Note to self: Focus on getting the job done

Work has came around. I am finally in a much better place than where I was weeks ago. Somehow, the important work just stopped and the clerical work is slowly piling up. The important work of course entails a deeper understanding of the process, connectivity with people to analyze gaps between the now and the tomorrow world, communicating the gaps noted to the capable individuals who will resolve the issue. Not that I don't want to do the important stuff, I just somehow think that I am not good enough to these things. Now that I'm stuck with the "no brainer" ones, I regret the times I complained of these difficult assignments, what I should have done is tried my best instead. I should have grabbed those opportunities. Here's another note to myself: Do not complain, FOCUS On getting the job done. There are people who are willing to help if only I learned how to ask for it.

Note to self: You have a bigger God, worry not.

Work is still difficult. I am not making progress and I have a timeline that I need to strictly follow in order to keep up with the ever challenging project that I've committed into for the next 8 months. Mind you, it just keeps getting worse but it also keeps getting better at the same time. Well, there's too much to learn, too much to do. It's good for the body, it's great for the brain knowing that it still has capacity to unearth/decipher these knowledge that I am trying to/gaining right now. I still applied in another company though, not because I am weak enough to handle stress but because I am just trying to find out if there is a better option out there. I am hoping, of course, that I find one. Yet, I am also praying that I'd be damn good in what I am doing in this project. At this point, I don't really know what I want. This I tell to myself today: I have a bigger God, worry not. Just like in so many instances today and in the past, Jesus will save me. Today, I got my salary, it's higher than what I am usually receiving. I did not get a raise nor I have overtimes for the previous month. For whatever reason, it just came when I needed it most. There are countless times in the past where I did not expect that He will give me blessings, they came in the darkest hours when I walked face-down and felt like I had no one. All prayers that are left unanswered are meant to teach us valuable lessons, I guess.

Note to self: "Let it go and Let's go"

I must be overwhelmed with everything that's been going on to be able to post two blog entries in 24 hours. I am realizing now how I missed writing and I am regretting that I deleted my old blog which I started way back in college. Writing can be a therapy in a way that you organize the thoughts that are circulating inside your head for the whole day, weeks or months of over-thinking them. When I jot my thoughts down, I somehow see what's wrong and what's triggering my anxiety. The best part of blogging is the encouragement that we tell to ourselves that for the most part uplift our spirits and somehow makes us feel okay again. A pat in the back or a hug from a friend can also motivate us but there are things that only ourselves can understand The moment we tell ourselves that "you can overcome this", it somehow becomes the final say in the situation and the next thing you know you are already creating a "to-do" list in order to fulfill what you say to yourself. After my last post, everything just became clearer to me, I had a sense of purpose, I had an urge to work and learn more. For the first time in the long time, I didn't feel that my body is just dragging me to the office. I am feeling that this is a good start. =) Of course, I still have issues, there will always be issues unfortunately. This one is about a mistake that I made which led to a critical control incident. It was my last day in my old process and I was trying to fix everything before I leave for my new role and before I take a few days off from the office. When I got back, I discovered the harsh reality that I did something wrong and stupid. I reported it right away to my manager and it became a big deal. I am the kind of person who finds it hard to forgive myself when I commit mistakes. I will have sleepless night feeling sorry about the mistake that I made and I tell myself how stupid I am. I dwell on it. I spend time over analyzing about the cause of my mistake. Note to self: "Let it go and let's go. Let's go move on. I maybe judged as incompetent by that failure but what happened already happened. No one can change it. All the more that I have to work harder and prove them wrong. Tomorrow is another tough day and because of that tomorrow is another chance to get tougher.

Note to self: "make an effort, work harder"

I can feel it. It's a very strong sensation taking over me. Voices in my head, whispers in my ear, saying "You could not do it", just find a new job and get a fresh start. I've been recently part of a project team in our office, a lot of people dream to have this role. It was offered to me since I was the only one they could move without much turnover needed. The thing is, it's turning out that it wasn't what I thought it would be. Or it could also be, that it's just too different than what my previous job was, it totally feels like I am out of my comfort zone. First of all, I am not a talker but a thinker. Sure, I do have questions but my ways are set to finding the answers on my own and if I couldn't that's the time I would ask. So when there are presentations, I would imagine what they are describing or pointing out and if something does not make sense to me, I'll just leave it at that and make a mental note to myself to figure it out when the actual work comes. This won't do in this project as we should be thinking ahead and start firing our what if's and all the things that are unclear so that by the time this project is implemented, we should have identified and eliminated all the possible issues. If you're working in a multinational company with a name as big as this, the bosses wouldn't accept anything that isn't a first time right. Why in the first place they hired us for this???? Second, I don't do presentations, I simply can't. Not since I performed in an auditorium and forgot the lyrics to the song I was singing . After that, every presentation that involves an audience became a nightmare for me, I become nauseous, my fingers sweat, butterflies all over my stomach. I always feel that I'd do something stupid to embarrass myself. Third, I don't feel confident about my skills. Blame it to the "auditorium" experience that I encountered and never will forget. Also, I always have this thinking that there are so many others that can do this job better than me. Back in high-school, I wasn't the brightest student, I never got any honor rolls even if half of the class did. I was even at the bottom ten. I wasn't making any effort as I always thought it would mean nothing in the end. Hah!!! I am kinda stupid at this, I know. Those are why I am thinking of just getting out of this mess, leave the intellects at what they do best. I don't want to be branded as the dumbest of them all. But then again, a small voice inside my head says I can conquer this. Just like in college, when I thought I could not do Accounting, I was the only one among my friends who passed the BSA program with unexpectedly high grades. In the board exam, among my high school friends who also took the course, I was the only one who passed it in my first try. In the game of sudoku among my peers, I finished way way ahead of everyone (just trying to uplift my spirit). As luck would have it, my first project in this company, they sent me to Canada for a 6 weeks training and it was a successful migration. So maybe, I am just running through a difficult phase right now. Hopefully, this is just a struggle and in the end it will be a beautiful win. I am making a note to myself, as I type right now, Make an effort!!! Work harder!!! ! I owe this to the manager who  picked me for this project. I owe this to this company who made my dream came true when I traveled abroad on a first class plane. I owe this to my friends who keep saying there's more to me that what I led them on. Lastly, I owe this to myself, maybe I can bounce back from that terrible experience in HS and finally overcome my phobia. It's 1:45 pm, I just have 3 hrs of sleep for today, I have to be at the office by 3 pm. Soldier on, nica. This ain't gonna be easy breezy. The tides are coming. Be prepared and alert.

Biri Island, Northern Samar

Ahm, where to begin? I have been to Bohol, Boracay, El Nido, Batanes, Ilocos Norte, Sorsogon and these are places in the Philippines beyond compare. I know that I will have the same feeling regarding Sagada, CDO and Siargao which I plan to visit in the near future. So when my boyfriend told me that he booked us tickets to Samar and Leyte, I wondered what could we possibly see in there? Richard Gomez would be a good sight but of course this was not the intention. Sorry but San Juanico Bridge was not enough reason for me to pay for the cost of the plane tickets. But of course, there are just some places in the Philippines that I am ignorant about. Samar and Leyte only bring to mind General Mac Arthur, aswang and waray. I read books, I love history, but I don't know why I am poor in knowledge retention. Gah!! So stupid!! So I did a little research and discovered a bunch of interesting facts regarding Samar and Leyte. For one, San Juanico Bridge is the longest bridge in the Philippines spanning a body of water and that it connects Samar and Leyte. I also learned that the San Bernardino strait which I heard a lot of during our trip to Sorsogon separates the Bicol island of Luzon from the island of Samar in the Visayas. I found out that there is more to Samar than just the famed San Juanico Bridge like virgin islands, caves and waterfalls. If you love history, Samar will fascinate you. This province was expedited back in 1546 and it was named as Las Islas Filipinas where the name of our country was derived from. Of course, Leyte is another province rich in history but as to tourist spots there are just a few noteworthy as compared to Samar. As I was on my little research, by research, I mean, web navigation, I came to see pictures of this Biri Island. It is an island in Northern Samar, known for its rock formations. The pictures were intriguing and it turned out my boyfriend also wanted to go this place so he created an itinerary. God bless him for that. :) The day of our flight came, September 20, we were bound to arrive at Tacloban at around 1:00 pm. From the airport we rode a tricycle going to the terminal and then got on a van bound for Calbayog. It was a very long land trip, at around 7:00 pm we halted at Calbayog city and due to heated arguments and misunderstanding, we told the driver that we would be going to Catarman instead. We got to Catarman at around 8:30 and found a hostel to stay the night. It was a bit pricey, we paid for Php800.00 for an air conditioned room. The following day, we woke up really early and took a tricycle ride going to the city proper. From the city proper, we had to ride a jeepney going to Lavesarez where the port is located. It started raining hard but we journeyed on. We paid the boatman php300.00 for a special trip as there were no other passengers besides us. We chanced upon this statue on the way to Biri Island

The rain stopped while we were on the ocean, the water was deep blue at first

Then it was blue green

After more or less an hour we arrived at Biri Island, it was still a rural town, fishery and agriculture are still their primary means of living. Children would jump at the open sea as their past time, I guess when you live near the beach you don't need toys, the ocean would be your play ground. I envy these children, I never learned how to swim. tsk tsk. We found an inn, it was the price that we were aiming for, we paid Php400 a night, we just dropped our bags and proceeded with the tour. We rode a motorcycle going to the rock formations, this was the bridge where we dropped off.

Then after the bridge, we walked this shallow part of the ocean (neck deep when it is high tide)

Then we saw the amazing rock formations. No exaggeration. It really is enthralling.

There are about four major rock formations in this tour. Each has a pride of its own. The tourist told us that the age of the rocks are close to 20 million years, imagine that. :) Also, the rocks came in different shapes and sizes, no rock is exactly the same and no rock is ordinary. There are rocks that resemble a tortoise, rocks that takes the shape of books, mushrooms, cakes, paddle boards and many others. There is an ocean close to these rock formations and when there are huge waves, the water is trapped into the holes of these rock formations, they look like man made pools, some are really deep, some are shallow. We swam at one of these pools, (I don't know what to call it), the water was as clear as crystal and I really enjoyed. You could see the sky, the mountainous rocks and the ocean. I will surely long to see this place and swim again in these waters.

South of Vietnam, 2013 trip

Originally, our travel to Vietnam was just meant to be a side trip en route to Cambodia. Upon reading about it in Tripadvisor, we realized there's actually many places in the country worth visiting. We bought our tickets October last year when Cebu Pacific had a promo, the price was just Php3,300. Given that the price was just cheap and we would have received our 13th month pay when the credit card bill would be due, we instantly decided to give it a go.

Seven months later, May 2013, during the first week, we still didn't have an itinerary, because we could not get a consortium of the places we really intend to visit. Some just wanted a city tour, some wanted to go to Sand dunes, some wanted to go to Mekong Delta, but it was impossible because the agency we knew could not get these places roll into one trip, some would offer but the price is quite expensive. So what we did is we looked up in Google and tried to find if there are Agencies that could cater on what we really wanted, an agency that could specialized the tour for us. Luckily we found it:

KT ADVENTURE - VIVUTRAVEL
Head Office: Suite 405, B13 Building, Sai Dong, Long Bien,
Hanoi, Vietnam
Ph: +84-4- 36740486
Fx: +84-4- 36740487
Hotline: +84-976094514
Website: www.vivutravel.com
Email: management@vivutravel.com, tuan@vivutravel.com

The whole tour with the inclusion of two overnight stay in hotels (one in Mui Ne and one in Ho Chi Minh) , only costs us $1,656 usd or Php 67,896 ( Php7,544/person).

Here is the actual itinerary from the agency:


TOUR NAME: HO CHI MINH & MUI NE TOUR ON MAY
GUEST’S NAME: MS NICA MENDOZA
NUMBER OF PERSON: 9
ACCOMMODATION IN 2 STAR HOTELS
ROOM TYPE: 3 DOUBLE ROOMS & 1 TRIPLE ROOM
TOUR PRICE IN USD PER PERSON: $180 USD
TOTAL EXTRA COST FOR HOTEL IN SAIGON: $36 USD
TOTAL AMOUNT: $1656 USD
ITINERARY:
18th May Ho Chi Minh arrival at 01AM - Mui Ne
Meals: None
+ Guide
Upon your arrival at Ho Chi Minh airport (01AM), pick up and transfer to Phan Thiet (5 hours drive, a
perfect place to end your Vietnam Holiday) – Once a part of the Cham Kingdom, it’s now a perfect stop for
beach holidays, an unremarkable town with a reasonable beach, some decent hotels, and a very good golf
course. In a nice setting with white sand beaches and coconut trees, the beach resort of Phan Thiet is also
endowed with amazing spots such as sand dunes, natural lakes and astonishing red canyons. Phan Thiet
still has sizeable populations of Cham and Raglai ethnic minority groups. The former are a part of the area’s
Cham heritage.
06AM: Arrive at your resort, you are free at leisure to swim and discover the beach (Early check-in is not
included).
Overnight in Mui Ne.
Accommodation: Apricot Resort / Standard Seaside
http://www.apricotresort.com/
19th May Mui Ne – Cu Chi – City
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
+ Guide
04AM: Continue drive back to Cu Chi tunnels for visiting. Upon arrival in Cu Chi at around 09AM, we visit
the incredible underground tunnel network of approximately 200 kilometres hand-constructed by
Vietnamese guerillas during the long struggle for independence where you will understand more about the
Vietnam War or American War, a must see Vietnam Tour for any tourists to learn about Vietnam past and
present days.
After having lunch, drive back to Ho Chi Minh city for visiting the War Remnants Museum, formerly the
Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes and unquestionably the most-visited museum in Ho Chi Minh.

 Upon our arrival at the airport at around 1:00 am, we were a bit frustrated as there was no sign of our tourist guide. We noticed a lot of placards showing names of tourists but we couldn't find ours. We also tried to look for payphones but since it was already late, none was available for our use. Good thing, there was a good samaritan who allowed us to use his phone to call the agency. HA! To our surprise, due to the time differences, the agent tought that the trip would be the following morning, we then thought we were doomed until he said he could pick us up in ten minutes time. Yaay!! =) The shuttle was a 22 seater mini bus, air conditioned, clean and very comfotable.
After a 5 hr ride, we arrived at the hotel called Bau Mai. The place was peaceful, not crowded, clean and quiet.  The beach (although not comparable to our white beaches here in the Philippines) has a beauty of its own.

For our first day, the tour around Mui Ne is not covered but upon negotitiation, the guide agreed to take us to the tourist destinations for just Php1,440.00 including payment for gas.

After sleeping in the bus for another two hours we arrived at Cham Temples in Bin Thuan. If you are the kind of person who likes history and old places, this is one of the must see in Vietnam. It is believed to be constructed in the middle of the 18th century to worship Shiva God. How it was constucted is still puzzling to the modern minds of today and a lot of studies have been done to figure out how the ancient people was able to build this kind of monument. To read more about the temple, please clink this link: http://dulich.baobinhthuan.com.vn/en-us/810-landscapes/5071-po-sah-inu-cham-tower-heritagebr.html

Our next stop was the Sand Dunes of Mui Ne, it's sort of a mini dessert when we looked at it from afar, when we came closer and we took our first step on the sand, we realized why it's tagged as one of the top tourist destinations of Vietnam. The sand is so fine and pure and it's quite a picturesque. When we got to the top we were surrounded by these beautiful dunes and we couldn't help but admire this Earth's wonder.

After the sand dunes, came my favorite part of the travel : The Fairy Stream of Mui Ne. They call it the red canyon of Vietnam and it's a splendid sight to see. In the fairy stream, we were allowed to walk in waters, we just had to take off our footwears. Not to worry, as the sand is very smooth and soft, we enjoyed walking and climbing.

Hello readers!

Hello readers! This blog is created because we want to share the places we've been to in the Philippines and outside the country. The title came to mind because when you read our entries, we want you to think  "we should totally go there" as the world is full of wonderful places to explore and discover.


My friends and I will be sharing our experiences related to our travels and of course sometimes a little about ourselves and our loved ones.

Happy reading!