my digiscrap is today's challenge owner's choice :)

what a birthday gift! to view more of my works, visit http://scrapbookflair.com/badyheng

SFC EA1-C CLP invitation (Sept - Dec 2008)

overwhelmed

hi readers :) as i was in a hiatus mode for months, i'm not so sure anymore if i can clearly put in words all the things that happened in my life...most of these are transitions. 2008 i must say enveloped a lot of recent significant changes. i wasn't able to blog all these because things happened one after the other that left me quite occupied with coping up with changes. i have however, documented them in pictures, you may visit my multiply site to view them. now, as 2009 is getting nearer i feel that i have to put everything in writing especially that i'm still overwhelmed by how God has truly blessed me this year. If after few months or years from now and i'll decide to go back to this entry ...i want to remember the exact overwhelming experience again :)

during the start of the year, God gave me a gift, this time...romantic.haha!we're on our 8th month as of this writing. a major leap on my part i must say. as you are all probably aware, raul is my first boyfriend. since i am nearing my 30's already (next week!), i never thought that i would still be even given the chance to love someone romantically and vice versa. at first, i felt that everything just came too late for me in "love area" (i have previous blog entries on this) but i've realized that of course this is the long been talked about "God's perfect timing"...whew! haha finally happened...so everyone was shocked as i was but they're all very happy for me as well. highschool friends, college friends, former officemates from way back and relatives... all suddenly communicated with me in different ways...friendster message, e-mail, text message, multiply comments...thanks for wishing the both of us well and i hope that you'll continue to pray for our relationship.

december of last year marked my 3rd year at RS Components...my longest stay in a company so far.it has been my comfort zone for the past years and sadly, i've started to be the person that i used to hate, started to do things for the sake of doing things, it was working and losing my passion at the same time...but everything was perfect, i've mastered how to manage time, how to deal and work with everyone. i was okay...was okay but God has other plans for me...He slowly unveiled all these and mid of this year, i was hired by another employer. after 3 years and 7 months, i bid goodbye to RS Components. if this was a better career move, i have yet to see. as far as i know...i will face new career challenges again and i know this career is another gift from God so my hands are just all up praising Him.

before i got my new job, JM on the other hand, has been blessed with a new job abroad. i think this gave me enough confidence that God has always been taking care of us, our family.prior to this, we were both so worried of finances because we are now sending third to college and 3-ann to high school. of course, i was saddened that he'll be physically away (at least, when he was at IBM, we got to spend weekends together) but also glad that God is also unveiling His plans for him one by one :)

sometimes, i feel guilty...i feel that i dont deserve all these...but God assured me TWICE (during She's All That -SFC Women's Forum and ABLAZE-SFC Metro Manila Conference) that I DESERVED ALL THESE GIFTS because I AM GOD'S DAUGHTER and I AM LOVED BY HIM.

SOOO LOVED, I AM OVERWHELMED :)

an invitation to all single men & women - SFC CLP Apr-July 2008

still no updates

the so-called long weekend didn't make any progress in my blogging updates. i was testing our company's production site the whole saturday before it went live yesterday...it was too tiring. i think i have developed some sort of phobia to computers when i'm at home...it gives me an atmosphere of work thus i didn't dare to log-in yesterday & last sunday...i planned to update resume and check my personal e-mails which both just didn't push thru as planned. i just rested, dated and exercised..hahaha!and all those planned and unplanned activities actually have untold stories yet. i'll just elaborate if i find time.

this is still me blogging...just not my usual style...argh

i miss blogging

it's been four months since i last blogged....i so miss blogging. i have so much stories to write...happy and not so happy ones. i'm looking forward to the long weekend...i do hope i can update...see, i cant even promise? but i will try...

it was indeed a merry christmas

credit:http://scrapkittydesign.com/

forgiveness does not mean that what happened was acceptable. forgiveness simply enables you to completely, once and for all, let it go. - ralph marston

have a joyous and prosperous new year to all :)

a peek outside SFC life

i spent almost an entire week in davao last week. i never really bumped with storms lando and mina as there were only drizzles there. honestly, i went there half-heartedly, i learned about the business trip a day before my flight. i was worried with pending jobs in manila, siblings i'll be leaving (because JM also had an out of the country trip during the time i was in davao so i was worried sick about leaving 3rd and 3-ann alone) and dance/yoga dance classes i'll be missing which is being offered for free in the ofc. i tried to enjoy the trip although i basically just hit the roads here and there for company presentations and for some, i had to do alone.davaoeños are very sincere and good-natured people and i enjoyed the warm welcome by the clients. they also seem to appreciate that we paid them visit despite the fact that we are manila-based.one company even gave us 4 boxes of bananas...and these are export-quality :) my friends know how much i love this fruit ^-^ i also enjoyed long talks over dinner and more talks over coffee at Bo's Cafe (must try is their cafe mocha!) with my officemate. we don't normally do this if we're in manila since we have different circle of friends.

i reached home after lunch last saturday. i just rested whole afternoon and attended a family get-together dinner to welcome my cousins from the states who are spending a couple of weeks (or more, i'm not really sure) here in manila. whew, the family has gotten bigger :) lots of kids were running, dancing and singing...oh, i truly enjoyed joining them ^-^. my cousins and i just took pictures (pang-multiply and friendster daw!) and chatted the whole time... i enjoyed the chats but i wish i could avoid those questions thrown to me pertaining to seems like my forever single status ...argh, until now i don't know what or how to answer such questions...i can't just blame God, can I? hahaha!

here's my first attempt to digiscrapping...i was inspired by gelen's blog. got the frame as a freebie from kat's blog. since christmas is in the air and it looks like we had a pre-holiday reunion, i think the background fits so well. just click the image to enlarge :) i do hope i'll find time to arrange my piling digital pictures to something like this...something quite organized :) funny, i have done so many layouts for work but not quite often when it comes to personal stuff.

now that i'm back, as expected, jobs piled up and my boss even went on leave...argh! well, at least i was able to attend the dance/yoga class last tuesday :) i truly lack exercise as my muscles still ache until now but i'll still be attending later's class. . .hahaha! oh, i need such stress-relieving activities to rejuvenate :)

we, errrr they are, uhm.... still kids :)

i've attended my first ever Kids For Christ Conference last Sunday. kids do know how to spell F-U-N! we brought 29 SAGIP kids and 4 SIGA from GK Selecta Village. i am so proud that they really behaved well again and had their own kind of fun at the same time. the kids enjoyed the show, the games and most of all, kids praisefest where they all danced and sang their hearts out to the Lord. . . well, we enjoyed it too but i have to admit that unlike the so hyperactive kids, i had to pause and rest sometimes. this is one of those rare times that these kids become like all the other children for an entire day...not worrying about little siblings to be taken care of (oh except for efren who's such a sweet, responisble brother to mandra...they really look cute), household chores to finish, accompany parents in selling balut and all other grown-up responsibilties.for an entire day, they were just kids and i feel really happy that i have witnessed all these. somehow, this keeps me driving to still serve. i like to thank these kids that they allowed me to be part of their lives, to be part of the miracle that God is bestowing upon them :) i can't wait to see them again this saturday.to view pictures of this fun day, click here .

on a more personal note, it feels really weird that my friends from all over (college, sfc, workplace) are saying the same things. it's just so weird...well, thanks for the concern but believe me things are all well...don't worry too much about me :)

Two Men

i wrote this blog entry three years ago. i am now freeing a bunch of yellow balloons to heaven again to let my papa know that he'll always be remembered and loved and to ask God for JM's brighter and more fun life ahead of him.

to the two men who've significantly influenced my life so much, HAPPY BIRTHDAY :)

fun, tiring and fulfilling weekend

i woke up really early last Saturday even earlier than my usual working day. i needed to be at GK Selecta Village before 5:30 AM as i still needed to distribute SAGIP children's t-shirts and ids. this year , we just brought 20 kids with us. although, it was a little hurtful that we couldn't bring them all, i think it was still the most logical & practical decision since we have limited budget and only few SFCs came to the event.

we rested for a while when we reached mall of asia. we dropped off our things in the farm and took our breakfast.out of curiosity, i ate pinoy style carbonara. the sauce made all the difference . instead of using cream, they used gata ng niyog and oh i think instead of using expensive tuna chunks, they used galunggong as toppings. it was uniquely good :) certified rapsa!

the kids on the other hand were having their own fun with the animals.

we went to paraisong pambata after we have fully explored the different GK farms. they played pinoy games & slid down the giant slide . us facis were just literally waiting for them to give up, hehehe.

oh, that side of MOA turned out to be really clean despite the fact that hyper kids crowded the place. the trick was all kids who traded- off a plastic bag full of garbage were rewarded with a gold fish by Batang Kalikasan. the kids were running here and there ,picking up garbage when this was announced, happy smiles were written on their faces when they received their rewards.

in the afternoon, i wasn't able to join the parade because i became really sick . jm just brought me home. it was really a long day but 'twas really fun. i am so proud of this set of SAGIP kids that we brought, they didn't give us headache. we all just had fun.

despite being sick and tired, i still helped for the preparations of our chapter's halloween party the next day. we just prepared cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks. it urned to be really successful. we had quite a good number of attendees and our participants in our on-going CLP also joined us and they're even in costumes. to have a glimpse of this fun party click here .

3 years and movin'

it's been three years and no matter how difficult it is to include blogging in my schedule, somehow i still manage to write every once in a while. i'm no celebrity so this blog anniversary won't have contest of any sorts hehehe...really, sometimes i wonder if there are people who even bother to read my entries. i remember during the first few years of my blogging years i was really fearless ...writing as if no one will ever read it anyway so i was openly telling how i was feeling, what i was really thinking without rationalizing. ironically, i named this blog an open space and yet i am not really disclosing much as compared before.well, a corporate slave has nothing much to tell anyway and although i want to tell so much of my weekend activities and adventures, i rather not go online because i wanna catch up on sleep, rest, spend time for dvd marathon that is when i'm not occupied with sfc activities.

right now, i feel exhausted...that's why i'm blogging. i wanna breathe, really breathe.maybe i'm just tired.i do dread for the day that i'll feel forever stuck.lately, i've been feeling that the world around me has been movin' and changing... i, on the other hand is not moving along. i always say i'm busy, people see me as one too but there's nothing...really no giant steps, no major changes...but hey, should there be one, can i really embrace it..a new life? a new self? i don't really know but i am hell curious. i was traumatized by major changes in life i think because the last time i had one, i was crying until tears literally ran out. i wish for a feel-good change now. i think i have learned enough lessons in life that i can bring as i move along with the ever-changing world.just let me move.

hey, i feel like going back to my old bloggin' style hehehe...so this is like going back 2002.so, to anopenspace here's to more stories, opinions & feelings to share. Cheers!

well, that's really coffee, i'm not drinking alcohol anymore to get drunk or start so as not to stop. it's one of the cool errr hot (:"*^%*?) changes in my life and with that, this blog doesn't anymore look like very 2002.hehehe.

English Experts

i used to work in an american-franchised bakery during my early corporate years. being part of the marketing team, i used to ask our american parent company to ship some of their extra marketing collaterals to help us save printing cost. having just very few outlets then, a lot will just be put into waste if we print locally.one time they sent us to display a sticker to be placed on our hotplate...i couldn't perfectly remember the exact message but i think the message goes like"30 MINUTES FRESH OF THE OVEN GOODNESS". hey, i wasn't the marketing officer then so when my boss said it's okay (although i didn't strongly believed so), i asked all bakery managers to display the sticker anyway...so there, we were flooded by English-expert Filipinos with "Shouldn't it be 30 MINUTES FRESH OFF-THE OVEN GOODNESS" corrections. i knew it. okay, so sometimes American English sucks.

now i am working in a multinational company whose parent company is based in UK. it's one of my duties to review soft copy of magazines for regional publication but for local printing. normally, i just correct some errors in pricing, catalogue page numbers, company's contact details etc...but just this afternoon while i was going through my usual review...printed in bold as an article introduction.... a very grammatically incorrect statement... " Company ARE one of the principle channel partners for the most respected names in Test & Measurement. Company HAVE trained sales engineers and a technical helpline to......." so there, when i replied to our South Asia Marketing Executive in Singapore, i said it should be IS instead of ARE and HAS instead of HAVE. i mean, it's quite a simple subject-verb agreement. to my surprise, we even needed to have an exchange of e-mail:

HER:"Hi Jeng, for Page 10, I have pointed out to UK before but they claim the English is correct. So I shall stay put as it is."
ME:yeah, if it they say it's correct English, who are we to argue...they're English...hehehe but see, Asian market just doesn't accept that.personally, i don't wanna print, distribute and explain to everyone that it's correct English in UK.so, no way we can change? it's a simple subject-verb agreement.
HER:Haha… I agree with what you say. Let me check with a few more people. In case we are the one wrong and arguing will make it very ugly.Will let u know. ^,^

i thought it's going to be okay already but then again, we even had an exchange of messages in our office communicator...the communication went like this:

her: gosh... i got different feedback from different people
her:Is there any english expert in PH tat we can consult?
me: hey, don't we just use "have" for singular pronoun "I", other than that we use it for plural.If it is just one company then we use "has"
her:hee, i manage to get someone to give opinion.she is the asia marketing mgr.her english powerful... haha
me:hopefully she sides with us i did ask around. ..hmmm, we all think it's really not correct
her:ya same i am talking to her now.yeah, she said "is" hehehe, we won!
me:three stars!

obviously, i was just being polite. i know for a fact that it's very elementary really :) i didn't expect that it'll be a big deal.

in conclusion, sometimes American English sucks & sometimes British English also sucks...and the world needs ENGLISH-EXPERT FILIPINOS ?!3@*($^! hehehe....

on this new national issue

my travel time from work going home is basically the same time as the evening news on tv so i don't get the chance to watch.oh, late news is very late for me because i wake up at 4:30 AM to prepare for work. sometimes when channel surfing while watching channel 7's telebabad, i get to glimpse on news at channel 9 or channel 11...unluckily, they don't feature all these CFC-GK news. when people asked me about it in the office for the first time, i'm quite shocked that it even reached status of "national issue".honestly, since i don't get to watch news on tv, i don't know how to answer...should i defend CFC and GK that doesn't sound too defensive? why do i have to talk about this with them in the first place? they're not even CFC members and never been to any GK site! heck, some members don't even know what's really happening and maybe the news shocked them even more! i don't like talking against brothers & sisters who've been God's instruments for me to have a better relationship with Him. just thinking out loud, maybe there are people out there who have the same dilemma now. if we unite in the future, i hope this also reaches "national issue" level...but i doubt, people just love talking about negative things...this truly saddens me.

sugar, spice and the not so nice

God never fails to surprise me.just when i thought that my "dance with life in mono" would be forever, He suddenly gave a dash of sugar, spice and sprinkled on some not so nice in my personal bubbles.

last August 2, - a dash of sugar to my family bubble. we've received a sweet gift from God...my very first niece, Miah Francesca -named after her mom, Jeremiah and dad, Francis. we call her Mishka for short and yes, i sort of pushed her mom to have it as nickname because of my fondness for filipina jazz singer, mishka adams.well, her cute nickname matches her cute face. here's her picture :

evening of the same day, i've received an inivitation from a brother in the community to give a talk in their CLP. since i'm basically free on the time & day of the event, i immediately said yes then asked which talk will i be giving. he replied "talk 7" then i felt God pouring my personal preference bubble a dash of spice. the talk is about christian family and for the past 7 years in the community, i've been purposely avoiding and declining to give it for two simple reasons- i've always felt unqualified and unworthy to even talk about something that i am not convinced that i have. i believe that our family's situation is not even close to the definition.since i said my "yes" already, i could no longer back out. suddenly, this picture of mishka was sent to me by my brother- i suddenly heard God speaking to me that "here's a realization of my promise". it's a clear message that it's about time i have to talk about my family in the community. i shouldn't take away the fact that God has been victorious in our lives when all 3 of us siblings joined SFC and was able to successfully channel our brokenness to something positive.

i've never felt such nervousness when my name was called as the speaker to talk about christian family and i've never felt so victorious after i gave it. the teamleader told me that he was so sure that i was meant to give it. the participants were all from GK site and they were able to somehow associate themselves to the same struggles i have as a single person trying to build a christian family.

my family introduced me to God and to the church and i owe them big because my sense of spirituality has a solid foundation. when i yearned for a deeper friendship with God, i joined SFC. the whole community of CFC-SFC has been my solid rock for the past seven years...lately, it's being put to test. this ain't God sprinkling something not so nice on my spiritual bubble, it's maybe just something that He allowed to happen so we can refocus and not further fall into something that is not pleasing to His eyes. i admire the wisdom of our elders and i even have greater faith that God will lead us all to UNITY.

as for me, i will always be thankful...for the good times and much more for the bad times of my spiritual journey.for in these trials, that i have gained greater faith.

just another sick entry

have i really watched so much televison shows? or have i just really let myself worked so hard? i posted those questions because it seems that i miss a lot on life lately. i have too much questions on my head right now.they just popped from nowhere. okay, okay so i've been sick again and i hate the feeling of being not busy because that's the time when feeling of being alone sets in. i dragged myself to work until thursday so i could finish reports. i was feeling terribly bad since sunday night but i think i'll feel worse being alone at home. i don't wanna miss papa so much who used to take care of me during times like these. i perfectly remember him being the one who always ended up having sleepless nights just to make sure i took my medicines on time, gave me sponge bath and would only be able to sleep if i was.friday was like hitting rock bottom and this time i really had to stay home. thursday night i was really chillin' and experiencing migraine.asthma attacks were there but i was able to handle it.right now, i'm giving myself a rest. as much as i hate to admit it,i miss being taken care of and i'm truly just faking i'm okay but no need to worry, i've been to even worse situations...i can carry on.

A Taste of Heaven

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chronicles of may

goodbye daddy nonong-may 1

i just grew up fondly calling him "daddy", he's my uncle. when i heard the news about his death, i felt quite relieved. i believe that those people who've done enough in life deserves rest and daddy is one of those. sometimes, it's even at a person's death that you've learned so much about that person. reading about daddy here at tita grace's blog , i've realized how interesting his life was. i've known him as the quiet, hardworking seaman uncle who've always been respected by our family and that was it. bringing third & tri-ann with me, i took a vacation leave for 2 days to attend at his wake and funeral in lucena. it was nice seeing the whole clan again :) the kids (my cousins) have grown up, they were so hyper, uncontrollable & funny. . . i suddenly felt really old around them. click my multiply site and kado's multiply site to see pictures of this event.

jason's wedding - may 12
cheers, pare! be faithful to your new 6PM sharp commitment :)
eto ang katibayan ng huling pangbabae mo na binata ka....hahaha!

chapter outing -may 13

whew...after 2 years (not so sure, i think it could even be 3!), we were able to have a chapter summer outing again. we had it at lakevila resort in binangonan. though, i'm not the kind of person who enjoys the pool (i can't swim) but the cool company of my sfc friends and the overpouring inihaw were already enough reasons for me to enjoy. there were fun games & videoke sessions. everyone was on "cloud 9" (hehehe) when we left the venue.

'til next year, chaptermates :)

i voted-may 14

i never missed practicing my right as a voter of this country since i turned 18. it's one of those privileges of being an adult that i really looked forward to. this elections, i didn't think about winnability of candidates i voted. the people whom i put my trust to the respected seats of this nation are equally respectable and whom during part of their previous career have proven themselves to have done something for this nation and since i'm no fool not to know that at one point of thier lives, these people have also been part of the worsening corruption situation of our government, rest assured that i have thought my decision over and over---i voted the lesser evil...no matter how uniwinnable they are.

sad news-may 15

a former officemate informed me that JP,our then COO in Cinnabon died of a heart attack.it's so sudden and everyone's shocked until now. his body is still in france and once his body will be brought here in the philippines, it's gonna be a sad reunion for us former Cinnabon employees who shared sweet days with JP in the yellow building along buendia:(

may i pass?

i wanna write about:

HOPE WEEKEND
FY08 RS BIZ LAUNCH
HOLY WEEK '07

but i wanna pass this time. i lost my thoughts, forgot all the details & most of all hate posting just pictures.

for now, i just wanna say, i'm back to looking forward on going home early again, bringing pasalubongs and experiencing regular headaches of budgeting...welcome back 3rd & 3-ann! btw, pati rin pala kay jm :)