Thanksgiving, 2011

party theme

Congo Grill, West Gate, Alabang

Registration peeps

The boys, first

Then, the girls

party peeps

The audience

Photo shoot, as always

Planet Groove

HSBC GSC Manila's 2009 kick-off party was held last Thursday, November 27th, at the PICC Forum. The theme was "Planet Groove."


South Border in the house

The stage

With Bambi

With VP John and MO Channa

With colleague Myra and our MO, Mother Lily.

Coffee--after the party

Marjune

I was out Saturday night

This is me wondering if I'd be able to keep my eyes from drooping because of sleep deprivation. I knew it was to be a long night ahead...

I turned out to be as awake as everyone else. I was so kulit that night, I couldn't believe it. Conked out by midnight, though. I am so not the gimik type.

From left: the ever stunning Channa, moi, Cathie, who brought fantastic-tasting pork barbecue, Mother Lily, probably the nicest boss in town, RJ, who's 6 months pregnant but graciously joined the team-building, and Zal, who eventually got cajoled into singing America's "All My Life."
Not in the pics are Jeff, Marjune, Miguel, and Peach. Sorely missed were Tal, Myra and Cyr.

The day I marched to Brian

Aside from the onslaught of my beginning-of-month deliverables, this past week was marked by an epiphany.

Let me write about it now so I can make some more sense of it and put it all together. I am not satisfied with mere contemplation.

I have surprised myself (and the people around me), this past year, with constant bursts of assertiveness in the workplace. I use the word "surprised" because those who know me well--not even myself--would not think of describing me as headstrong or self-confident. I am sullen and quiet (or used to be) and most people would interpret that for submissiveness. Others take it for weirdness (haha).

It seems, though, that several forces of nature have conspired to transform me into something else. These forces are: my personal demons, motherhood, my family, certain recent, not-so-ordinary happenings in my so-called life, my former bosses Tin and Lester, the books that I've read, and heaven only knows what else.

Anyway, after this preamble, let me relay an incident which, for me, put an end to my self-doubts (or most of them, anyway) and one important cementing element to my quest for identity:

Last Monday, one of our American business partners, Brian S., was in the site for a surprise visit. At that same time, the plight of a certain client had put me in a quandary--I had spoken to him and I felt it my obligation to help. Now, the aid he was requesting for was turned down based on the policy parameters and its turn-around required the stamp of approval from someone in a director's position. I went to my boss who, unfortunately, was not qualified to approve it. She told me to go to Brian and seek guidance. And I was like, no way, I can't do it and I won't do it--talking to the AVP and the VP, yes, but being within a meter's radius from the BP would be such a horror! This thought, I, of course did not say out loud. Anyway, she said, this will be good training for you in terms of talking to upper management and don't worry, she said, Americans are very much into advocating the open-door policy.

So, anyway, five minutes later, I found myself marching to Brian's office, my nerves surprisingly steady and my heart beating, well, at a normal pace. My knock on his door was far from the timid one I had been used to making. I introduced myself (the nerve!), sat on the chair across from his and smoothly recounted (my voice didn't break! hurrah!) the client's situation. Now, Brian was very nice and explained his decision (which, unfortunately, was a no) in a detailed manner, such that a supervisor of my level would very well understand. I, again surprising myself, felt it my obligation not to give up that easily and laid out my cards more fully, giving him my stand on it, pointing out the details he might have overlooked. He was nodding and said that he agreed with some of my ideas, however, from the business side of things, he advised me that he had to stick to his decision. My face must have fallen a little because he smiled warmly at me and told me that I will be encountering a lot more of these situations and that now was the time to start learning to say "no."

A few hours later, I sat at my desk, still disappointed that the client's request was turned down and then it occurred to me that, hey, not once did I realize the enormity of the task I had taken upon myself to achieve. I went to my boss to iron things out and she said not to worry because I had done the right thing (and I believed so, too) when I stood up for my cause.

This story, aside from the fact that it's a long one, is another piece that I will add to the string of anecdotes documenting my road away from diffidence. I know that this will not be the last in this series. The next ones, I hope, will not be things to make such big deals out of because by then, I would have become better versed at handling them and they would have become part of my norm, quotidian stuff like the trips I make to and from the office everyday.

Town Hall

I know, I know.

I was bitching about work yesterday. So, waht was a girl to do? She went to the office, tried her best to smile (there were a lot of people to smile at and a lot to smile about, anyway) and did her job as best she could.

And what did she get?!

She got smiled at, in return; got recognized for doing her job as best she could.

Okay, okay, let's cut this speaking-in-the-third-person thing.

This has got to be my best Town Hall ever. Listening to my achievements being enumerated, hearing my name called, feeling the warmth in the applause and loud cheers--they made me feel ashamed for the ranting I did just several hours before.

Indeed, to quote Alanis, "life has a funny way of helping you out when you think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up in your face..."

I really should smile some more.

English is still my favorite subject.

I recently attended a week-long training on Communications Coaching and, yup, I had a rock n' rollin' heck of a fabulous time!

Thanks to our Language trainer, Marco Harder (of Purple Chickens), for curing me of my ADD.

I absolutely loved every minute of it (especially the "structured learning activities" a.k.a. "games"). I tell you, we can talk and argue about Syntax and Semantics for hours on end and I'll be game until you drop!

Plus, this training has made me realize now, more than ever, what a wonderful thing the schwa is. It could change the whole way one looks at words and Language. lol!

Oh, but prepositions...

*sigh*

I'm so thankful to have friends I can discuss tense and subject-verb agreement with.
:)

Repeat Performance

Yesterday, October 4th, we represented HSBC GSC Manila 1 in the All-Star Games for M1 and M2. We had to re-block (we missed you, Celine, LJ and Honey!) and make some adjustments, but it came out just as good.

Here are some pictures and, of course, the video (from Daryl's Youtube account).

And we gave them a show they knew they were not going to forget...

Many thanks go to:

our VP, John Savillo, for his steadfast support and appreciation for each member's time and effort;

my coach and mentor, Jemille Beso, for his show of leadership, accountability and motivational skills; for believing in me when I doubted my capabilities and for not giving up in me when I was about to give up on myself;

teacher Phai, for coaching me to "let it out!" and "make it snappy!"

Renz, Ryan and NJ, for lifting me (literally) and teaching me to overcome my fear of heights and falling, through their sheer efforts at showing me that they will catch me if I do fall, in whatever way they can;

Rowell, Daryl, Kat, LJ, Celine, Cyr, Mommy Gie, Sheloi, Ed, Honey, CV, Princess, Jay, JQ, and Hernz, for the good times, the dance tips, the courage and determination under pressure, the laughter despite the almost unbearable stress, the priceless friendship... This experience is something that I will not forget.

I am proud to have worked and danced with you, all. Truly, we have set the benchmark and raised the bar for HSBC Manila 1's cheerdance mania.

Rock on, John's World! Let's continue raising the bar!

Special thanks to Sheila and Nico, for the pompoms; to John, for leading the cheer; to DK, for carrying the banner and propping up the cheat sheet; to our SAMOs, Tal and Wema; our MOs, Channa and Mother; to Myts, for cheering me on, through it all; and to my team, the Rugrats, for helping out with the props and being there on the big day, and all the people who extended their help to make the feat possible. Thanks, guys! Mwah mwah

Video can also be viewed here.

"Dancing is the poetry of the foot." -John Dryden-

New talents discovered and developed, self-confidence boosted and self-esteem shooting up several meters higher, ideas exchanged and creativity shared and used to come up with innovative concepts, new people met and friendships formed... these, perhaps, are the best things about being part of a new team with one common goal.

And, if I may add, wearing a cheerdancer's outfit, once more, brings back memories of youth and high school, of being a sixteen-year-old all excited to be center-stage, showing the crowd how dancing and movement could go beyond being a physical art form to become such an emotionally liberating and spiritually invigorating experience.

Only this time, the dancer could boast of more years lived, more things achieved, more hurdles surpassed.

There's a nice little quote, the source of which is unknown, which goes:

"Socrates learned to dance when he was seventy because he felt that an essential part of himself had been neglected."

Happy Sunday, everyone! And take a few of minutes of your time to dance. It does wonders for the heart and the soul.

More pictures to come. Will upload the video soon.
;p

My week

I haven't written in a week, so here's an overview:

Monday was exclusive for Jackie and Kim. My department was having a party that same night and my boss and colleagues were texting me to join them, but quality time with the kids came first. We had a grand time, to boot.

Tuesday was boring. So boring, in fact, that I've forgotten what had transpired, or if anything did.

Wednesday's highlight was pep squad practice, which was held in the actual venue where we were to perform this coming Saturday--yikes, it's that soon!

Thursday was a normal, stressful day. This sentence gets me thinking: if stress has become normal, then there must be something wrong.

Friday was spent rushing work deadlines in time for the following week (which promises other deadlier deadlines).

Saturday was...yesterday. And I have four new bruises (a gigantic one on the right knee, a medium-sized one on the left and two small ones on each elbow) to show for the 6-hour pep squad practice that we had.

These bruises are courtesy of the egg rolls, the head stands, the kneeling, and the like. In two days' time, they will turn blue. Next, they'd be purple. My limbs, too, are aching like crazy and a climb up the stairs is proving much harder than it's supposed to be.

But, hey, who's complaining? (If it seemed like I was, I apologize.)We've made so much progress and I think we're more than ready for the performance, which is coming in, um, less than a week's time (pressure, pressure).

And besides, there's something so liberating about dancing and being lifted (we're talking full lifts here, not the cutesy pyramids of high school yore) and being expected to balance yourself and being told not to look down, because looking down increases the gravity and there's nothing but the floor to catch you if you fall. Kidding. Our lifters are very much able and, as one of them said, "don't be scared of falling because if you do fall, one of us is sure to catch you--it doesn't matter how, but we will catch you. And that's a promise."

Today is Sunday.

So, how was your week?
;p

Lovin' Purple

Purple and coffee to complete my day.

Break shots

Yellow Day

The sun was shining and so were our shirts, so we decided to have lunch out in the sunshine. It was, after all, month-end (a particularly strong one for the team, at that) and the end of another work week so we had enough reasons to unwind and celebrate. So that's just what we did: had lunch out and peppered it with loads of laughter, teasing and tall-tales, and, of course, girl-watching and beer for the guys. We were a noisy bunch, but we didn't care. Work could really take its toll on us, so breaks like these are a welcome necessity.
To my team, thank you for a really strong, fabulous month! You guys are gems for making the otherwise taxing, irksome life in the office much more jazzy!

2008 Strat Plan

Am re-posting the Strat plan pictures (the ones I felt like salvaging, that is). Deleted the entry because I realized that I looked obscenely fat in some of the photos!