Good Morning Shrek!

Shrek is so adorable :) I even got myself a toy from McDonald's and he burps!

Anyway, watch this Good Morning video made by HP:



Watch all the other HP videos here. Or head on over to my work blog and learn why it's important to have a new media campaign for your products/services.

Musings on Miss U

I've been trying to sleep for the past hour, I think I must've worked-up my brain too much and it just doesn't want to switch off! Arrghhh!

Earlier today (technically yesterday) I was suddenly awakened from a very nice dream by Mabel (a friend who's been staying over coz she's fixing her wedding) who was shuffling about the room so early in the morning. She was rushing out to watch the live telecast of Miss Universe. I tried to go back to sleep, but the really nice dream I was having was long gone. So I got up and shimmied over to my study room to start work. I wasn't keen on watching Miss U. Why?

Back in college we had a very long discussion in International Studies class under Dr. Wilfrido Villacorta about how the Miss Universe pageant is actually a political and economic tool. It was a very long discussion that even included the Cold War and I don't really want to get into that here in my blog. I think the last Miss Universe show I really watched was the one held here in Manila (with Charlene Gonzales). After that class discussion I totally lost interest watching pageants.

Anyway, this morning I had a friend who was updating me live through IM. After Miss USA's fall he asked me, who do you think will win? I mentioned that I saw Miss Japan in the news and thought she was kinda pretty and said I hope Miss Philippines would win (imagine all the goodwill and investments for our country if she wins - well she won Miss Photogenic, fair enough). I said that the winner would probably be Asian, not because there's any political upheaval to downplay, but because our region is an emerging market... and guess who's the most influential in the region right now?

The things you think about at 3 in the morning. LOL.

A Nap vs. a Post and Being Cheesy

For some insane reason, I can't write, ergo, I can't blog! Urg!!!

Jozzua cited some reasons why he couldn't blog and I left a comment in his blog that for me it's sometimes a call between what's more satisfying: a nap vs. a post OR sometimes I'm just too happy to write (I'm a creative writer, so everything depends on my muse and I think she might've gone off to a beach or something coz I just couldn't really write right now).

And here's my disclaimer: I'm not happy because I'm in love or something. I'm just really too happy over some progress I've had for work and that's just about it. Nerdy huh? LOL.

So, instead of spending time in front of my boyfriend, my PC. I decided to watch a DVD I borrowed from my neighbor, Jaja - Music & Lyrics, the romantic, feel-good movie starring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore. I was quite surprised how Hugh Grant seems to have aged in just a couple of years since Notting Hill (another fave movie). I absolutely adore the theme song, "Way Back into Love". And I quote -

[Cora] I've been living with a shadow overhead I've been sleeping with a cloud above my bed I've been lonely for so long Trapped in the past, I just can't seem to move on

[Alex] I've been hiding all my hopes and dreams away Just in case I ever need them again someday I've been setting aside time To clear a little space in the corners of my mind

[Cora & Alex] All I wanna do is find a way back into love I can't make it through without a way back into love Oh oh oh

I'm pretty sure my neighbor (not Jaja) is so annoyed already over hearing the song again and again. Haha.

Don't you just sometimes wish there's someone you can duet with? But, then again, I've got so much work to do :p

Customer Care, I Just Don't Care!

I was telling a colleague that perhaps it's Asian culture that we aren't "ranters". We aren't straightforward and we never really say what we mean. We are such "yes" people and we usually end up just mumbling and keeping complaints to ourselves. It's quite rare that you would find somebody making a scene at a restaurant or a shop. Hmmm... that's probably why blogs have the power to make or break a product/service.

I've experienced quite a number of bad customer service. And I've just had more than enough of it. So allow me to blog about it a bit. I won't be naming the companies because I am not out to "break" them, I hope they or similar companies would just take a hint.

• This company is a well-known courier worldwide whose local HQ is somewhere along Pasong Tamo. I had quite a lot to say when I complained about their service. And I got a very arrogant reply, "We're the best here, maghanap kayo ng ibang mas magaling sa amin." (find someone who's better than us).
  

• This resto is named after a day in a week. I think they cannot keep up with the demand when they are full. My friend had to wait about 20 minutes just to get his extra rice. We also had to wait more than 15 minutes just to get our beverages served.

I've been seriously canvassing the past few days for a laptop and this is what I could say about the bad service I've been getting:

• This PC shop is known for express service. They'll tell you they can build up your PC in 2 hours, 2 hours to the second power and they'll show you how annoyed they are when you follow-up with them. Yeah, express indeed, I had to have my PC revived 4 times in less than a year. I met the owner of this chain of stores and realized that the saying, "The root becomes the fruit" is very true indeed. After buying 1 PC from them and spending again just to keep it up and running, I won't consider buying from them ever again.
  

• I was very much disappointed in the leading competitor of the PC shop mentioned above. I couldn't understand why the salesperson seemed hesitant to bring out the laptop from the shelf. Maybe he thought I couldn't afford to buy one because I was just wearing a white Bohol t-shirt, jeans and sneakers. What made it worse, one of their staff kept bumping into me without even saying sorry. I know your shop is just like an eskinita in Park Square, but hey you can always say excuse me if you need to pass. Disappointed, I headed over to Octagon (right in front of you) and got much better service and attention. Electroworld, which is beside you, gives much better service as well. Sayang, mabait pa naman your owners.
  

• Another PC shop which I think needs to improve their customer service is a shop named after the seat of technology in California. It may not be an actual city, but it's where Mountain View is located and where a lot of new technologies were born. I wanted to check out a Compaq laptop in that shop and the salesman told me, "Naka-lock po eh." Isn't that why you have keys to open it? I'm not going to ran out of you shop with it. Hay nako.

Yes, it's really annoying. In the US you get automatically greeted by shop attendants when you enter a store, any kind of store. Sometimes it could get quite disconcerting, but eventually you get the hang of it and you just happily greet them back. Everybody there asks, "How are you today?" - even in the cafeteria pila.

Oh well, the quest for the best laptop continues. Have you ever experienced such atrocities? Forgive me for ranting :p

Getting Over Stage Fright

May 24, 2007, Hotel Sofitel, Manila
Wrote this during the 38th National Marketing Conference
Seated at the speakers couch

I think I just managed to get over stage fright. I did the unthinkable today. Something I never, ever imagined I’d put myself into. Never in my wildest dreams.

Funny, I have photos in this pose in all of my speaking engagements. LOL.

A lot of people wouldn’t believe this, and a friend of mine was simply shocked when I told him. I have stage fright. I quit taking piano lessons when I was a kid because I hated doing recitals. I always volunteered to do papers in school reports just so I wouldn’t have to present in class. I always got bulol and froze up during presentations. I got through grad school where you have to make many, many presentations, but I never got over it. The last statement I got from my defense panel chair in grad school said, “Iha, you are ready for the world, but you have to get over your shyness.”

The audience, about a thousand marketers.

Me shy? A lot of my friends would laugh off this statement. They’d tell you I’m definitely NOT shy. I am, especially when it comes to doing presentations and crowds. Notice how quiet I get when I’m speaking to more than 2 people. Unbelievable, but true.

Today I spoke to an audience of a thousand marketers. I was driving the stage manager crazy backstage because I was already hyperventilating. Can I just cry a bit now? LOL.

As I said, never in my wildest dreams.

So what did the trick? I prayed. It’s my job, but I’d like to say that to me it’s not just another job. My work is one of my many passions and nothing, not even stage fright should be an obstacle to meeting my goals. And, I prayed again.

Warm fuzzy feeling.

Feels GREAT to be Pinoy

I've always been vocal about being "proudly Pinoy". I shared here in my blog a few months ago Why I Wanna Stay Home and I still do because I know I have a mission to accomplish here.

Anyway, Marc tagged me for the meme, "What are the 3 signs you see happening now that make you say, “it feels great to be Pinoy” then tag ten (10) of your blogger friends." Here are my 3 reasons:

1. Pinky David, Licensing Director of Discovery Channel in her keynote address for the 38th Marketing Conference this morning quoted Tony Meloto's speech for a Gawad Kalinga event, "Filipinos, you were created for excellence...". That gave me the shivers and I remember my Kuya sharing to me that GK will indeed manage to build 700K+ homes within 7 years and it will drastically lessen the poverty rate in the Philippines. And, guess what, GK is already reaching out to other countries and working with the UN to eradicate poverty as well in other countries. The secret to the success of the program? Pinoys.

2. Filipinos give care and help in healing people. Did you know that 40% of nurses in New York hospitals are supposedly Pinoys? (I got that statistic from a friend.) Who'd give the TLC that patients and children need if there weren't Pinoys?

3. Filipinos are very talented and creative people. Guess who sings at bars all over Asia? Guess what Pizza Hut ad actually contributed to the boom of the 1-800 numbers (now sing it - nine-one-one-one-one-one-one!? Guess who are the best animators in the world (remember that bahay kubo in Nemo's aquarium? And who does the best non-American "American accent" in the whole wide BPO industry? PINOYS!

God loves us. He created us to be excellent, talented, big-hearted, humorous-even-at-adversity people and there are actually foreigners applying for Filipino citizenship! Imagine that.

And I am just simply so PROUD to be FILIPINO!

And now I'm tagging my friends:
Tappy, Anne, Lady Cess, Sasha, Rico, Jonas, Honey, Janette, Blogie and Andrew.

(And that covers Singapore, Makati, QC, Paranaque, Cagayan de Oro and Davao)

A Puppy, Coming Soon!

I just finally managed to dig deeper into Tappy's blog and read her post, "To all the dogs I've loved before". Awwww!

I feel sad. My pet fighting fish, Beans, jumped out of his bowl yesterday, just like Pork. I arrived late afternoon from the IFEX show and thought the little strip on the floor was a piece of electric tape. Ignored it and only realized it was Beans when I looked at his bowl.

Noooooooo!!!

Sigh.

I was telling Gail a while back that the last time I had a pet was years ago. You see, I get too attached to them and I oftentimes end up mourning for quite a while. The last time I had a dog was about 7 years ago. Hop-hop was Charlie's (Tappy's dog) daughter. We had to "assign" Hophop to our factory in Cavite because she was quite a bundle to take care of and Miguel was still little back then. I haven't seen her for quite a while, but I hear she's got lots of puppies already.

Before Hophop I had Cotton, a japanese spitz. My sister left her to me when she left Manila to take her masters degree in the US. I had Cotton for quite a while, but when she passed away it took a long while for my Mom to convince me to eat again. Get the picture?

I have Patch now, a retarded askal. Funny how my colleagues thought that an askal was a new breed and they all just had to groan when I said an askal is an asong kalye, a streetdog. You see, Pornthip has a poodle, Francisco owns a labrador and I'm not sure if Hanson has a dog too. Anyway, they had a bowl of laughs when I finally revealed that I have a retarded streetdog and not a dog with an exotic breed. So, I don't really play with Patch anymore coz sometimes he forgets who I am and ends up growling at me. Almost bit my hand off a few weeks ago.

Anyway, Gail's supposed to give me a new puppy in a couple of weeks. I'm sure my Mom will hit the roof when she sees him. Gail said that the puppy looks a lot like Sasha's rascal dog, Oscar. I hope the puppy won't be as spunky as Oscar! :p

I am quite nervous about it, but excited to have somebody else (other than Miguel) annoy me. I'm also hoping that Marc's other pregnant hamster doesn't get murdered so I can have one of them too.

Well, the most exciting thing to think about right now is... what should I name my new puppy?

Any ideas?