scary!
i need to render a few more hours at work, then i'll be free for the rest of summer. yipeee!!! where will i spend it? i dunno. too many time, so little money. hahaha... my sister and i started organizing our HK trip pictures last weekend, that seems to be a good start to spend summer. probably i'll try my hands on gardening this coming weekend.
i've been downloading MP3's lately and i fell in love with the song "Nerbyoso" by Rivermaya. i dig these phrases...
Bigla akong tinawag
Uwian na pala
Pag-lingon ko'y wala ka na
Ilang gabi na 'kong lubhang nagdaramdam
Kahit pangalan mo'y hidi ko pa alam
Nais ko sanang makapiling kang muli
Kahit saglit lang kahit lamang sandali
Pagka't ilang gabi na 'kong nagdaramdam
Pa'no kung di ka na muling matagpuan
Tangina!!! Lakas tama, pre!!!! Of course, lam nyo na kung sino...
Tuesday, April 19
At the Tip of my Fingers
These are the things that happened last week which i want to share but can't seem to find one cohesive title for all of them:
- i told you so, Richard Goma! if he had been reading my blog, he would have paid his tax obligations. i mean, mahiya naman sya sa balat nya for earning over 50 million pesos and not paying his taxes. ako nga, i'm earning less than 1% of that amount, pero nagbabayad ng wastong buwis. and let me just remind him that he's also an Iskolar ng Bayan back in his college days.
- i watched three good [not really outstanding, but good] movies. Sahara, which i was only intrigued to watch because the news said it's the top-grosser for this month in Hollywood; Confidential, a smart-ass movie... makes me want to be a con myself; and the over-rated Hostage, which i only watched because i thought the house was "intelligent." i am planning to watch Be Cool... oo, adik na kung adik!
- i went out with my two high school friends... a very rare ocassion for me. we checked the newly-opened thai resto at SM, Krua Thai. hmmm, poor service, good price.
- i bought a new pair of rubber shoes. my first Adidas! hehehe... ang saya, may nabili ako sa SM Summer Sale! i also bought this craft paper office box.... the kind that you see on TV or movies when someone is getting fired from work, yung bitbit nung nasisante...hehehe unfortunately, that one was not on sale.
- i started cleaning up my things at home. i discovered i am a bag collector: 3 backpacks, 2 slings, 2 handbags, 1 beltbag, 2 gym bags, and 2 free Cebu Pacific pasalubong bags. hehehe aliw!
- i have a brilliant beyond brilliant research proposal in mind... tell you all about it when the idea reaches my fingertips. hehehe
These are the things that happened last week which i want to share but can't seem to find one cohesive title for all of them:
- i told you so, Richard Goma! if he had been reading my blog, he would have paid his tax obligations. i mean, mahiya naman sya sa balat nya for earning over 50 million pesos and not paying his taxes. ako nga, i'm earning less than 1% of that amount, pero nagbabayad ng wastong buwis. and let me just remind him that he's also an Iskolar ng Bayan back in his college days.
- i watched three good [not really outstanding, but good] movies. Sahara, which i was only intrigued to watch because the news said it's the top-grosser for this month in Hollywood; Confidential, a smart-ass movie... makes me want to be a con myself; and the over-rated Hostage, which i only watched because i thought the house was "intelligent." i am planning to watch Be Cool... oo, adik na kung adik!
- i went out with my two high school friends... a very rare ocassion for me. we checked the newly-opened thai resto at SM, Krua Thai. hmmm, poor service, good price.
- i bought a new pair of rubber shoes. my first Adidas! hehehe... ang saya, may nabili ako sa SM Summer Sale! i also bought this craft paper office box.... the kind that you see on TV or movies when someone is getting fired from work, yung bitbit nung nasisante...hehehe unfortunately, that one was not on sale.
- i started cleaning up my things at home. i discovered i am a bag collector: 3 backpacks, 2 slings, 2 handbags, 1 beltbag, 2 gym bags, and 2 free Cebu Pacific pasalubong bags. hehehe aliw!
- i have a brilliant beyond brilliant research proposal in mind... tell you all about it when the idea reaches my fingertips. hehehe
Tuesday, April 12
Sa Wakassssss!!!!
hindi ako pumasok today. pinilit ko ang sarili kong sikmurahin ang pag-fill out ng BIR forms 1700 at 0605 at i-xerox [triplicate everything please] ang mga 2316 at 2307 ko.
at tunay nga'ng there's a rainbow always after the rain! pagka-tapos kong mag-ala-CPA, nalaman kong may tax refund ako worth 8,000 Php!!!! totoo ba 'to? hindi naman kinwestyon ng BIR ang mga numbers at ang 10% optional standard deductions ko, tama siguro computations ko. maghihintay na lang ako ng cheke. ayus! love ko na ang mag-file ng ITR... pramis!
bonus pa talaga sa pagpunta ko sa BIR ang makita ko yung mga batang papa-bles sa UAP chapter namen. at take note, sila pa yung naunang pumansin. yikeee!!! unforgetable pala ako. charing!
hindi ako pumasok today. pinilit ko ang sarili kong sikmurahin ang pag-fill out ng BIR forms 1700 at 0605 at i-xerox [triplicate everything please] ang mga 2316 at 2307 ko.
at tunay nga'ng there's a rainbow always after the rain! pagka-tapos kong mag-ala-CPA, nalaman kong may tax refund ako worth 8,000 Php!!!! totoo ba 'to? hindi naman kinwestyon ng BIR ang mga numbers at ang 10% optional standard deductions ko, tama siguro computations ko. maghihintay na lang ako ng cheke. ayus! love ko na ang mag-file ng ITR... pramis!
bonus pa talaga sa pagpunta ko sa BIR ang makita ko yung mga batang papa-bles sa UAP chapter namen. at take note, sila pa yung naunang pumansin. yikeee!!! unforgetable pala ako. charing!
Friday, April 8
NATCON Aftershocks 2 (DAY 1)
the event was not only for "professional growth" i may say. it also gave opportunities for me to see old friends, not-so friends, and potential friends. let me start with my early flight...
who takes a 4:20 AM flight to manila?! me, only me... and some very diligent UAP chapter presidents like Anton from Socsargen. yikee! this is it! hmmm, not quite. actually, i thought he was a major turn-off that day. on that flight, i witnessed some of his "unprofessional" practices like flirting with the flight attendant. yuck! yuck! turn-off talaga! i later realized it was utterly stupid of me to book that flight, but i still needed to go and i just thought i'll stall myself 'til my 1 PM CODHASP* meeting.
well, who else can best stall time than Lex?! so i went to UP and spent 30 minutes chit-chatting with the chatterbox. oh, i just love his juicy chismax and entertaining kwento... 'til it was time for me to go. surprisingly, i thought Bayani's pink fences worked wonders. i made it to Heritage Hotel in an hour and a half. boysen (yes, i'm boysen-sponsored) announced that we're not allowed to check-in 'til 2pm. so, i just went straight to the meeting.
i only spoke once in the meeting. i corrected the name of the school i'm representing. i mean, hello! who names a school "ateneo de davao" only?! i think it's obvious they need to append "university" to that. so after that brief, boring, beating-around-the-bush kind of meeting, we went back to Heritage. we waited for 48 years in the lobby to get a room. and when we finally got to our room, i collapsed in exhaustion and decided to skip dinner.
i later got the urge to eat something. besides, the only food i ate that day was 2 ensaymadas during the meeting. i walked along roxas blvd. to look for a good to-go meal. i bought Kenny spaghetti and mac & cheese (ha! carbo-loading!). when i got back to the hotel, i decided to call Corina Sibayan. i heard [from a blabbermouth chapter-mate of hers] during my check-in that she's staying in the same hotel. i told her to come over to my room. we had the loooongest chickahan about her Papa Joms, my ex-Solid (ha! she finally gave up chiding me to that guy), old and new TFA, work, our non-practicing status, etc.. i missed Corina. we were like the noisiest people in the universe during college. and now, we still are! hahahaha
i retired the day with a cold bath. it was officially the most stressful day of my life.
the event was not only for "professional growth" i may say. it also gave opportunities for me to see old friends, not-so friends, and potential friends. let me start with my early flight...
who takes a 4:20 AM flight to manila?! me, only me... and some very diligent UAP chapter presidents like Anton from Socsargen. yikee! this is it! hmmm, not quite. actually, i thought he was a major turn-off that day. on that flight, i witnessed some of his "unprofessional" practices like flirting with the flight attendant. yuck! yuck! turn-off talaga! i later realized it was utterly stupid of me to book that flight, but i still needed to go and i just thought i'll stall myself 'til my 1 PM CODHASP* meeting.
well, who else can best stall time than Lex?! so i went to UP and spent 30 minutes chit-chatting with the chatterbox. oh, i just love his juicy chismax and entertaining kwento... 'til it was time for me to go. surprisingly, i thought Bayani's pink fences worked wonders. i made it to Heritage Hotel in an hour and a half. boysen (yes, i'm boysen-sponsored) announced that we're not allowed to check-in 'til 2pm. so, i just went straight to the meeting.
i only spoke once in the meeting. i corrected the name of the school i'm representing. i mean, hello! who names a school "ateneo de davao" only?! i think it's obvious they need to append "university" to that. so after that brief, boring, beating-around-the-bush kind of meeting, we went back to Heritage. we waited for 48 years in the lobby to get a room. and when we finally got to our room, i collapsed in exhaustion and decided to skip dinner.
i later got the urge to eat something. besides, the only food i ate that day was 2 ensaymadas during the meeting. i walked along roxas blvd. to look for a good to-go meal. i bought Kenny spaghetti and mac & cheese (ha! carbo-loading!). when i got back to the hotel, i decided to call Corina Sibayan. i heard [from a blabbermouth chapter-mate of hers] during my check-in that she's staying in the same hotel. i told her to come over to my room. we had the loooongest chickahan about her Papa Joms, my ex-Solid (ha! she finally gave up chiding me to that guy), old and new TFA, work, our non-practicing status, etc.. i missed Corina. we were like the noisiest people in the universe during college. and now, we still are! hahahaha
i retired the day with a cold bath. it was officially the most stressful day of my life.
Thursday, April 7
The Very Taxing BIR Filing
%#*@!!! leche! punyeta!
i can curse my heart out. i deserve to curse. i will curse and no one can stop me. if you own a business, a dead business at that, you surely know the relevance [or irrelevance] of the date april 15. lucky for taxpayers who are registered as employees, they will never experience what i've been experiencing for the past two years.
i am a registered professional taxpayer. meaning, i can sign drawings legally and i pay taxes for signing such. i have a registered business address which, as you might have guessed, is also where i live. i have a business name which, as boring as it sounds, happens to be my name. i did all the taxing, not to mention confusing, application to make myself a real pro.
i thought once the application is done, it'll all be a breeze. but no! i'm perpetually haunted by tax deadlines... quarterly filing, annual ITR filing, annual registration fees, record book updates, invoice and receipt balancing... shit! when will these all end?! kaya nga hindi ako nag-business course, tapos dito rin pala ako babagsak!!!
anyway, that's only half of my kalbaryo. this year, BIR is running after delinquent professionals. i'm assuming you've seen [on TV] doctors and beauty surgeons being summoned by BIR investigators. and unfortunately, i've not been filing my quarterly ITR for a year now. i have all the papers filled out, but i don't have the time to go to BIR. btw, going to BIR also means taking a cab (no other form of PUV's there), waiting [and standing!] in line, debating with an incompetent government employee, and having to go back the next day because "miss, 5pm na. close na po kame." darn!!!!
you may think, bat di ka na lang kumuha ng katulong? i'm no big-timer. like i mentioned at the start of this post, mine is a dead business. i only registered as pro because i am hoping to be a pro someday. that eventually, i'll have more reasons to do all these stuff. and though i rant this way, i still want to pay the right taxes. after all, it was the taxes of the people that got me through college.
i have 8 days left. hope i won't end up like those doctors on TV...
%#*@!!! leche! punyeta!
i can curse my heart out. i deserve to curse. i will curse and no one can stop me. if you own a business, a dead business at that, you surely know the relevance [or irrelevance] of the date april 15. lucky for taxpayers who are registered as employees, they will never experience what i've been experiencing for the past two years.
i am a registered professional taxpayer. meaning, i can sign drawings legally and i pay taxes for signing such. i have a registered business address which, as you might have guessed, is also where i live. i have a business name which, as boring as it sounds, happens to be my name. i did all the taxing, not to mention confusing, application to make myself a real pro.
i thought once the application is done, it'll all be a breeze. but no! i'm perpetually haunted by tax deadlines... quarterly filing, annual ITR filing, annual registration fees, record book updates, invoice and receipt balancing... shit! when will these all end?! kaya nga hindi ako nag-business course, tapos dito rin pala ako babagsak!!!
anyway, that's only half of my kalbaryo. this year, BIR is running after delinquent professionals. i'm assuming you've seen [on TV] doctors and beauty surgeons being summoned by BIR investigators. and unfortunately, i've not been filing my quarterly ITR for a year now. i have all the papers filled out, but i don't have the time to go to BIR. btw, going to BIR also means taking a cab (no other form of PUV's there), waiting [and standing!] in line, debating with an incompetent government employee, and having to go back the next day because "miss, 5pm na. close na po kame." darn!!!!
you may think, bat di ka na lang kumuha ng katulong? i'm no big-timer. like i mentioned at the start of this post, mine is a dead business. i only registered as pro because i am hoping to be a pro someday. that eventually, i'll have more reasons to do all these stuff. and though i rant this way, i still want to pay the right taxes. after all, it was the taxes of the people that got me through college.
i have 8 days left. hope i won't end up like those doctors on TV...
Monday, April 4
NATCON Aftershocks
i'm back! yahoo!!! tiring, fun, funny, amazing... that's NATCON for me. i had so much expectations for the event, but what i got was more than what i could imagine a national convention would be. here are some of the things i learned in my first NATCON:
- it is always better to be late... sa lahat ng bagay! from flights to checking-in (the hotel), registration to seminars and fellowship nights... basta, in everything! but don't get me wrong. punctuality also has its rewards [in the form of free books and magazines...hehehe].
- travel light when going to the venue, because you will surely end up with excess baggage. good thing i only have my handbag and backpack on my way there. i went home with 7 kilos checked-in luggage... puro pamphlets, souvenirs and natcon giveaways. good thing din i did not win in the raffle. mukhang mahirap yatang i-uwi ang 29-inch TV!
- print as many business [or educational] cards as you can. i swear you'll feel more "professional" when you have something to flash around.
- getting starstruck is normal. i thought "promdi" professionals like me are the only ones who want to get our pictures taken with manosa and ken yeang. well, well, well... oo nga! hahaha i have more picture-taking boo-boos to tell later.
- be loyal to your sponsor. if boysen shoulders your accommodation [and airfare for some], do not attend davies-sponsored events... and vice versa. ha! talk about being united architects of the philippines!
- lose some weight days before the NATCON because you will gain it all back [plus more pounds!] during the convention with all the buffet breakfast and dinner.
- charge [and load] your cellphone everyday!! walang paging system para sa mga nawawalang architects sa venue!
- don't forget to bring an "emergency kit" which contains the following: safety pins [to fasten everything that seems to fall or open], sanitary napkin [para sa period na tuma-timing pa sa convention...demmit!], crackers or candy [pag 2pm na at wala pang nase-serve na lunch], and hand sanitizer [sa dami ng naka-shake hands mo, pwede ka na magka-STD! hehehe]
- pick a good roomie. you will be staying with that person for 4 days and 4 nights. she will be the first person you'll see each morning and the last person you'll say goodnight to. if you don't like the person, you probably won't enjoy the event.
there, i hope you take note of what i learned. see you in the next convention (i think it's in General Santos on October).
i'm back! yahoo!!! tiring, fun, funny, amazing... that's NATCON for me. i had so much expectations for the event, but what i got was more than what i could imagine a national convention would be. here are some of the things i learned in my first NATCON:
- it is always better to be late... sa lahat ng bagay! from flights to checking-in (the hotel), registration to seminars and fellowship nights... basta, in everything! but don't get me wrong. punctuality also has its rewards [in the form of free books and magazines...hehehe].
- travel light when going to the venue, because you will surely end up with excess baggage. good thing i only have my handbag and backpack on my way there. i went home with 7 kilos checked-in luggage... puro pamphlets, souvenirs and natcon giveaways. good thing din i did not win in the raffle. mukhang mahirap yatang i-uwi ang 29-inch TV!
- print as many business [or educational] cards as you can. i swear you'll feel more "professional" when you have something to flash around.
- getting starstruck is normal. i thought "promdi" professionals like me are the only ones who want to get our pictures taken with manosa and ken yeang. well, well, well... oo nga! hahaha i have more picture-taking boo-boos to tell later.
- be loyal to your sponsor. if boysen shoulders your accommodation [and airfare for some], do not attend davies-sponsored events... and vice versa. ha! talk about being united architects of the philippines!
- lose some weight days before the NATCON because you will gain it all back [plus more pounds!] during the convention with all the buffet breakfast and dinner.
- charge [and load] your cellphone everyday!! walang paging system para sa mga nawawalang architects sa venue!
- don't forget to bring an "emergency kit" which contains the following: safety pins [to fasten everything that seems to fall or open], sanitary napkin [para sa period na tuma-timing pa sa convention...demmit!], crackers or candy [pag 2pm na at wala pang nase-serve na lunch], and hand sanitizer [sa dami ng naka-shake hands mo, pwede ka na magka-STD! hehehe]
- pick a good roomie. you will be staying with that person for 4 days and 4 nights. she will be the first person you'll see each morning and the last person you'll say goodnight to. if you don't like the person, you probably won't enjoy the event.
there, i hope you take note of what i learned. see you in the next convention (i think it's in General Santos on October).