new leaf

Oct 23

2007-11-14T14:16:00.000+08:00

Moira's surprise kiddie bday party!

Four precious hours to be kids again (and Mark brought along his very cute kid)

Mr Lawson PSSC President in the house!

I made a detour to Katipunan this morning to pick up a seriously big cake

Time to go back to the office (and home for little Denise)...

September 18

2007-09-18T17:51:00.000+08:00

Enjoying my second day at our spankin' brand new office called One World Square in McKinley Hill.

The building stands right across the condo I bought which is currently NOT so much a condo than a huge patch of land with overgrown weeds. It kills me that I can't start cutting back on living expenses.

But anyway, I'm happy about the move. It is a big deal and says so much about how Lawson in the Philippines is growing. All my anxieties when I first moved here are totally gone. Both in size and revenue, it is so much bigger than my previous companies.

Here is the latest picture of the Information Development team, taken at the old building. I'm including our counterparts in St Paul since Raymond is in Minnesota right now:

Aug 9

2007-08-09T17:01:00.000+08:00

Weeks fly by. Buoyed by the success of my Smart Client project, I found office work to be relatively easier after the GA release of what is reportedly the flagship in Lawson's range of software solutions.

Last week was about mentoring--I gave the three new hires a four-day knowledge transfer on the standards and tools of the Sweden group. The truth is, only Kat will be joining my team, but Moira lent me her laptop and insisted that I include Job and Aucyn on the sessions. It was fun anyway, especially when Job got reprimanded by an officer for eating brownies in one of the conference rooms (provided by me, of course). =)

Other stuff that's been going on:

Job still gets in touch with everybody from the old company and it drives me crazy. Also drives me crazy: he brought his habit of peeking into my screen everytime he passes by my cubicle
One of our new hires is quite a character; I'll leave it at that for now (it's her birthday today and I just ate her birthday pizza)
I spend at least two hours of every day rephrasing angst into a controlled argument that I send to Sweden through email
I'm catching up on some training I didn't have the luxury of having during my first few weeks at Lawson and now I'm wondering how I got 99.6% on my performance evaluation
Lilet has me started on this oatmeal diet so I saintfully ate it for breakfast, but couldn't escape eating ice cream and pizza during the rest of the day. God.
I discovered I'd be 6K poorer each time the Tucson needs to change oil. Gooooddd.

July 12

2007-07-12T16:14:00.000+08:00

Another old officemate from Trend Micro, Job, started at Lawson this week. I'm happy to see him again, and not happy that he brought his kinky Japanese toys with him. There are about five of 'em little sluts, oh-so-innocently showing off their plastic undies. Duh, as if there's anything there.

This is supposed to be a grown-up office. Smart clothes and carpeted floor and well-groomed people are the norm. Pervert toys, not so much. Some boys just can't cross that bridge.

So. These gals will be struttin' their 'thang beside Job's monitor, and I'll be hating them from afar. I'm not really going to do anything--I mean, I'm not his mother. But I just want to say, goodluck trying to explain them to a foreign visitor.

July 1

2007-07-04T18:37:00.000+08:00

My sister and I moved to a new condo today.

My rockin' new house sits practically on the highest floor of the tower--far, far away from the leering construction men over at the Palazzo (which seems to be taking forever to finish). I can walk around naked. It's also a lot bigger--I can even dance around naked. There's a newly painted kitchen I can bless with splatters of oil while cooking porkchop. A nicely renovated bathroom with germ-free grout. Fresh-smelling cabinets that do not try to run after me, crying out for a shower of Lysol.

We also have new stuff for the new house -- a bum couch, a giant bean bag chair, a proper dining table (and I don't mean a kitchen table), a painting I stole from our house in Ayala, some deceitful flowers, a flatter TV. I'm also planning to piss off some hard-earned money with round-the-clock air-conditioning and cable.

After I finish fixing things up, I intend to have a lot of fun in this place. So much fun that I won't have time to say goodbye to the stupid dream that my old boyfriend will knock on my door one day. In the old condo he and I picked out together.

July 1

2007-07-04T17:50:00.000+08:00

Someday, you're 'gonna realize
One day, you'll see this through my eyes
By then, I wont even be there
I'll be happy somewhere
Even if I cared.

I know you don't really see my worth
You think you're the last guy on earth
Well, I've got news for you
I know I'm not that strong
But it won't take long...won't take long.

'Cause someday, someone's 'gonna love me
The way I wanted you to need me
Someday, someone's 'gonna take your place
One day, I'll forget about you
You'll see, I won't even miss you
Someday...someday.

Right now, I know you can tell
I'm down and I'm not doing well
But one day these tears
They will all run dry
I will have to cry sweet goodbye.

June 22

2007-06-26T19:34:00.000+08:00

I'm posting some pictures before the ITS dudes (a.k.a. office police) attempt to make our network squeaky clean from jpg files by tomorrow.

This is from our Intramuros folder, where Raymond, JJ, and I toured Mark Ludwig (actually, Raymond is MIA here):

JJ swore he felt a "chill" inside this cave.

Mark and JJ reading Mi Ultimo Adios on the wall.

Rizal's trenchcoat.

June 21

2007-06-25T19:58:00.001+08:00

Happy birthday, Lily!

I'm so glad you came to Lawson. =)

June 20

2007-06-20T18:26:00.000+08:00

Got dragged last night into this last-minute videoke party at RedBox Greenbelt, organized by the Product Development team.

Here's Kat, on her second day and already a Lawson party animal.

Sweet Tomas Bondeson joined me on my first song.

By the time i finished two more rounds, I was ready to cry because Moira wouldn't stop volunteering me to sing.

Then Tomas knelt in front me and begged me to sing another one.

("If you please, could you kindly sing for us another song?")

Fine. That did the trick (plus some yummy Swedish chocolates to seal the deal).

When i got to the office this morning, a new funky award was waiting for me: KARAOKE GOLD MEDALIST. I pinned it in my cubicle, beside my Rookie of the Year award.

June 18

2007-06-18T20:27:00.000+08:00

It's Kat's first day at Lawson today. I've worked with her at Trend Micro for almost two years, and now she's here!

She's looking at 3 long months of training. That's really lucky--unlike me, who's been dumped with a major project on Day 1. But because she'll be on my team (Sweden), she'll be doing most of the things I do. I spent all day drafting her knowledge transfer (KT) plan for M3. By tomorrow I'm supposed to be giving her an introductory session about my Mango project. Surreal. I hope she doesn't think it's as weird as I find it.

I'm having a hard time believing I've been here long enough to be a part of the InfoDev training team. But come to think of it, it's been four months. Wow, how time flies.

On an unrelated note, the company held a townhall assembly at the 10th floor last week and I've proudly accepted this award: ROOKIE OF THE YEAR!

June 8

2007-06-13T20:50:00.000+08:00

A condo and a car. I am now officially broke for the next four years.

God, I need a boyfriend.

June 7

2007-06-13T18:30:00.000+08:00

I. Bought. This. Car.

Today.

May 5

2007-06-06T20:43:00.001+08:00

Condo, check.

It's small. It's pricey. And it'll take three years to build. But it's good to have something to look forward to. My own sweet little home.

May 3

2007-06-02T14:00:00.000+08:00

Look how pretty!

This is my new Swedish trainer, Jerker (a.k.a. Fake Brad). I get to ogle him 8 hours a day for 2 whole weeks.

(with Asa)

April 30

2007-04-30T19:32:00.000+08:00

As I've predicted, I've been preoccupied all month with my Mango project. So preoccupied I don't have time to put conditioner in my hair. I've been spending a lo-ot of time working with Arbortext, discussing developments with my editors, and setting up Webex meetings with Sweden once a week. Aside from that, my days are filled with meetings, conference calls, and heated-but-controlled arguments with the SMEs (disguised as mere "discussions"). My trainers had to put their sessions with me on hold because this project is being bundled with Windows Vista, and the time plan is inhuman. So I've mostly been self-studying and applying what I learn on an actual documentation project. And a high-profile project at that. Needless to say, I've been tired and busy.

But it hasn't been the only thing keeping me preoccupied. (Nope, this is not about a new guy. Life hasn't been that kind.)

Anyway, it's just that lately, I've started to realize that my savings account has now reached quite a substantial level. Before I moved to Lawson I've been able to save some money from my old company, and I've been using this money since I resigned two months ago. I've estimated being able to go on like this for a few more months. Meanwhile, I haven't touched a single centavo from my Lawson salary account since the first payday. Pretty cool, huh.

So one afternoon, while these thoughts were lurking at the back of my head, Moira dropped by my cubicle and handed me a leaflet for a pre-selling condo in The Fort. Apparently, I'm exactly the kind of person these condos are calling out to (i.e., stuck with some amount of money but not rich enough for "real" estate).

And maybe I was. That same day, I called up the number printed on the leaflet and requested for a sample computation for a corner studio unit. I did brace myself for what the compuation would look like, but man, it was really, really expensive. So expensive that my savings shrinked into nothingness. But I guess that's a price I have to pay.

And speaking of the price I have to pay, it has a no-downpayment, 0% interest payment scheme, which makes me think I can manage it. All I have to do is set aside some money to pay for the lumpsum once a year for 4 years. That seems like a heavy sacrifice, but that's nothing when I realize that by the time I'm 27 I'll be able to live on my own, in my very own house!

I can also have it rented out for the same amount as my amortization, or maybe even more. This means after 4 years I don't really have to pay for anything anymore because the tenant will be subsidizing the amortization. A couple of more years, then I can start getting the payback for the money I've initally shelled out.

And we haven't even gotten to the best part--after around 10 years I'll be able to earn rental income. For life. It's a lot better than a pension, it's like free money!

Ever since that day, boom! I've been staying up all night doing my accounts in a little blue battered noteb. I've also alloted the last 2 hours of every day to research on other viable condos. In the end though, I came back to the first I've seen, the one located in the super-ultra-posh village of McKinley Hill (from the developers of Corinthian Hills).

Last week, me and my dad went to McKinley Hill to view the construction site. He was really impressed with the grandiosity of the village too, which totally helped make up my mind 100%. Tomorrow (thank you, Labor Day) I'm visiting the showroom and if all goes well....

I'M BUYING A CONDO IN THE FORT!

April 12

2007-04-18T21:58:00.000+08:00

I saw my old boyfriend today.

It was bound to happen. We not only live two buildings away from each other, we even share a single road. Every morning he goes to work walking across the same path where, every morning, my car picks me up. So it was bound to happen.

All the same, I didn't expect to find myself today looking at him, all of him, a mere foot away. He was just...there, still so painfully familiar. I recognized the shirt I gave him for his birthday, those smelly sneakers I hated so much, that adorable slight frown demanding for strong coffee.

My eyes followed him for a few seconds, seconds too precious even to blink. All the while discovering that he could still tread on my heart with each unmindful step he took.

March 25

2007-04-04T21:58:00.000+08:00

My first taste of summer!

Armed with new sunglasses and lots of sunblock, I hopped into the Urvan which took us 3 hours south of Manila. Katarina, of course, was with us, all-excited and chattering the whole time. She had studied her little trusty map so much that she kept name-dropping places we've never even heard of--we had a grand time acting all knowledgeable.

We arrived at Playa Calatagan at around 11am. The place is so beautiful, I would say even more so than Punta Fuego. It's also very exclusive. They have a no-swimsuit-no-swimming policy, so whatcha gona do about that? Bring it on! My officemate Queenie had to wear a two-piece.

We had a lazy afternoon eating halohalo and turon a la mode. And then, much to our regret, it was time to go home. On our way back to Manila we dropped by the country's oldest lighthouse.

It was on the ride home that it hit me--I actually had fun today. Since my boyfriend and I broke up I had a really hard time getting along each day. But now I can choose to be...oh well, I dont know.

Happy.

March 24

2007-03-31T06:08:00.000+08:00

Took Katarina shopping today. Is this a part of my job description? Lemme check. Here, no it's not.

Haha. Who am I kidding with the grumbling? I'm not, or my name isn't Erika.

Moi, Cest, and I picked Katarina up at the Renaissance Hotel at 10am, then started our long trek to the malls. It was a long walk, but hey, she had sufficient warning from us the day before. She just shrugged us off, saying that Swedes are used to walking in the forest. Surprisingly, that did make sense.

We started with Greenbelt, had her going shoe-crazy at Landmark while Moi and I left her for a bit to grab some breakfast, then arrived at SM en route Glorietta. She had a great time loitering around Kultura Filipino (is that the right name?), buying God-awful gaudy shirts for her two sons--but of course I cannot very well tell her that. Not really planning on buying anything, I bored my eyes out looking at about 200 different jeepney figurines, then decided to buy dried mangoes to give to her on her last day here.

We were still bloaty from the breakfast (and Katarina had breakfast at the hotel too) so we chose to have light lunch at this dainty coffee place called Tsoko Nut, which turned out to be a nice discovery. The food is Filipino and the ambiance is not, which works for me. Katarina really, really loved her tsokolate ah. I had this black-and-white devil's cake (stop judging!) which, hands down, is one of the best I've ever had.

We picked out some beach stuff for our team outing tomorrow, then finally called it a wrap at around 3pm. Again, Moi droped me off at my house. I gotta tell you, it feels a bit weird having your boss drive you around all the time, but it still beats commuting, so.

Anyway, I bought a DVD copy of The Notebook and have great plans of lying around and crying my eyes out for the rest of the afternoon. Then tomorrow it's beach time!

March 21

2007-03-30T17:26:00.000+08:00

Requested for a meeting with several M3 developers so I can draft the project plan of a new software called Lawson Smart Client, a.k.a. Mango, which I'm tasked to document. It's like the newest, biggest, coolest M3 application. I have no idea where the Mango term sprouted from, but its external name is derived from the software's ability to utilize the important functions of both fat client and thin client applications.

Okay okay! Won't bore. Suffice it to say this is a really big project--most probably will be the length and breadth of my existence for the next few weeks. In fact, I'm already minding it pretty early, since the main pointperson for this project--a guy named Jack--is going to Sweden next week.

I think they're a little crazy to be handing such a big project to a newbie, but that's just me. The rest of Lawson must be thinking differently.

March 20

2007-03-30T15:29:00.000+08:00

Dampa might be too "out there", my teammates decided. We took Katarina to Gerry's Grill instead. Excited to play the local experts, we ended up ordering so many dishes that I was ready to faint by the time I force-fed myself the last spoonful of "Filipino food". There were around 15 dishes and we were 10 people. Go figure. We also had to explain everything Katarina ventured to put in her plate. Which was, basically, everything. Did you know that kinilaw is some kind of raw fish? I also picked up a thing or two.

Today is also the most the photographed day of my life. This is the result of an excited tourist with a camera and the "native" girl sitting nearest her.

March 19

2007-03-29T18:20:00.001+08:00

This morning I met Kattarina Kromno, Lawson's Translation Manager. She looks about forty, but has such a young-ish smile that she put me right at ease even in the presence of her power suit. Since the InfoDev team will be spending about a week with her I'm so relieved that she seems very nice. And oh, she speaks about a hundred languages.

We took her to UCC Cafe for lunch and in the middle of her Katsu meal asked when we were going to take her to authentic Filipino restaurants. Kamayan or Gerry's? She claims she's not allergic to anything and can eat everything.

Dampa it is!

March 16

2007-03-28T22:04:00.000+08:00

Spent the afternoon on training with a whiz-looking girl named Ana for my first deliverable--an application called M3 Adaptation Kit (MAK).

I know this is not interesting, but allow me to give just a teeny weeny corporate background about the company I work for. Otherwise I wouldn't know how to go on.

Basically, US-based Lawson Software started out in the 1970s as an ERP vendor specializing in S3 (staff, source, and serve) services. Eventually branching out to deliver enterprise software solutions to over 40 countries, it made a strategic move to expand last year by acquiring a Swedish-based company called Intentia, which specializes in M3 (make, move, and maintain) services. So Lawson is now sort of made up of two companies, and I'm the first member in the Information Development team to handle the Sweden-based projects. My long-term objective is to solidfy the M3 and S3 InfoDev standards and processes.

See, that wasn't so bad. Anyway, so Ana showed me how this MAK tool can customize other M3 applications through Eclipse. By "show" I meant she spent an hour explaining configuration stuff in Java--which, of course, was so technical that all the details just flew over my head. While my eyes were glazing over her computer screen I couldn't help wondering how bummed I'd be if I spent time in a place as lovely as Sweden (as she did) slaving away at the office instead of sniffing away at all the cheese.

March 15

2007-03-15T17:40:00.000+08:00

This morning, while waiting in the lobby for my car to arrive, I suddenly remembered--it's my first payday at the new company! Fresh new dough, waiting in the oven. With an unexplainable flutter in my stomach, I rushed to the ATM and peered into the screen. Then slowly inhaled the fresh aroma of fulfillment well baked. Man, I've come a long way.

March 9

2007-03-14T12:19:00.000+08:00

I knew something was up the instant I laid eyes on this American guy while waiting for the elevator this morning. He was ahead of me in the queue but he kept turning around to look at me. The fact that he was so tall kind of makes it a big deal. Anyway, when the doors finally opened he positioned himself at the back of the crowd. Me being me, I stationed myself at the front, pressing 10th. The next thing I knew, he was booming, "Oh! Lawson, huh?" I turned around and found myself staring dazedly at his braces (he was around 50, dude). But I quickly came to and gave him a chatty-mode reply, assuming he was acknowledging a lowly employee. "Yes, sir, just started last week." He said, "That's tough." Then all of a sudden, he was like, "You didn't choose ***, eh?" I didn't know what to make of it so I just kept quiet. By the time we were on 5th it dawned on me the guy was openly attacking me. And the whole world could hear! By the 7th floor he managed to convey he thinks I'm the world's biggest twit for not "choosing ***". "*** hasn't called you yet? You're not considering moving to ***?" By the time we arrived at the 10th floor I was freaked out and the wittiest reply I could come up with was, "No plans at all, I'm afraid", before stepping out and running into the arms of my mothership.

At the office, the first thing I did was to find out what the hell *** is. Apparently it's a services company bought by Lawson's biggest competitor and the number one ERP vendor to date.

Then I told my teammates about this incident during flunch (Friday power lunch) and everyone looked utterly horrified. I haven't been with Lawson long enough to understand exactly what kind of battle I faced today. But when I do, I'd simply remember I wouldn't shine that guy's shoes for twice the pay.

March 7

2007-03-14T11:33:00.000+08:00

I only recently started to work for this company called Lawson Software, which has very kindly provided a much bigger workstation than the cubicle I squiggled around at Trend Micro. Anyway. This new situation allows for the possibility of blogging on my spare time, without the fear of some creep quietly breathing down my neck.

Okay. Before I'm misjudged as a bum blogging on her second week at work, read my stuff. They're going to be all about workstuff. So many things are happening to me lately I'm going to look at this blog as my pensieve.

---

Arbortext training today. It was my first ever encounter with XML. My initial impression with the software: cool but slow. I thought something was wrong with my trainer's machine, but Merl explained it's because we have to access a remote desktop to run the application. Her remote desktop is apparently a laptop in Minnesota that's just open all the time, and which nobody ever touches. It took a while for me to wrap my mind around that. She's got a what in where now? After the training she gave me some exercises which I can start working on when the Minnesota people are finished setting up my own...laptop. I know it sounds like a stretch, but its actually true! It also means that when somebody asks if I have a laptop, it's not entirely false to say yes. I can even use the phrase, "Right now it's in Minneapolis." How cool is that!

---

I finally brought lunch to work--my ever-dependable spaghetti. Moira joked I didn't bring enough to feed all of them. Then Noemi bought a dozen mangoes from Jun-Vic. He's the guy who washes the dishes in the pantry. For purposes of ease I'm naming him the "dishwasher guy". After a not-too-subtle hint from Owey, he washed some so we could eat it. I would have to say it's the first time I ever ate fresh mangoes at work. Ain't bonding the greatest?

---

Had the first of two Eclipse trainings with JJ. I notice it takes him a really, really, really long time to get to the point when you ask him a question. I'm usually the type to just keep asking when something is unclear, but this time I had to hold myself back. For my own sake. Anyway, there were some things we needed to clear up with the Swedish people, so Moira called up Asa (pronounced "Osa") Backstrom and patched us. She sounded like a nice lady. Before hanging up she welcomed me to the team. I was startled because Moira didn't even introduce me as a new member (I guess they're really going to be my BBFs soon). I think I said something unoriginal like, "Oh, thank you very much." Dork.

---

Tomas Bondeson, the guy who trained me on Lotus Notes database, bid farewell. He's going back to Sweden tomorrow morning with no definite date of return. After his infamous experience with balut I don't think he'll be in a hurry to come back here.

---

After a password reset by a slightly pissed IT helpdesk guy (three years in an IT industry and I couldn't follow machine instructions correctly), I was able to access my voice mail today. Since I was a first-time user I also had to record an outgoing mesage right then and there. Sometime in the near future (as soon as I figure out how), I'm going to have to replace that message because when I heard myself I had to cringe upon hearing my cheerleader voice (Ready? Ok-ay!). I have to sound more professional, dammit!

---

I haven't so much as heard the word "grey" since I came to this office but I watched American Idol in the office pantry. After two million years I finally came to see what the fuss was about. I watched it from start to finish with JJ. Omigod that show is for lost souls on the path to loserdom. I can't be addicted. I can't be addicted (I really like that Tisha girl).