7 Years

I was presented with four forks in the road when I graduated in college.

(1) Be a professor in finance
(2) Work in a bank
(3) Work in the senate
(4) Work in a telco

My primary deal-breaker was the fact that I had to earn enough to make sure I'm able to feed Miguel and send him to pre-school. I didn't think I was good enough in finance to teach it. My Mom wanted me to work in a bank but I didn't think I'd survive working in one (it's still finance!). Much as I wanted to work in the senate I thought that it wouldn't pay enough for me to support Miguel. So easy enough I ended up working in a telco.

I must say that my choice of career was not deliberately planned. I had planned in broadstrokes and realized when I was taking my MBA that I wanted to specialize in marketing. At the telco they refused to give me the opportunity to transfer to another department because they wanted us to focus on selling. So I left. While finishing my MBA I helped my Mom in her export business for awhile and that's where I learned to do operations and manufacturing. Eventually I ended up in an internet company where I became product manager for a trade directory and later on for the web and mobile yellow pages. Ahh that was where I learned a lot about marketing online technologies. After that stint I spent some time in the property development industry.

In each of the jobs I had taken I made sure I learned a new skill. Sales, marketing, advertising, operations, business development, PR, and market research. I had about 10 jobs before I found THE ONE. I guess my thirst to learn more came from the 1:1 sessions I had with Dr. Ned Roberto who told me that in each and every part of my life I should have a mentor. So since then I've always strived to find someone I could follow to be my mentor (they usually don't know about it! But if I keep asking you questions or keep observing you then it means I'm trying to pick up a skill from you!).

Back when I hadn't gained my Google 15 yet.

Anyway, so I celebrated my 7th Google anniversary on my birthday. It's the longest time I've spent in one company and I must say every single day has been exciting and different and I get to learn something new everyday. So how has it been in the last seven years? Let me count the ways...

(1) I gained the Google 15 (and more!)

When I joined back in 2006 they said that everyone gains at least 10 pounds when they join Google. Now it's not just 10, it's 15! I have definitely gained that weight and more!

Rare opportunity to meet Dr. Eric Schmidt when he was president of Google.

(2) I'm learning a gazillion things

A few weeks after joining Google I realized that I was living in a hole and that there was so many things out there I didn't understand and needed to study (I still feel the same way!). There has been so many people who painstakingly taught me fundamental things I needed to know about the industry and how things worked (ask Jay, he once had to give me a 2 hour session about the different programming languages!). I've never been afraid to ask and I still continue to ask when I don't understand anything.

-3'C in Zurich!

(3) Seeing the world

My parents told me I had itchy feet. They couldn't hold me down in one place. I just have to keep traveling. My brother laughs whenever I tell him I just want to be a plain housewife. They know that I have to be always on the go. Never in my life I imagined I would have the opportunity to visit other countries as much as I am doing now.

My Outreach family in 2012.

(4) Friends all over the world, and I really mean all over!

I have 24-hour support every single day and can ping anyone at any time in case I need to talk to someone. This is also one thing I didn't expect and I thank God everyday for all the new friends I meet every single day.

GBG Community <3

(5) Do what you love

My brother told me just before my final interview that I would get the job if I was meant for it. He eventually told me that he felt that I wasn't really working because I love what I do. That's true. I actually rarely take a leave and only do when I'm just tired (or need to do a lot of laundry!).

gDays in the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.

(6) Making an impact

Growing up my Dad said that we should always be of service to others and I'm happy that through my job I am able to help others in my own little way. I hope that I would also inspire others to do the same.

(7) Just be thankful and give it your all

I've been through a lot in the last few years but I have faith that I will always be steered in the right direction so I could complete my mission. I am thankful everyday that I got the opportunity to work in a company that's making a lot of impact in the world, a company that allows me to also make an impact. And also one that made sure I'm still going to live! :)

To everyone who's made it possible for me to mark this milestone, thank you from the bottom of my newly repaired heart! 

Eraserheads in Singapore 2013

When I heard from my friend, Karla, that the Eraserheads was going to have a concert in Singapore I immediately fixed my schedule to make sure that I would be in Singapore. My original plan was to watch with my colleagues but many of them had made plans to be out of the country because of the long holiday, so I thought since it's my birthday month I might as well enjoy the concert together with family! Luckily Malacanang declared August 9 a holiday as well in Manila so my boys didn't have to miss work/school.

I worked on increasing my stamina to make sure I finish the concert and luckily an angel called up and saved me from my wobbly legs while waiting in line for 2 hours.The last time I watched the Eraserheads was in 2008 during their first reunion concert. I missed the second one because of my health. Who would've thought I'd be able to watch my favorite rock band in a rare concert just a few months after surgery? :)

I wanted to stand, dance and sing all throughout the concert but since we got tickets in the seated area we had to sit (they do follow rules strictly in Singapore!), but we got to do so towards the end and all throughout the encore. I always listen to Eheads songs since I have their albums on my iPod and so I enjoyed singing along during their performance. There were no gimmicks, no intermission, no fluff, just pure Eraserheads. And they didn't really need to do anything. They could've performed on an empty stage and I think the audience would have still gone wild just the same.

I do have a lot of favorite Filipino bands but the Eraserheads has always been (and always be) on the top of my playlist. I think Ely + Raimund + Marcus + Buddy put together is magic and no other Filipino band has been able to replicate this in my lifetime (I say mine coz I'm not sure if there are others). And I think a lot of other Filipinos see this. I saw a couple of people in the audience bowing down with their arms raised like they were venerating gods.

I had a mighty good time at the concert. From start to finish. There wasn't any dull moment and I was truly amazed they performed straight for more than 2 hours! I was especially ecstatic hearing my favorite Eheads songs live and hope that I would be able to watch again sometime in the future. And hopefully by then I can not only dance, sing, headbang, but jump too!

My bagets and niece who were not born yet when the Eheads came to fame watched the concert with me and I'm glad that they enjoyed and managed to sing along to their songs. Miguel even managed to take a lot of photos and uploaded it as soon as we got home! I made sure that he listened to Eheads songs as he was growing up so he could relate to my kind of music. So, it's not just my generation that loves the Eheads, it's also the younger ones and older ones too (my friend Karla's Dad sat beside us during the concert and was singing along all throughout the concert!).

I'd like to say thank you to the organizers, Beyond Photography Productions, for bringing the best Filipino rock band to Singapore and to Arnel for taking care of me, my family and friends.

PS On a side note, I finally got the chance to meet the adorable Marcus Adoro who I have been exchanging emails with for about 2 years now. When I introduced myself to him he immediately took my hand and made mano! Hahaha!

PPS On another note, I had met Ely about 10 years ago at work when he presented our product jingle. I was seriously starstruck and our company president noticed how enamoured I was with Ely. He approved the project because I didn't stop gushing about the Eheads after the meeting (probably to shut me up, haha). 

Healing and the End of the Age of Indulgence

After hearing the first few bars of Freddie Aguilar's "Anak" when I boarded the taxi early this morning I knew that it was going to be a really good and happy day. I told the uncle taxi driver that I was surprised he was listening to a classic Filipino song. He said that it's good to start the day with good songs. He went on and on and at some point of our conversation I found out he was Catholic. Another surprise.

I asked him how and why he converted to the Catholic faith and he said that he was a bad husband. His wife left him because he (pointing to his mouth) was abusive. His wife moved in with her sister in law who was Catholic. She advised her to pray the novena and uncle mentioned that when he was alone he just had the urge to go to the church near his home. He went there and sat at the last pew, not really knowing all the practices we do in church. He realized that he had to go back to his wife. He did and told her that he wanted to become a good husband. They continued to hear mass and then eventually they converted.

Uncle went on to tell me that he had already visited the Vatican. He said he prayed for it and he managed to sell enough cars to buy a ticket to visit the Vatican. He's also visited quite a number of other places and he said that God gives you what you wish for when you pray for it. He's also had a heart attack and several surgeries but he's pulled through because of his faith.

Ask and you shall receive. Pray. That's what I did when I was in so much pain after my surgery. I honestly thought I wasn't going to make it because the pain made me want to give up. But I knew I had to be strong for my boys, Miguel and Jay, because I promised them that I would get well. It's been a struggle the last few months, but I'm happy to say the saga has reached its happy ending.

I had my sixth month check-up last week and both my doctors (cardio and surgeon) have declared that I have fully recovered from mitral valve surgery. I still feel a bit odd at times, a bit unbalanced, but surviving a huge event, climbing Borobudur and being able to do a lot of other stuff now (there are times when I feel I have so much energy!), tells me I'm good to go. Ready to rampa! Ready to take on my mission again.

And today I just felt so inspired from the uncle taxi driver's story. He wasn't born into the faith that he embraced when he was older, but in less than 30 minutes he managed to inspire me and bring me back on the right track. I also feel that God got him to drive me today because I've been missing my Dad the last few days. I've been wanting to hear from him and get guidance on my next steps because he always did that for me. He was my guiding light.

The age of indulgence is over. Time to diet. Eat more healthy and stop shopping!

Thank you Lord. 

Joy: 6 Months After Surgery

I love playing with babies so it's really been a pain not to be able to carry one in the last six months because of the surgery. Being able to carry a baby again was one of my motivations to exercise and work on my stamina because one of my physiotherapists told me that if I didn't work hard I wouldn't be able to carry my baby ever. I don't know if I'd have another baby again, but I certainly like cuddling babies so I've been pushing myself the last few months.

It's been six months since I had mitral valve surgery (heart surgery) and I can now say I'm feeling about 90% normal again. There's still some aches and pains here and there every so often and I still tire easily, but at least I'm very much functional again. Some accomplishments in the last 2 months are worth mentioning:

(1) Traveling

Traveling is part and parcel of my job so I had to work on going up and down a flight of stairs. I also had to be able to carry at least 7 kilograms up a flight of stairs (inevitable especially when you travel to provinces). Ahh, but I impressed some travelers when I managed to get off my 20+kg. luggage off the conveyor belt without having to carry it (how I did it is a secret, Yoda powers!). And the most important thing I had to work on was gaining back my confidence of being able to travel alone.

Enroute to Carbin Reef.

And because I have regained that confidence I actually surprised my boys by going home to Manila the day after their birthday. All along they thought I had flown to Jakarta to avoid the haze but I felt really sad to have missed both their birthdays so I just booked a flight and went straight home to Manila (my doctor told me not to go back to Singapore until the haze is gone). And a happy day it was!

(2) Doing House Chores

We all take for granted our ability to carry stuff. After surgery I could barely raise a glass of water and I had to use a mug with a straw to drink. Eventually when I could finally raise a glass of water I worked on being able to carry my Nexus 7, then my laptop etc. I love doing the laundry so I always had to ask one of my boys to help me carry the basket to the laundry room. It was also pure joy when I could sweep and mop the floor without wincing in pain.

(3) Carrying a Baby

I couldn't help but grin when Joy (my one-year old playmate) finally asked me to carry her today. I was apprehensive at first because I was scared I might drop her, but I couldn't say no so I bent down and lifted her. I was so happy I insisted she come with me when the driver brought me home. She was barely crawling when I left for Singapore for my surgery and now she's already running around!

(4) Run a Huge Event

I wasn't sure if I was really ready to run a huge event. A few weeks back we brought over 200 of our communities across the region to Yogyakarta. I just put in my mind that I could do it and made sure I managed my energy well. There were times though I thought I'd break but I just prayed I'd survive. All was well and everyone who attended was happy.

(5) Climbing a Temple

I love traveling and exploring places. In my last post I mentioned that achieved climbing Borubodur. Originally I did not really plan to do the trek up since the 3 flights just getting to the grounds of the temple was already too much for me. The temple though was so beautiful I just had to see the sunrise from the top. I was really happy when I reached the top (not sure though if my doctors would be! Haha).

(6) Eating Chicken Again

My long-time mild allergies were activated when I had pneumonia and I have sadly not been eating chicken since 2008. My doctor mentioned the possibility of my immune system improving after surgery. Things were bad in the first few months, but I've been feeling great lately and thought I should try eating chicken and lo and behold I can now eat about 2.5 Don Hen buffalo wings without having an asthma attack (I only sneezed!). So happy! (Little secret: I had McChicken sandwich twice this week alone!).

(7) Gaining Weight

It seems though that with 100% blood flow it's easier for me to gain weight despite moving around more (argggh fast metabolism where did you go?). I'm at least 5 kilograms over the limit my doctor gave me so I'm sure I'm going to get a scolding next week.

Life is good. Life is joyful. I thank God everyday that I survived what could've had a disastrous ending. I understand I still have a mission to accomplish and whatever it is I just leave it to God to navigate me where I should be.

Love you all!

Mapping the Philippines 2013

Life is just really awesome when your 20% project makes a huge impact. Everything though is because of the thousands of volunteer mappers across the country who believed that they could help and contribute in their own little way.

Thank you my dear mapper-friends!

(And thanks ANC Alerts and TJ Manotoc for this feature).

More:
Wall Street Journal feature
Interaksyon's feature

Achievement Unlocked: Climbing Borubodur

Last Sunday my dear friend Avel went around and asked everybody to describe Borubodur in one word. It was Juned who gave the perfect description on how I felt about Borubodur. He said, "Achievable!"

It was a mean feat for me and Juned to climb the temple. On the path to the temple I held on to Juned because it was dark and I didn't want him to stumble. Just as when we managed to get up to the frontage of the temple everybody disappeared and good thing Vanj stayed behind to assist me and Juned (thanks Vanj!). Both Juned and I were huffing from the steep flights of stairs from the entrance. We took a leisurely pace as we got up the temple.

Fifteen minutes later, with dirty hands and pants we surprised everybody when we showed up at the top of the temple. Ahh, photos were in order to mark our achievement. I realized though that it wasn't as difficult for me since I've been working up on my stamina and practicing on Hyatt Yogya's stairs paid off. I wouldn't have made it if you had me do it 2 months ago.

I love exploring museums, temples, watching about the histories of civilizations etc. and I originally wanted to be an archaeologist so I was beaming with pleasure the whole time we were in Borubodur. Watching the sun break in the day was an awesome spiritual experience. I just stood there in awe while take photos of the sunrise (check out the auto-awesomed photos here). It was one of those times I felt really happy I survived my heart surgery adventure.

Another thing that made the trip more pleasurable was being with friends from across the country and parts of Southeast Asia. The last seven years have truly been a huge adventure of opportunities for me. The best thing about my work was meeting lovely friends from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao! I feel like we celebrated our friendship with a jumpshot (see the auto-awesomed photo here!). I really didn't know if it was okay for me to jump, but jump I did!

One thing though that would have made me happier would've been to have both my boys with me since it was their birthday weekend. Ahh but I made a big surprise the day after when I showed up unexpected at home in Manila. Their look was priceless!

Oh Borubodur, I hope to visit again one day with Sweetie and Miguel!

The Epic Summit in Yogyakarta

It's been more than a month since I've had the chance to blog. I've been extremely busy since I went back to work and I must say that I've had to carefully manage my energy so I could complete my tasks everyday. It's not been easy since I'm still not a hundred percent back to normal. I don't really know what normal for me would be, but I'm just taking each day as it comes.

I spent a whole week last week in Yogyakarta, Indonesia where we held the first ever community summit of the GBGs, GDGs, GSAs and mappers. It was truly an ambitious event, moreso since I'm still recuperating but with careful planning (5 Ps!) we managed to come out with an epic event!

Two Days Before

I arrived in Yogya from Singapore. What I didn't know was I managed to escape the haze that plagued Singapore. No wonder I had a hard time breathing when I arrived late Sunday evening. When I arrived in Yogyakarta, Hadi whisked me away to UGM for Pepi's project launch. I hope my Bahasa wasn't so bad!

One Day Before

Just stayed in the hotel preparing my presos, having meetings and running around to check preps. During dinner some of the delegates started to arrive! Van said that he had adopted the Vietnamese GSAs during their flight to Yogya. =)

(Photos)

Day Zero

I'm glad I "saved energy" because I felt like I had adopted more than a hundred kids! Really happy that they were so participative and excited.

(Photos)

Day One

I was so nervous before I got onstage but I realized this was a dream come true for me to bring together all the communities in one event. I just hope that they will all share the same passion I have to get more people to do projects that will make an impact in their own countries.

There was one thing I forgot to mention during my opening and it was about my outfit. I wore a Tboli dress because I wanted to show that even in our own little way we can make an impact. Last year GDG Philippines ran a Map Your Town competition and the winner, Nanardzx, chose Lake Sebu Central Elementary School as his beneficiary. The school caters mostly to Tboli children and in the last few weeks utilized the donation to reconstruct the perimeter walls in their school. Warm, fuzzy feeling <3

(Photos)

Day Two

We had sessions for most of day 2 but what was inspiring was the performances made by the communities, led by the GSAs. My colleague, Andrew, said that the kids were truly sincere in sharing their own culture. Unscripted, full of heart... love.

(Photos)

Day Three

Saddest day ever when almost everyone headed home. I shed some tears when the GSAs started to bid goodbye to me.

(Photos)


The SEA Outreach Summit was truly an epic event for me. I am looking forward to next year's summit where I should be back to normal (and maybe next year I'm going to jump in the pool too!).

Thank you to everybody who took time and effort to travel all the way to beautiful Yogyakarta. Hadi and Nee Khern for being strong and keeping calm! My bosses, Nelson and William for the all-out support! My brother-colleagues, Sebastian, Sunil, Monirul, Rohan, Phillip and Badar, for help and moral support and helping us keep calm. Ola, Chelle, Andrew, Noha and Miriam who we kept bugging for content! My extended Google family, Sam, Pepi, Janet and Wendy! My lovely friends and kids from Southeast Asia and South Asia! Yansen and Putri and the rest of the gang, yes, I love you! And special thanks to my Pinoy friends for constantly checking on me and reminding me to rest and eat.