CALIFORNIA DREAMING indeed! @ UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

UNIVERSAL STUDIO, here we come!!! Yipee… the tour bus picked up at 7:30 am…am awed by just the feeling that Im going to the famous theme park!!! Syempre, pictures to the max…We ate hotdogs, ice cream… dropped by souvenir shops!!!
The park is divided in to 2… upper & lower ground…the weather is hot that day… good thing, there are cooling stations around the park…sobrang laki, in short, hindi namin na ikot lahat… among the places we’ve been are the following…
Shrek
Jurassic Park
Back to the Future
The Mummy
Animal Actors

We saw & even have pictures with The Gladiator- Russel Crowe, Apollo 13 stars- Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon …hmp. just their life-size picture standee…hehehe… We saw the Xmen- Wolverine & Storm also Kingkong,.. Babe...

We went back to the hotel at 3 pm bus schedule…I did lots of souvenir shopping… I spent all my remaining dollars… ubos-ubos biyaya!!! Hahahah… I brought key chains, tumbler & bag as souvenir…

UNIVERSAL STUDIO is a wonderful memory that I will always treasure… it was a worthwhile experience!!! It brought out the child in me… as in...Am hoping ill be able to go back with my nephew, Neo!!!

Dreamin’s over!!! Homeward bound to Manila is exhausting too… during our waiting time at the airport and most part of the flight, we did our report… We were expected to report first thing Monday morning- June 15… and we arrive 1am- June 15… My parents & brother fetched me at the airport & went straight to our Pasig apartment… im not sleepy at all… kaya ok lang pumasok ng 7:30 am… but when the clock striked 2 pm, super antok na kami ni Linda….

We waited for the MANCOM to accommodate our presentation, but to no avail…

Here’s the catch… Beng, my closest friend in the office plans to go to Duty Free!!! Naturally, gusto ko din… but I told Beng that I can’t drive ksi sobrang antok, she went to fetch me!!!! Shopping addict!!!!bwhahahaha…

Once in Duty Free, gising ang diwa ko!!! In-short, successful shopping… 3 consecutive days, I was in Duty Free with sisters & Beng!!!! Bwhahahahashaha.. No regrets!!!

America exit via LOS ANGELES!

After our shopping spree with Lissa, she dropped us to _____________ Hotel near the airport & arranged our service in time with our flight to Los Angeles the following day… Linda and I are a little troubled since we haven’t booked a hotel yet in Los Angeles!!! Being a girl scout at heart (yaiks), and independent woman in our own way, sabi namin, bahala na pag dating sa LA, marunong naman tayo mag-Ingles at magbasa… True enough, we managed!!! We remembered the instruction of RTB (our boss) that all airports have at least same structures… that the big board of hotels in the area can be found near the baggage claim area… and its true… even, there’s several phone in the waiting to call & book a hotel, with free pick up from the airport… we chose Ramada Hotel… this time, budget expense is the name of the game…

Our last stop in LA is a side trip… to maximize our stay in the US… we chose to leave the US via different route from our entry point… So, we picked Ramada Hotel, the cheapest among the hotel list & waited for the shuttle service… the hotel is ok naman, service is ok too…we spotted at the hotel reception areas brochures of tours… so, we booked a night trip to Holywood and Beverly Hills… then, thinking that it’s a once in a lifetime trip, we also booked a day tour the following day to Universal Studios…All in all, we spent $100 worth of tour vis V.I.P Tours… wow, turista!!! Naka tsinelas lang naman… hehehehe

So, we only got 30 minutes before the tour bus will make its round at the hotel… There’s a guide during the tour… explaining y LA is called the City of Angels… blah, blah …quite interesting… we saw the famous Promenade building from Leonardo de Caprio’s movie The Aviator…We saw the busy streets with lots of over & under passes that looks “buhol-buhol” from the bus… we passed thru the famous freeways in LA… The night tour covered the following popular places:

1. Beverly Hills- we saw the famous boutique featured in Julia Robert’s Pretty Woman (Boulmiche), Hooters bar – though we did not see a waitress in bikini, we cant see thru outside kasi… we saw the mansion of William Beatty/Annete Benning & Eminem…

2. Rodeo Drive- a 15 minute walk along the popular high end, signature stores… Tiffany & Company, Louis Vuitton, and others… but all stores are closed na… too bad…

3. The famous Walk of FAme with the foot/hand prints of the famous people & celebrities… cyempre, we took pictures of our flip-flop clad feet along side our favorite celebs… hehehehe

We walked along Holywood & Rodeo Drive!!! Drove along Beverly Hills though we haven’t seen the famous HOLYWOOD at the mountain… d ko alam kung saan cya and we did not bother to ask na… There are shops along the streets of Holywood and we brought several LA, Holywood t-shirts….

We saw a Jollibee, McDonalds & Carl’s Jr. food joint… We even ate at Yoshinoya, walking distance from Ramada Hotel…Dami naming nakitang palakad lakad na Pinoy sa LA!!!

Describe Yourself Today

Got this tag from Lissa

Rule:1. list 6 things that describe yourself today.

2. add your blog to the list. feel free to add all your other blogs.

3. tag other online friends you know.

Today, this is me.
1. Excited- to explore bits to be added to my blog.... new blogger ako e... excited to get paid.. hehehe

2. Helpful- my sister rachelle is creating her own blog & am here to help... hehehe feeling expert!!

3. Full (burp!) It's rachelle's bday today & we had lunch at O'boys, Tektite...good food!!!

4. Hmmpffff... Today is WORKING SATURDAY!!!

5. Worried- i heard we're going to have an emergency meeting on Monday, It's the sales scut-off!!!

6. "I hate Mondays" ... tell me why?

Links: creative in me little peanut me and mine pea in a pod sugar magnolias bloggerhappy berry scrappy changing lanes pit stop kapturd and so i am princess bela our journey to life my planet purple women xplore life. love. family. work. travel., http://www.practicaltipsandmore.com/, http://www.joeymd.com/, http://the-working-mom.blogspot.com/, http://mytimeturner.blogspot.com/

I'm tagging rachelle

Next state-stop… Lewisburg, Ohio

This is were Akey, Inc, is located. We are scheduled for a 3 –day in-house technical & marketing training with doctors, nutritionists & marketing/sales men…whatta brain boggling sessions!!! Those guys are highly technical…but we managed just fine kasi very interesting ang topics…

Akey staff I remembered: (just between me and Linda, we baptized each and every Akey staff we meet with the name of the actors that they have semblance.. so as not to forget their names…)

1. Ken Bryant (aka Christopher Reeve), visits here every once a year since 2005, he’s the one who fetched us at the airport when we arrived Ohio… on a Sunday!!! Bless him! He treated us to lunch at Olive Gardens, a pasta house with ads I saw on TV, so I guess it is a pretty much popular place there… so yummy pasta & I love the salad with sun dried tomato dressing!!! I ordered tomato based seafood pasta, and being a pasta lover, it’s a heaven!!! Linda ordered white sauce sea food pasta. This time, we did not split our food, but we did not finish them so we have it wrapped na lang… Ken told us that he wont be able to join us for dinner, which is just ok with us… dinner wont be a problem with our left over pasta & good bakers bread to go with it… No host for the dinner, our first hours in Ohio was spent on walking… since daylight is long, after taking a 1 hour rest at the hotel, we went out… its drizzling that time… sarap mag walking!!!! Were both in our flip flops!!! We spotted 2 dollar stores… there, we did do good thrift shopping… the items are ok naman…small items that passed as pasalubongs…sarap mag shopping in dollars!!!
Ken lectured on day 1 afternoon…knows his staff well, ikaw ba naman ang maging senior vp ng technical research!!! He’s the one who accompanied us to see one of the covered bridges in Iowa… the Geeting Bridge… its not functional na daw and its just there as a scenic spot to anyone who fancies covered bridges.. duh? Weird? I have this thing kasi with “covered bridges” I got the idea sa book of James Waller – The Bridges of Madison County, I just got curious about it and just remembered that the story & movie was set on a covered bridge… so naalala ko lang na sa Iowa un… this thing was brought up during one of the dinner with Akey staff… Dr. Neil Patton actually know wheres the nearest covered bridge & promised me & Linda that he will bring us there… Unfortunately, he has a meeting during our free time to see the bridge… but he did mention it to Ken and Ken made the tour himself instead!!! The Geeting bridge is quite a… covered bridge… hahahaha… cyempre picture na lang for souvenir… since its not functional na, we were able to walk across it form entrance, its there since 1945… galing ng structure…And most important thing that Ken did for us…he squeezed our schedule in such a way that we will have our last day training day, which is also our last day in Ohio a half day of shopping… he even made his secretary- Lissa accompany us & drive us to shopping… She treated us to lunch in a Mexican restaurant, Don Pablo & enjoyed tacos & burritos… We went to a mall, mejo high end sya but we managed to make wise purchases… Linda & I brought same blouse in different colors nga lang (white for Linda, brown for me) in NYC… we brought intimates at Gap & Victoria Secret… wallets form Ninewest, Liz Clairborne & Rolfs,

2. Jon Previant (aka Dustin Hoffman)- Director of International Sales, the marketing guy, hes the quiet type and mejo nahirapan kami ni Linda kasi expressionless ang face nya… but he did loosen up when he was telling us his first visit here in the Philippines with Ken & their balut eating experience… He treated us to the famous BARNSIDER for dinner, the best steak in town… true to their claim, best steak I ever had!!! And enormous!!! The soup, salad…superb!! And desserts too… we had a quiet dinner…Jon is not much of a talker… hay buti na lang tapos na dinner….

3. Betsy Newton (aka Debbie Gibson)- Director of Corporate Accounts- is very good! She did share his experience in account management & being a woman in male dominated industry.. where me & Linda can relate to…

4. Doug Cook (aka ???) no name assignment pa, but he’s the looker amongst all of them… he’s a genious… successor to Ken…he’s the Senior Swine Research Manager…

5. Bruce Ervin (aka Steve Martin) is one of the account manager… in other words… the salesman… contrary to the common notion that salesmen are full of PR, Bruce is the opposite… maybe because Akey discipline is very technical and when they do sales business… its technical sales business… he’s well oriented of their products despite thate he’s not a doctor nor nutritionist…

6. Neil Patton (aka Tom Cruise) is one of the Research Nutritionist.. hes just new to the group that time & he also do the statistics of their trials… so he’s qualified to be a genoius too because he minored in statistics!!! Wow!!!. He’s very jolly and even shared wacky episodes of his personal life with us over dinner at _______________ (I forgot the name of the resto)..

Then, theres Mindy Ward, Lissa, Leroi, Edu (not the real name)… and there’s the barn manager look-alike of Ian Veneracion… a looker too… hehehehe… Ill just look at their pictures to remember their names…hehehehehe…

They have high tech system installed in their research barn… after five, wala na tao dun and if something happens during the night, they have a program that will automatically call the cellphone of the officer in-charge for the month… simply impressive..

We were able to shower-in, shower-out in their grower/piglet trial facilities, meaning we were able to go inside the supposed to be highly aseptic part of the farm facilities… we also went to their manufacturing plant, cattle barn… btw, Americans refer farms as barns… and even to their waste management facilities…

WORLD PORK EX(PO)CAPADE!!!

By 2 pm in my american time-cellphone clock, we experienced exhaustion na, or were just plain sleepy…but going back to the hotel to sleep is the last thing on our mind!!! We told Leroi that well go back to the hotel by ourselves, were not going to bother them to make us hatid cause they have booth visitors to tend to, that well just get a cab, blah, blah, that don’t worry about dinner later… blah blah…so, as soon as we got out of the expo venue & called on a cab (you cant just hail a taxi in that part of America unlike what we see in the movies… there’s a sort of a customer service station that assists in getting a cab), we told the driver… - take us to the nearest Wallmart!!! Hahahaha, wala na ang antok!!! Our motto, walang antok at tulog sa America…ang tulog sa Pilipinas na! No time must go to waste!!!... WALL MART is so big… complete stuffs… from cosmetics, food, leather goods, lahat!!!! One of the memorable things I bought there is a cute key chain---that says DOG LOVER… basta cute lang.. long time was devoted at the cosmetics section wherein we bought several items, buti na lang magaan if ever sa luggage…again, we were lost in shopping that we did not realize its already 8 pm na…. cyempre maliwanag pa din sa labas… and were hungry na… we had dinner at Subway… it tastes better dun kasi farm fresh tomatoes & greens… oh well, baka bias lang kami kase na sa states e… hehehehehe…

At the World Pork Expo

American Time! Too good to be true…. Hahahahaha… our “sundo” Leroi was definitely on time!!! We had our first “American Breakfast” at the hotel & good thing maybe because of pure excitement we were up early to prepare for the expo!

Weather is hot, but the air is cool, they say its almost spring na…The xpo is just like the convention/exhibit here… but the booth giveaways are cool!(kze states side hahahah)… we met up with few Filipino delegates din, my brods & batchmates of Linda (Dr. Boyet Manalo & Dr. Eski Esquivel), we saw several owners of big farms here also…. We religiously visited all booths & took pictures for remembrance…

We spent time at the Akey booth to meet up some of their staffs which are all accommodating…One of the most memorable thing at the expo was the over flowing, free sumptuous food… (food spells: steaks, barbeque, ribs, chips, spam, sodas…)… u can just sit at the shaded tables and u can grab all food u want for free, I enjoyed the free spam!!!! Grabe d ka magugutom, u can even wrap food and no one will even care…Second memorable thing is that the expo shells 20 dollars for international delegates for buying expo souvenirs… I bought, a wooden piggy “alkansya”, stuffed toy, piggy erasers… cute stuffs as souvenirs… We attended technical sessions…I also like the Internet station there, sponsored by Boeringher. We met up with Chris & Krystie Mateo, my college good friends… days before our trip, I emailed Chris that I”ll be attending the expo & because of that he decided to take Krystie & kids with him…we had lunch with them at the expo park & spent the afternoon chikahan… almost 8 years ba naman of updating!!! This was on the second day na…We had dinner with the Mateo at APPLEBEES…

On the third day, we attended live animal bidding… and piglet race… ate mouth watering ice cream kasi that day is mainit… we just bum around kasi sawa na kami sa exhibit venue, we explored the whole grounds and kodakan!!! Third day is the main day… in short, world pork expo is worth an experience, good thing the weather is good!!!

Des Moines, Iowa

Our first itinerary is to attend the WORLD PORK EXPO in Des Moines, Iowa. We arrived Iowa 6 pm and was fetched by Mr. Leroi Davis, Akey Brand Manager. (Akey Inc. is our technical partner in the US- meaning they provide us with the newest breakthrough in swine feeds applicable here in our country). We went straight to the hotel—La Quintana to check in our luggage and we join Leroi na coz we are so excited to explore the town na! Iowa is a provincial town, just like in American movies, the houses has no gates!!! And the highways, as in highway, triple of our expressways here! Leroi has a prior meeting & he suggested that we’ll wait for him in time for dinner… and guess what… our waiting place is at the mall!!! Wow, less than 30 minutes in America and we were in a mall!!!! We went to Victoria Secret & Bath & Body, and it’s their season end sale!!! I was able to buy my favorite scents half the price! I also shopped some for pasalubong to my kikay friends…. Bearing in mind that well be traveling pa to different states, I budgeted my purchases… being an impulse buyer as I am, I was able to control myself thinking that maybe we can go to other malls pa… hay but I enjoyed the sale!!!! So dinnertime… but wait, its not dark outside at all!!! Around 9:30 pm pala didilim dun!!! It’s so weird! We grabbed dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Ironically, we did not ordered cheesecake… hehehehe, we ordered grilled burgers (ga-plato size) & oohh so rich & enormous mud pie, good thing Linda & I ordered 1 lang to split. Leroi said that its one of the store’s best selling goodies…Burp!!! Dinner there is superb!!! We also met some of the PhD nutritionists & salesmen of Akey during the dinner. Englisan na!!!! hahahahahah…

First & Last

First and Last
I have been tagged by Lissa.

Participants:
1. Me and Mine
2. Creative in Me
3. Little Peanut
4. Pea in a Pod
5. Sugar Magnolia
6. Supermodel Wannabe
7. FunFierceFaboulous
8. A Sweet Taste of Life
9. My Simple Joys
10. Life's Simple Pleasures
11. Shopaholic Ties The Knot
12. Our Family Adventure!
13. The Sweet Life
14. Once In a Lifetime

*First real job: THB Farm Assault
*First screen name: demelza
* First funeral: My lola (mother side ... this is what I remember).
* First pet: Nero (black daschund)
* First piercing: Ears
* First tattoo: None
* First credit card: AIG Mastercard
* First kiss: My mom
* Last car ride: Lunch Time, May 30.
* Last kiss: Secret

Passing this on to cheverlou.

TIME WARP EXPERIENCE

We’ve experiences what they call JET LAG… un pala un…. Our first stop over is Narita, Japan, though we’ve seen the airport lang…I did’nt noticed that it was a 16 hour flight pala! I didn’t even sleep during the whole fare. Imagine, leaving Philippines June 7 (7 am flight) & arriving Iowa still on a June 7 pm!!! Since we will be visiting 3 states, we actually been to several airports, which I forgotten na… all in all, in our almost 12 day trip, we took 9 planes!!! Moving from one state to another has its own little time warp!!! I adjusted my phone clock every time were in a new state & Linda maintains the Philippine time. Believe me, nakakaloka talaga…the sun goes out at around 9:45 pm kaya everyday is a long day for us… extended shopping hours!!!

Trip to US

It was in June 2006, that I set foot in America…Iowa, Ohio & Los Angeles! A company sponsored trip so it’s not all fun and leisure but an official business trip. I enjoyed every minute of it, with Dr. Linda Antazo in tow kze we were able to make all time memorable, including our shopping spree on the side. Good thing my tripmate is a girl din, so we maximized our shopping time. Plus the food!!! Yummy!!! This is a trip worth to be remembered once in a lifetime (all board with allowance) and I hope this will not be the first & last…

Unit 101 APO BUILDING, RAINBOW RIDGE, TAGUIG

this is a studio unit condominium that i bought last march 2008. its a corner unit on the ground floor with a 7 sq m drying area on the third floor (total floor area is 37 sq. m.) it took me three months before i decided to buy it. the seller is so persistent & offered it at a very reasonable price, with freebies pa (ikea queen size bed, panasonic 1 hp aircon & 7 cu ft condura ref, all brand new!). this is ready to occupy na but i chose not to live in it kasi my current apartment is just 5 min away from my office. i plan to have it rented out (furnished) but up until now, its still as it is when i bought it...am really excited to furnish it, but im more excited to find the time to seriously plan for it , haha. i must alot min 3 days to get things done... i plan to get help from an interior designer (ill find a student, maybe or a hobbyist since i don't have budget for a professional one) to make all spaces functional as possible...

my second wind in my job

it was in july of 2006 that our company declared retirement due to redundancy... it never occurred to me that things like this can happen to me... my job is my first job ever though it came to a point (actually 2x) that i consider leaving for a new challenging job. its not that i dont have a career here but i think i started it in the wrong footing... i was given a job far from the profession i graduated into....but no regrets, just all gain cuz ive been exposed to new work environment...
so, back to redundancy, in short, i was one of them... at first i was confused.. now what? what will happen to me? then things went into its proper place & instantly, we were offered good sum of money covering all my 9 year stint in the company and we are rehired!!! whew, this is an opportunity that comes only ONCE IN A LIFETIME!!! nothing really changed (my job fucntion is as is) but am a whole lot new employee...well, what is important is that am happy with my everyday work life and that everyday is not just any day...

Welcome me to Blogging!

welcome ME to blogging! the way i see it, this is like keeping a diary. a diary that kept teenage girls up at night trying to fill in a colored pink, scented notebook with things that happen day in and day out usually about secret crushes...a book of secrets that must be hidden under the bed or in the closet... or...in tele-novelas...a diary will set the hero/heroine free & will cue the climax of the story...

today, hi-tech way of recording highlights of one's life is tru blogging to be IN with the fad, i made this blogspot. i believe every moment in our life occurs only ONCE IN A LIFETIME and that tru my blog- MYTIMETURNER, i can review the past, for the future.

Trip to U.S.

It was in June 2006, that I set foot in America…Iowa, Ohio & Los Angeles! A company sponsored trip so it’s not all fun and leisure but an official business trip. I enjoyed every minute of it, with Dr. Linda Antazo in tow kze we were able to make all time memorable, including our shopping spree on the side. Good thing my tripmate is a girl din, so we maximized our shopping time. Plus the food!!! Yummy!!! This is a trip worth to be remembered once in a lifetime (all board with allowance) and I hope this will not be the first & last…