November 30, 2007

It's A Wild WIld World!

Kaeiy is listening to: Jeepney - Sponge Cola

October 4 was World Animal Day! So to all the animals in the world: domesticated, wild and home-trained (hehe)... I salute you all.


I have always loved animals but as a child, I was picky about the animals I cared about and those I tortured beyond belief. Yes, I am guilty of animal cruelty. You know what PETA says, those that start with animals eventually progress to people. Well, it has been almost twenty years and I haven't found dead bodies in the backyard - mine or anyone else's, human or otherwise - that were slain by my hand.

My adventures into being a pet owner began at age 4. My dad got me a grown brown askal which I named Brownie. Sadly, he caught canine diarrhea and died in a month. I cried like mad for weeks. Then we moved house and I left my sorrows over Brownie in the old house.

Then my lil brother joined me in the new house. We used to catch garden spiders (our old house had a garden bigger than the floor area of our house, whch we lovingly called The Forest) and we would throw them on top of red ant hills. Then we'd melt plastic bottled mounted on sticks and "bomb" the red ants we just fed. Yup, PETA and Greenpeace offense in one (I'm sorry already! Get baaaccckk!) but what the hey! My brother and I finally stopped when we realized we were contributing to the increasing number of insect bites we received whenever we stayed in The Forest beyond 6pm (later, we found out my mom also got dozens of bite marks on her legs whenever she watered her plants so we quit altogether), not to mention global warming - which was not a hot topic back then, no pun intended.

When I got older, we chased the dragonflies that landed amongst our plants. When we caught one, lil Bro would promptly tie sewing thread on its butt and let it fly around like a demented kite. Same thing with frogs - we caught 'em by the dozens and stored them overnight in plastic pails. we released them the next day at nightfall, so they can "eat up all the nasty mosquitoes" in The Forest. One time, we caught a frog (theoretically, they are common garden toads - the kind you probably dissected in your high school and college Biology classes. I know I did!) so huge that we when it let loose a stream of pee, it filled up a cup of Magnolia ice cream. We tried to restrain it and successfully did so by putting it under a half-gallon can of Selecta ice cream (I remember it was Mantecado - my favorite next to chocolate) - which was a very tight fit, believe me. we released it in the deepest recesses of The Forest where it can happily gobble up even the dragonflies and the grasshoppers. My second brother was a baby then and he liked touching the cold-blooded hoppers and laughed when he got peed on. Talk about strange!

One Sunday my dad took me and my lil brother jogging, as was the ritual (then we'd buy special puto with a slice of cheese from the market and when we were lucky, there would be siomai for sale - I usually saved mine for lunch). We deviated from our normal route, which took us up into the hills. Lo and behold, I saw an army of tiny froglets (probably emerged from a pond a few meters away in a grassy vacant lot) jumping towards the road. They looked like huge, flesh-colored ants. I grabbed an empty container of ice lollies (with the top cut off) and stuffed as many of them as I could. If my memory serves me right, I was able to stuff 23 of them in the ice lolly container. When I got home, I stored them in a deep basin (for washing clothes so my mom was mad as hell when she saw what I did) I had sprinkled with a layer of damp soil. Later that day, my mom took me to the grocery store. I took 17 of the babies with me (I left the other 6 in The Forest so they can gobble up mosquitoes) and I happily dispersed them in the store, thinking they could eat moquitoes there too. Of course, it did not occur to me that they were probably too small to survive.

That same year, my second brother's godmother gifted him with a white rooster (he loves roosters - now he loves to eat chicken... konek?) which we named White in Ilocano. However, my dad decided to slaughter him 4 months later, since he usually got into fights with the neighborhood roosters (the little fowl was free to roam and he usually ended up on the other side of the fence, where several fighting roosters were kept). Needless to say, nobody ate the arroz caldo served that afternoon. It sat in the fridge for a week until it became a spoiled blob of porridge and chicken meat.

Two years later, at age 9, my second brother brought home a chick. You know, those reject male chicks that come from poultry farmers - those that usually end up as Day Zero or Day-Old chicks available at your local push-cart with tukneneng and kwekkwek (let's digress: the males are rejected upon hatching because male broilers consume more food than females to fatten up to the same weight). I immediately took to the helpless little thing and I took care of it like a baby. I vowed that it would not be slaughtered for any reason. It slept beside me in a shoebox filled with shredded newspaper and a crumpled facetowel. My second brother named him Tyrannus (the other three my lil brother bought were named Rex, Titanus and Titanic. Sadly, they died just three days later). He became my alarm clock. He'd wake me with his twittering, just in time for me to get to school on time (when Tyrannus was alive, I was never late for school - which I usually was though my house was three blocks from school) and when I got home, he'd meet me by the door. Due to my ignorance of normal chicken feeding, I fed him cooked white rice, strips of meat (a cannibal is what he turned out to be eventually) and lots of bugs from The Forest - grasshoppers, moths and an occasional damselfly. As a result, he remained just slightly larger than a chick but with full feathers that allowed him to go airborne. He lived in a cardboard box lined with shredded newspaper and he was spoiled by everyone in the household. His unfortunate end came in the form of a miniature tiger - a ginger feral cat that usually roamed The Forest. Before my afternoon ballet classes, I took a nap and was awoken by lil Brother shouting that Tyrannus was being eaten by a cat. Apparently, somebody (my cousin, I suspected) left the backdoor open so Tyrannus flew out of his box and took the chance to roam in The Forest (he was allowed to do so when we were with him). My mom, carrying my little sister (still a baby then and had a bum stomach), chased after the cat and hit it with a stick until it dropped the poor chick. It was too late.

We packed Tyrannus in a box of baby shoes (my baby sister's, if my memory is still functional) lined with newspaper and wrapping tissue. Then we gift-wrapped the box, glued a glow-in the-dark crucifix on the top and took it to the church. We buried the box in The Forest. The next day, lil Bro found a tombstone and installed it on the mound of earth that was the chick's grave.

A week after that, the Cat Burials began. Lil Bro and I caught cats (mostly adolescents) and I buried them in knee-deep holes. When they were grown cats, I'd tie their front and back paws together with yarn then bury them. If they were mere kittens, I'd bury them as they were. After filling the foot-and-a-half deep hole, we'd sit and wait if any creature comes out alive. If one did, we wished it a good life. If none did... well, better luck in their next life! When we left the house about two years later, I forgot all about those buried cats. Up until now, I'd rather not have cats for pets but I no longer have the urge to bury them. I even surprised myself when I adopted a white kitten a few years back. However, she went to visit with the other cats and apparently ate poisoned food meant for rats.

I did not have a pet for some time until my youngest sister brought home...tadaaaah!... a duckling! It was male, rejected for the same reasons as male chicks. It looked malnourished, stupid and ready to keel over and die any second. I named it Engot. Which evolved into so many other names (as is usually the case when you are part of my family) until it became Dookie.

The whole family loved Dookie so much that he slept in a cardboard box in our room (near the A/C because he apparently prefers the cold) and sometimes on our beds. When he grew too large to be a bedmate, we housed him in a rooster enclosure - dead center on the carpet of the living room with a floor of shredded newspaper. He would accompany us to family outings and family gatherings. He ate with us at Dampa (and ammused the gay waitresses to no end), took a trip with us to Caliraya and Paete, swam in the beaches of Ilocos Norte and splashed in the rivers of Abra. We celebrated each birthday with a cake, candles and spaghetti. He died at the age of four years and 4 months.

I swore I did not want another pet.

In February of this year, my baby Rex (a male Yellow Labrador) turned one year old. He is fiesty, fat, big and quite a handful but is nevertheless a lot of fun. To walk him is a struggle (he drags me on the street) and to be in his path when he wants something is disaster. He belongs to my two uncles (Rodj and Dindey) but I was able to spoil him like I usually spoil my pets. Hehehe...

Three weeks ago, our newest baby -mine and Jeni's - went to heaven to join the other little ducklings that populate Heaven's Pond (haha!). We sure will miss the sweet little thing. My friend, Greyzie, gave me a picture frame with a duckling on the corner as a belated birthday gift so, she said, we won't miss Baby Dee too much.

So! Belated World Animal Day, y'all. Remember, animals are friends! Not food! Be kind to animals, especially your seatmates. *peace*


-o-o-o-o-o-
""Bumaba ako sa jeepney
Kung saan tayo'y dating magkatabi..."

0 STARGAZERS JOINED ME ON THIS STELLAR QUEST

November 29, 2007

Masyadong Seryoso...

Kaeiy is listening to: Could Have Been - Frio

Hmmm... kapansin-pansin na medyo seryoso ata masyado ang mga previous entries ko. May konting drama, may mas maraming drama, may napakaraming drama... Hindi ko nakilala ang sarili ko. Haller, isdatchu? Hudahelaryu? Halleewww... Anubaaah! Para naman akong others eh... Ay hindi naman pala. Slight lang, di naman ma-shadow!

Pero teka... Bakit? Bakit? Bakit ako ganito ka-seryoso? Dahil ba sa ilang oras na meeting tungkol sa pagpalit ng transactions ng Assembly to Test, Assembly to Test to Out, at Test to Assembly? O di kaya nakalanghap ako ng kung anik-anik na fumes na galing sa Mold Cure na amoy sunog na buhok at nag-evaporate na di-ethyl ether at rugby na nasinghot ng taong-grasa at ng utot na mula sa Delta Quadrant? O baka dahil sa mga di-matukoy na klase ng radiation na galing sa projector (di kaya nabaog nako dahil dun?)? Dahil ba nagkanda-loka ang File Mapping dahil sa recent changes na dapat i-apply bagama't napakalapit na ng deadline ng team? O di kaya ay dahil sa hinayufak na pakshet na walanjong product engineer sa basement na bigla ba namang sumulpot at muntik nang... Naaahh, di naman siguro dahil dun. Hindi naman niya siguro sinasadya... Baka kasi nakita niya ang aming version ng Sadako na gumagala sa mga ramps. Matanong nga pag nakasalubong ko ulit, ngyahaha...


Hemingway, dahil uber-stressed na ang mga fifol sa buong departamyento dahil sa SAP Migration na itechiwa, nag-outing kami ng ibang myembro ng aking team. Ayun, lumangoy-langoy kami sa maligamgam na tubig ng Pansol na sinasabing ihi ni Maria Makiling - namfotsah naman, minsan lang mapapalapit sa diyosa eh sa ihi pa napunta! Tapos eh nagsipagkantahan na parang humahamon ng isandaang bagyo dahil may water shortage pa rin sa bansa at nag-kodakan na parang walang kinabukasan. At shempre kumain ng maraming-maraming marami! May lechon, alimango na pinasingawan sa suka at bawang, sugpong niluto with kung anu-anong magic care of
Manong Bossing, inihaw na tilapia, inihaw na liempo at porkchop (hindi naman puro carcinogenic ang kinain nila noh?), pinakuluang saba at kamote (kahit na di ako kumakain ng kamote - kahit isabay sa sipit ng alimangong binalatan ni Fafa Domz - tenkyu Fafa Domz! *mwah* Pero ayoko pa rin ng kamote!) Nakakapuyat pero nakakarelaks kahit paano. Biruin mo, bente-kwatro oras hindi sumagi sa isip ko ang Product Component, Airport Arrival Time, Second Optical, Die Attach, Wire Bond, Mold Cure, Assembly Cycle Time at pangalan ng kung anu-anong kumpanyang gumagawa ng kung anu-anong hi-tech na mga bagay. Mental Relaxation, ika nga!

Pero shempre ngayon, back to reality. Kaharap ko nanaman ang aking monitor at kinikindatan ulit ako nila Wafer Receipt, Die Attach Cure at Laser Marking. Hindi ko sila na-miss, pramis! Buti na lang ay merong dalang espasol si Renan mula sa kanilang probinsya at nakapagsabi na ako na o-order ako sa kanya ng maraming maraming espasol sa susunod niyang uwi! Kain lang nang kain! Di bale nang tumaba! Pambawi din sa puyat!

Speaking of puyat, masayang makipagpuyatan sa mga tao dito... lalo na yung mga bukas ang third eye. Nakakakilabot mang pag-usapan, nakakatuwa din naman mag-compare notes tungkol sa kung ano ang nakita/narinig/naamoy nila sa kung saang sulok ng planta. Magsabi lang ang isa ng sentence na nagsisimula sa "Guys, may multo ba sa..." o kaya "Minsan pag gabi, may naririnig ako sa..." ay tuluy-tuloy na ang kwentuhan tungkol sa ating friendly neighborhood once-living chums. I-discuss ang fashion sense ng Lady in Black sa War Room sa mezzanine na parang ten million years nang hindi nakakita ng suklay at nakagamit ng shampoo. Inokray ang suot na unipormeng pang-kinder ng isang chikiting na lalaki na kulay grey na nagtatatakbo sa isang hallway sa mezzanine na walang patutunguhan kundi isang dead end. Naglokohan tungkol sa kasarian ng nagmumultong sikyu na naka-puti na bumubulaga sa glass doors. Pinaka-common nangyayari ito during dinner time. Sakto, madilim na sa labas at oras na ng labasan... ng multo (at ng mga nag-OT na A-shift sa production). Tapos takutan na, pa-corny-han ng jokes para kunwari di natatakot, tapos sabay papasama sa CR kasi naiihi na sa kaba. Tapos maya-maya lang mapapansin namin na pinagsasarhan na pala kami ng canteen at dapat na kaming bumalik sa aming mga cube dahil nagpabayad nanaman kami ng OT na wala naman kaming nagawa kundi magtakutan, magdakdakan at kabagin sa kakatawa... hehehe.

Mahirap pumetiks dito... una sa lahat, naka-deadline kami. Malapit na mag-Go Live! Nakakalokaaaah! Parang gusto ko maging manananggal na nahahati sa anim para magawa lahat ng dapat gawin bago pa dumating ang tinginingining-poknat na deadline na iyan! Pangalawa, mahiya naman ako sa balat ko kung pepetiks lang ako... samantalang andaming dapat magawa! Kung si Manong Bossing nga eh halos di na sila nagkikita ng asawa't mga anak niya para lang matapos ang trabaho... deebah? At shempre, para saan pang pumapasok ako sa opisina kung pepetiks lang din... Magb-blog, magsulat ng kung-anu anong eklavu chevernes, makipag-okrayan sa ibang mga baklitang team mates, paduguin ang ilong ni Yuge sa kaka-Bisaya namin nila Au (na pinsan ng Pambansang Kamao), Grace, Macs at Arbee, takutin si Mommy Cel tungkol sa batang umiiyak malapit sa cube ni Ma'am Emely, at pagkwentuhan ang mga kabalbalan na ginagawa ni codename Barang!

Kaya dapat lang na tigilan ko na itong pagta-type ng wala-wentang post na itech... Trabaho na ulet. Vavayu!


(After ten million years, nagawa ko rin itong i-post. Pero sa bahay na. Alam mo naman ang Internet access sa kumpanya - malakas ang Websense!)


-o-o-o-o-o-

"Could have been a perfect love; I'm still trying
I know you lost your faith in me; now I'm crying
I know I've been such a fool; I've been blinded
Can we just get back to where we started?"

0 STARGAZERS JOINED ME ON THIS STELLAR QUEST

November 02, 2007

...And To Think I Have Work Tomorrow!

Kaeiy is listening to: the sound of clacking mahjong tiles

I have work tomorrow but I have nothing better to do with my time since I can't sleep so it's QUIZ TIME!

You Don't Have a Boyfriend Because You are Too Picky

You have no problem attracting guys - and even dating a little
It's just around second or third date time where you start to see faults
If a guy isn't near perfect, you're not into him.
It's good to have standards - but yours rule almost everyone out.


I don't have a boyfriend because I'm not interested in them... hehehe...

There's a Chance You Could Be Violent

Overall, you're a pretty chill person - and you have a good handle on your emotions.
Sometimes your anger gets the best of you, and end up regretting how you act.
Try to curb your temper more often. It only has to get out of control once to do some damage.


This is almost too kind... Hmmm, I wonder what kind of damage I can do. I know for a fact I can kill someone. Haarrrr...

You Should Own a Dachshund

Comical, social, and stubborn.


Oh yes yes yes! I've always wanted a mini... a black and tan. But Big Baby Rex, (who is getting yellower and fatter at 34 kilos) and Baby Dee are taking up all my time and attention. Aaawww, dogs are so cute!

You Are Coffee Ice Cream

Energetic and lively, you are always on the go.
You're doing a million things at once and doing them well.
You tend to motivate others and raise spirits.

You are most compatible with chocolate ice cream.


Love love love coffee! One of the last things I will ever give up!

You Are More Like Angelina Jolie

Bad girl with a heart of gold.
You are smart, sexy, and strong willed.
You aren't against stealing another girl's man...
If he's better off with you!


I luurrvvveee Angelina Jolie. She is just awesome. Words are never enough... Oh Angie, why did you stop with Jenny Shimizu?!? You could have met me... and ran off in the opposite direction, screaming your pretty head off! Harhar...

You Are An ENFJ

The Giver

You strive to maintain harmony in relationships, and usually succeed.
Articulate and enthusiastic, you are good at making personal connections.
Sometimes you idealize relationships too much - and end up being let down.
You find the most energy and comfort in social situations ... where you shine.

In love, you are very protective and supporting.
However, you do need to "feel special" - and it's quite easy for you to get jealous.

At work, you are a natural leader. You can help people discover their greatest potential.
You would make a good writer, human resources director, or psychologist.

How you see yourself: Trusting, idealistic, and expressive

When other people don't get you, they see you as: Bossy, inappropriate, and loud


Mama always said I would be better off in HR than in the technical department... heehee... Sorry mom.

You Inner Gender is Female

You're sensitive, caring, and willing to connect with anyone who's open to you.
You make friends easily, and you enjoy all sorts of conversations.
You understand most people you meet - better than they understand themselves.
You're totally a woman... or at the very least, your soul is female.


I knew it! I knew it! O ayan ha, yung mga nang-aasar sa akin na lalake o pare ako! Read this and be a believer! Babae po ako. Mali ka diyan sa inaakala mo...

And for the grand finale:

You Are 60% Weird

You're so weird, you think you're *totally* normal. Right?
But you wig out even the biggest of circus freaks!


The picture is just too cute! It is definitely something I would do, harharhar... Come to think of it, I will do that and post the picture on friendster. Seriously, that would be too funny.

Uuuy, aabangan na nila yan! Aminiiiinnn. *peace*

I'm still not sleepy... maybe I'll play a few rounds of mahjong... See yah!

0 STARGAZERS JOINED ME ON THIS STELLAR QUEST

November 01, 2007

No Bombs In Here!

Kaiey is listening to: the sound of rain on the rooftop

Instead of the planned shopping spree Jeni and I intended to have today, we went to Trinoma instead. I was curious of the mixed reviews I got. I remember going to Greenbelt 3 during its soft opening and some of the reviews reminded me of the reviews for the newest Ayala mall.

Well, let's just say that some of the comments are true (at least in my opinion) but some were... no longer applicable. The lighting is a bit dark and the ceiling a bit too low, especially in the food court. The choices are not as extensive as that in Glorietta but the overall vibe is more Glorietta than Greenbelt. However, the atrium (the garden levels are in the second/third - I cannot discern - and the fourth level) contains mostly restos found in Greenbelt.

We decided to eat at Jack's Loft. I originally intended to take Jeni there for our anniversary but we found Libis a bit too far from the hotel for comfort. So it was also a good thing we saw it at Trinoma. For starters, we had cheese fries and chicken fingers. Since Jeni loves chicken, this dish was a hit for her! She also ordered Chicken Stir-Fry - juicy chunks of chicken in a bed of rice simmered in broth, strips of sweet red bell pepper and caramelized onions. I tried the rice and it was quite tasty. I had 4 Mushroom Pasta - fettucini in cream sauce with 4 kinds of mushroom. I love mushrooms so this got my approval. We had quite a feast and I cannot believe we ate all of the food up, considering we had a fishbowl of iced tea, haha!

After eating, we walked around the mall looking for a pair of new badminton shoes and a Healthy Options shop. Jeni got her shoes from Badminton Hub and I found the Healthy Options store but failed to find the item I was looking for. Hay...

On other topics, work has been hectic. I've been working na extra 28 hours per week for the project. It's quite amusing that it seems that sineryoso nila talaga yung sagot ko sa tanong nila na "How do you handle pressure?"... sabi ko kasi na I don't like working without pressure. It's just too boring! Hay naku...

Anyway, an old friend and I reconnected some time last week and it's been great! I never thought we'd find each other again and I'm glad we did! New friends are silver but old ones are gold.

0 STARGAZERS JOINED ME ON THIS STELLAR QUEST