Tour Pilipinas Part 1: Dumaguete, Bacolod, and Cebu 11:28 PM

Whew. That sums up my last two weeks. It was a lovely but tiring two weeks of adventure!

First off, I flew to Dumaguete for another opening with my boss in tow. It was a rainy morning when we arrived but the sun shined immediately a few minutes later.

View from our Van Pick Up

The opening was a success. My boss and our other companions decided to partake of the local seafood offerings like oysters and scallops. YUM! They were so fresh. The oysters have a natural sweetness in them and the scallops, tender and rich.

The night was lovely and we thought nothing about what would happen the following day.

It was declared signal # 1 due to typhoon Urduja. Unfortunately, our fastcraft trip from Dumaguete going to Cebu got cancelled as well as other sea trips. We attempted to take the bus who will ride a barge, hoping that the bigger sea craft would be allowed. No such luck. All flights were fully booked as well. No luck getting to Cebu.

So off we went and took a land rip via Sir Vic’s car going to Bacolod hoping that we could get a Bacolod-Cebu trip. Again, nada.

So while travelling, we entertained ourselves with the wonderful sights of Negros Occidental.

Being in Bacolod, I cannot miss partaking of the famous Calea cakes which was just across the street from our hotel. It got two thumbs up from my boss for being dense but not cloyingly sweet. It was a sweet ending to a tiring and long day.

We flew back to Manila the following day, in the afternoon, since we had no other options left but to go to Cebu via Manila because all flights were full in Bacolod as well.

The following morning I took an early flight going to Cebu for another opening (my third branch in Cebu). It was a fly in fly out thing because I have a lot of catching up to do with work. Of course, since I was already in Cebu, what else to do but go to Tabo-an to buy danggit!!!

Choy, my Cebu counterpart, and I decided to buy CnT Lechon. Too bad we arrived late and lucked out on the lechon. Choy, who owes me a HUGE favor, took me to Merto’s for lunch. He bought me not one, not two, but THREE huge containers of Dentelles Au Chocolat Belgian Chocolate Lace cookies in three flavors: Mint, Semi-Sweet, and Dark. I was shocked at the price but what the heck… Choy owes me. Hahaha. He happily bought me a thousand bucks worth of cookies! Oh they were super yummy. I love those cookies and always ask Choy to bring me some whenever he goes to Manila for meetings. I hope he owes me more favors soon. Harharhar.

Anyway, off to fly back to Manila come 3pm. I kept wondering why this Indian guy kept sitting beside me and staring at me. He never attempted to make conversation though. I was surprised we were seated beside each other on the plane. He still kept staring. And then it hit me. I freakin’ smelled like danggit! Gah! It clung to my silk blouse! He must be attracted to the scent. Gawd.

When I arrived at Centennial 2, I almost had a heart attack. I saw that the passenger side window behind the driver’s side of my car, Genesis, was covered and taped up with carton boxes! I went white. I thought somebody smashed my windows taking advantage of the few hours I was at Cebu.

I called security to get an explanation or incident report. Turns out I was super sleepy when I flew to Cebu that I left my window open. The guards were kind enough to cover up my window just in case it rained. My God! I cannot believe how lucky I am that NAIA Centennial 2 Security Guards are so wonderful! Too bad I can’t remember their names now since this happened two weeks ago. But thank you! I now feel safer leaving my car at the airport overnight knowing how outstanding the guards in Centennial 2 are at their jobs.

Review: I-Lash Extension Salon 9:30 AM

A few months back, I tried to promote my friend's new eye lash extension salon.

Last November 7, I was attending a wedding of a good friend. It was a good opportunity for me to try out the services of I-Lash. I gladly paid for this service if you must know.

BEFORE

Initially I wanted those extra lush lashes. But apparently they won't work well with my eyes since I have minimal hair and it would look really unnatural. So I picked the mascara type in medium. A bit of ommmph but not too much that I would look like a drag queen. Besides, I was attending a party.

So they prepared my eyes for the application.

They insert the fiber (thus relatively weightless) lashes piece by piece. The process took almost 2 hours since they needed to use up more because I have minimal hair but it varies from person to person.

One tip though, ask your attendant to ensure that the fan is continuously blowing air while they insert the lashes. The glue can make your eyes water until it has dried and set.

AFTER

Yep. Thicker lashes. I attended the wedding later in the day sans any mascara since the lashes itself did all the work.

I think it's nice. Just don't mind my cam-whore pose. By the way, the lashes last for 3-4 weeks depending on how you take care of it. You can have it touched up if you want.

You're not supposed to wash your face/ wet the eye lashes for at least 12 hours, avoiding steam/sauna baths for at least 48 hours (the moist heat will loosen the glue that holds the lashes in your eyelids).

Had a difficult time the first time I washed my face with water the next day (had to use make up cleaner, and lot of swabs to avoid the eye lashes after I got home from the wedding).

But all in all, it was worth it since I have gotten a lot of compliments how my eyes pop-out and seems to look fresh despite lacking sleep.

**********

I-Lash Extensions Salon
3rd Floor, Unit 312 One Amazing Place
403 NS. Amoranto (Retiro) cor. Speaker Perez St.
La Loma Quezon City
(Above Starbucks)
02-3991272
ilashqc@yahoo.com

Sharing time: From Seth's Blog- What you buy when you buy a lottery ticket 8:36 AM

Source: Seth Godin's Blog

What you buy when you buy a lottery ticket

Hint: you don't buy a future of money.

People who win the lottery are almost always unhappy in the long run, and most of them continue to buy lottery tickets.

It's not the destination, it's the journey. Same thing with first dates, blog posts, opening presents and answering a phone call from a stranger.

The thrill of possibility, the chance for recognition, the chemical high of anticipation. That's what people pay for.

Who's the Sales Lady's Comments: 

I couldn't agree more!

Sharing time: Seth's Blog on Trolls 8:23 AM

Source: Seth Godin's Blog

Trolls

Lots of things about work are hard. Dealing with trolls is one of them. Trolls are critics who gain perverse pleasure in relentlessly tearing you and your ideas down. Here's the thing(s):

1. trolls will always be trolling
2. critics rarely create
3. they live in a tiny echo chamber, ignored by everyone except the trolled and the other trolls
4. professionals (that's you) get paid to ignore them. It's part of your job.

"Can't please everyone," isn't just an aphorism, it's the secret of being remarkable.

Down that Old Road 4:46 PM

So I was in Mindanao again a couple of weeks back for my new branch opening in General Santos City.

I wasn't really that surprised to see that there were improvements in the city since the last time I was assigned there in early 2005.

But a couple of things haven't changed:

1. It's still hot. The air is dry, which is the way it should be given that it's near the ocean.
2. Security is still the first and foremost issue in everyone's mind. My new branch even installed those full body metal detectors that you see in airports. I just don't know if that's effective in deterring would-be bombers to slip in plastic explosives that cannot be detected by those machines. Oh I forgot, they have bomb sniffing dogs. So my account is pretty much covered in terms of security.

After attending the successful event, we decided to take the 3-hour drive to Davao and fly back to Manila in the morning instead of spending the night in Gen San. Both my boss and I have a few unpleasant memories of being in the city (with yours truly experiencing two actual bomb explosions).

The long drive to Davao excited me. It has been four years since I last drove the roads alone. I remember the mountains and the empty roads.

I drove from Gen San to Davao about twice a week for sales/area meetings. It gave me the opportunity to think about things in my life. Back then it was whether pursuing this particular career was worth it over bomb threats, working alongside an unsavory workmate with "slimy" hands, and not being with people/certain person you love back home (where one was suffering leukemic symptoms then).

It was in these same roads when a decision was formed to give up that lucrative post (sans a back-up job) and come home and be where I know I would be happier and have peace of mind.

Anyway, so as I said, the long drive excited me. I wanted to compare how things have changed since the last time I was here.

The picture above was taken four years ago, passing by roads that were prone to landslides. The short video below (although a bit boring but I like the song) shows the new and improved roads (will improve my editing skills further!)

Of course we didn't pass up the opportunity to buy Mer's special kakanin (Rice cakes) and pure tablea (cocoa tablets) while passing by Digos City. Sorry for the blurred photos. My mobile phone camera sucks!

The road trip to Davao didn't leave me much for musing since I have 2 other travelling companions. But all in all it was great to look back where I used to work.

Deciding to leave and go back home proved to be a good decision in enriching my personal life and my career. Without having to be assigned in Gen San (or Mindanao for that matter) in the first place, I wouldn't be able to use it as leverage in my succeeding positions. It actually gave me a lot of benefits more than I care to admit it to be. Not a lot of female sales person who grew up in a metropolis (Manila) like me can say that I have been covering Pikit, Cotabato and being surrounded by military men. Well, most of my sales counterparts anyway and the recent sales batch that companies deploy. To go up in sales here in the Philippines you have to be thrown where you least wanted to be.

My Lakbayan grade is C+!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.

I earned what moderate sales skills I have via the school of hard knocks. A baptism of fire if you can call it that. That's why I often cite this point in my career. Because it makes the tough times a little bit easier since it was harder back then (will not go into the dirty details). Now in the future, an overseas assignment is next on my list (where I can bring my family of course). Now that's a new challenge and more dirty details to grind on!

In my next trip which is in Dumaguete and Cebu, I will no longer forget to bring my digital camera so I can take proper photos.