Me and Animals / Animals and I

Sometimes, I just don't get it. When I was in high school, there were puppies where I used to live in Xavierville. They were white, cute and fluffy. Though they were street dogs (aka. Askals). When I jumped rope, they would bark at me and try to join in on the game. Until there came a time when one of them decided to lick my toe while I was watering the plants, and my toe had a small wound, and I had to get rabies shots all the way from San Lazaro. >.< Gross.

And that's when I started to avoid animals.

As it turns out, that's quite hard to do in the Philippines, given the profusion of cats, dogs and yeah...well, rats that roam the streets. Very much part of the contemporary Filipino experience.

In any case I just wanted to talk about this morning. The neighbor's cute brown mini poodle, for some reason, decided to chase me while I was on my way out of the house. It got so excited that it jumped on me. Its nails weren't properly trimmed, so it ended up giving me a few scratches and even a bruise when it collided with my leg. Mind you my brother was standing right beside me as he'd just stepped out of his car. But no, the poodle didn't notice him. Mr. Poodle kinda looked like this when I first saw it about two months ago:

But now it's bigger and wilder. LOL.

Now I posted this incident on Facebook as well, and it sparked an interesting thread about how Facebook might not be targeting ads that well. See, when I typed "Poodle" all these Poodle and pet ads popped up, along with "Related to Your Post" previews to the right of the page. (By the way, friends, I was kind enough to put a line across your names and faces to protect your privacy *snickers*).

Olla SEM eCertificate from IMMAP

I wish they hadn't unenrolled me from the e-classroom, though, because I wasn't able to note down all the recommended readings.

I guess this is the disadvantage of having an online class. Lots of content won't be in hard copy, so you gotta make sure to get e-copies of everything you can.

LOL!!!

I can't help it. This vid of Katy Perry's Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) had me and my office buds laughing our heads off. Gonna share hahaha!!!

Pepper Lunch pig out and more with my Silliman co-fellows

It's been almost a year, I think, since I last saw these great people, or as Gino would put it, fabulous fabulous people.

We met Friday (yesterday) at Pepper Lunch in Greenbelt. I found Miro lined up outside the resto for some reason, despite the fact that we already had a table inside. Knowing how good and considerate a person she is, I decided to line up with her without protest, until the waitress told us we should have just gone inside. The baby of the 49th batch hasn't changed much, save for her more lady-like demeanor and the downplaying of her classic jejemon ways. Oscar, Gino, and Netty were done eating already so we hurriedly ordered Pepper Rice No. 1. It looks boring in the menu, and boring in real life. Just rice topped with corn and pepper, encircled by thin strips of beef on a sizzzzzzling plate. But the first bite will remind you of the age old saying: looks can be deceiving.

http://pepperlunch.com.ph/menu.html

The "You got thin!" or "You got fat" part of the meet-up let's me know how really long it's been since we've all seen each other like this. Oscar's green jokes, as usual, made lots of heads turn; so we we had to finish our meal fast before the surrounding families became too scandalized. I had to check with them if our batch mascot, Nom Nom, was really still okay. I wasn't able to join them in the 50th Silliman reunion since I was in the 18th Iligan Workshop. Good thing that he, apparently, is alive and well!!! I was told that that cute little doggy might have died in Dumaguete while we were away. But he has gotten quite big now:

That's our Nom Nom awright!!!

I wrote about him in a previous post about our batch.

And so we finished with our dinner and moved to Gelatissimo. There, we carried with us our loudness, ruining the quiet and calm of the others who must have hoped to enjoy their dessert in peace.

Oscar told me I've become quite noisy now. Apparently I wasn't like that last year. It seemed I was shy and reserved in Dumaguete...two adjectives that would make my high school and office friends roll on the floor laughing their asses off. Well, that must be the other side of me that comes out when I'm uncomfortable. I take it as a good sign that distance and time may have brought me closer to my Silliman batchmates, or I may have simply changed and don't give a damn anymore what people say. Because hey, we've got one chance in life, why not spend it being ourselves? Why not spend it being my loud self? I think the world should be a noisier place. Noisy with LAUGHTER I mean. hihi. >.<

Busy Bee Me

Can I just say, I've been extra busy these days at work...I haven't written a poem or story in a while.  But I find I don't mind, because this is the good kind of busy, the one that actually goes somewhere, not the other kind of busy where you're just running around doing a hodgepodge of things you've been asked to do.

Been coordinating with the company's digital agency to get our newest Facebook App working. I was haggard-ized yesterday because a certain government agency can't seem to decide on their own rules for getting permits. My goodness, what's the use of having a contact center when they're just gonna tell you, "Di ko nga rin alam eh." Ah ganun? Ganun lang? Get outta your seat then and find someone who knows! >.<

In any case, we were able to launch the promo on time through the help of our Legal Dept. Whew. Because I'd hate it if we were delayed.

Cute Puppies....NOT!

I was doing my usual morning run, when from afar I saw a pair of cute puppies. They were so chubby and fluffy! Until they both started barking and growling at me. Before I knew it, my relaxed run became a scared sprint as the terrible two started chasing me across the street. I am never going to pass by that street again. Darned pups.