Changes and Celebrations
I haven't blogged for a couple of months so it's time for some updates...
November 5-7 we went to Cagayan de Oro again thanks to promo fares, but as the last time we already ziplined and rafted, this time we opted to just rest at home for the most part and bond with the family. Maybe the next time we get to stay a bit longer we'll have more adventures.
Nov 16-20 my parents came by to avail of the overnight stay at The Boutique Bed & Breakfast, the gift certificates we gave them as tribute during our wedding. James' parents availed theirs the month before.
November was a month of changes as well. First was the massive re-org that happened - Manila wasn't much affected but some of our colleagues in other countries were made redundant :( Our team felt the impact, with experienced teammates we were still chatting/emailing with the day before suddenly went offline and never came back again. It was that fast - you get the news, then you pack and leave. No transition, and no time for knowledge-transfer. Of course they received a hefty severance package, but still... well they probably put it to good use. We were stuck with picking up the pieces, trying to pick up where they left off, trying very hard to make sense of what they were doing, and not necessarily accomplishing it. Some work had to be pushed back because we simply didn't have enough resources. We just tried hard to cope with something we had no control of.
Second was being appointed operations lead. My boss, our operations manager, had to step up leading not just operations but also development and testing, so he said he needed someone to look after operations. We didn't have a team lead before because there was no need - he was there in the same location as us so he pretty much ran the team. He knew my hesitations and knew leadership/management wasn't in my career plans - I don't want to be a manager, I don't want to be a team lead. I'm happy being an individual contributor, that's why I was so happy joining my current company as just that - an individual contributor (I think I'm still using terminologies from my previous company but I can't think of an equivalent term here so there). And in the future maybe focus on family while still working, and not look after other work-related stuff aside from my own. I can understand why some people would want a team lead role - been there, done that, it's just not my cup of tea. And I was relatively one of the newer hires in the team, still trying to build my technical knowledge. That's why I also kept saying if others wanted the role they're welcome to it, as I understand others may not share my views on the role and would gladly welcome it. He said I had a choice, although after hearing his plans on what to do if I declined I just thought of saving everyone the hassle and just accept the role. I reluctantly accepted the role, trying to comfort myself knowing I didn't plan on spending the rest of my life in the corporate world. It wasn't enough that we lost valuable teammates whose expertise we could never match (we're talking 20 years of experience, for instance), then I get to have more responsibility, more accountability, more work - that's just how I see it, and that's the reality. And so now I'm living with a choice that, honestly, I feel wasn't much of a choice, not something I would have wanted for myself.
December I attended two more weddings, attended a really formal Christmas party with my new company, didn't have a Christmas shutdown for the first time since it was a thing from my previous company, and split Christmas and New Year celebrations with mine and my husband's families - all for the first time.
First stop was Karon and Wayne's wedding in Baguio last December 10...
Then our company Christmas Party on December 17, at Shangri-la Hotel Makati, the first pic was when we arrived and before we entered the ballroom - I took home the printed pic so I scanned it. We prepared together at Anna's condo, hired Beverly Ochoa for hair & airbrush make-up at a very low Manila price of Php 1,200 (home service), discounted, since Tiff knew her as she got her for her wedding. Though her assistant did the hair.
The rest of the pics were grabbed from Jon and Mike:
I just had to post that because of Jon's funny look candidly captured :p (wouldn't be the first time LOL)
That's our big boss from Australia, whom my current boss replaced when he stepped up as part of the re-org.
If I were in my previous company, Dec. 21 would have marked the beginning of the holiday shutdown but since I wasn't there anymore, for the first I didn't experience the two-week shutdown. So, if it wasn't a public holiday, we had work.
December 22 we went home to Cagayan de Oro to spend Christmas with my husband's family. We attended mass on the 24th (salubong), but it was in Bisaya and I didn't understand much because I could only understand basic conversational Bisaya and the words used were rare and too heavy/deep for a non-native Bisaya-speaking person, and even my husband couldn't catch or understand other words. Then after that we had pineapple bread and ice cream for Noche Buena. On the evening of the 25th there was sort of a mini-reunion, James' relatives, whomever were in CDO at that time, came by for dinner at the house, and there was yummy lechon, for a cheap price of 4,000 for one whole big lechon. For the first time I didn't get to spend Christmas with my family at home, and I sorely missed them. Guess I'll just have to get used to it.
December 26 we had to return to Manila so we could catch Sarah's wedding. I forgot to bring my camera so I grabbed pics from people tagging Sarah in Facebook :p Can I just say, it's so much more convenient to have a car around, because in occasions like these where we're dressed up to attend an event in the evening we won't have a hard time finding a taxi back home. Of course, in general having a car is just much more convenient in many ways, but I digress.
We got to take home a very yummy strawberry cheesecake cupcake! Luckily my chair had a colored tag because they were pretty strict in handing out the cupcakes to only those who presented the tag (believe me, I tried). There were 3 flavors and the color of the tag indicated the flavor you'd be getting.
December 27 was a holiday but I went to the office to cover the day shift for our team so I worked as normal.
December 30 we finally got to go home to my beloved Iloilo and my family. That night was my mom's office's Christmas Party and they decided to hold it at home to save money and also since it was more convenient. My dad and brother fetched us at the airport (our 5:30pm flight got delayed half an hour after) and so we arrived home around 8:00pm since the airport wasn't that near. There were still a lot of food left so not a problem.
December 31 we had our traditional Gurrea clan reunion, each year hosted by a different family taking turns. Good food, family bonding, and ang pao's for the 3rd generation (my generation), don't we just love the holidays?
Then we went home and played some games and welcomed the new year with a bang!
Midnight snacks shortly followed.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Start of the new year we attended another wedding - Aiz's and Ivan's black-themed wedding. Hubby forgot to tell me about that little detail, hence I was not in black. Ceremony in Caleruega church, followed by reception in Tagaytay.
More photos here
November 5-7 we went to Cagayan de Oro again thanks to promo fares, but as the last time we already ziplined and rafted, this time we opted to just rest at home for the most part and bond with the family. Maybe the next time we get to stay a bit longer we'll have more adventures.
Nov 16-20 my parents came by to avail of the overnight stay at The Boutique Bed & Breakfast, the gift certificates we gave them as tribute during our wedding. James' parents availed theirs the month before.
November was a month of changes as well. First was the massive re-org that happened - Manila wasn't much affected but some of our colleagues in other countries were made redundant :( Our team felt the impact, with experienced teammates we were still chatting/emailing with the day before suddenly went offline and never came back again. It was that fast - you get the news, then you pack and leave. No transition, and no time for knowledge-transfer. Of course they received a hefty severance package, but still... well they probably put it to good use. We were stuck with picking up the pieces, trying to pick up where they left off, trying very hard to make sense of what they were doing, and not necessarily accomplishing it. Some work had to be pushed back because we simply didn't have enough resources. We just tried hard to cope with something we had no control of.
Second was being appointed operations lead. My boss, our operations manager, had to step up leading not just operations but also development and testing, so he said he needed someone to look after operations. We didn't have a team lead before because there was no need - he was there in the same location as us so he pretty much ran the team. He knew my hesitations and knew leadership/management wasn't in my career plans - I don't want to be a manager, I don't want to be a team lead. I'm happy being an individual contributor, that's why I was so happy joining my current company as just that - an individual contributor (I think I'm still using terminologies from my previous company but I can't think of an equivalent term here so there). And in the future maybe focus on family while still working, and not look after other work-related stuff aside from my own. I can understand why some people would want a team lead role - been there, done that, it's just not my cup of tea. And I was relatively one of the newer hires in the team, still trying to build my technical knowledge. That's why I also kept saying if others wanted the role they're welcome to it, as I understand others may not share my views on the role and would gladly welcome it. He said I had a choice, although after hearing his plans on what to do if I declined I just thought of saving everyone the hassle and just accept the role. I reluctantly accepted the role, trying to comfort myself knowing I didn't plan on spending the rest of my life in the corporate world. It wasn't enough that we lost valuable teammates whose expertise we could never match (we're talking 20 years of experience, for instance), then I get to have more responsibility, more accountability, more work - that's just how I see it, and that's the reality. And so now I'm living with a choice that, honestly, I feel wasn't much of a choice, not something I would have wanted for myself.
December I attended two more weddings, attended a really formal Christmas party with my new company, didn't have a Christmas shutdown for the first time since it was a thing from my previous company, and split Christmas and New Year celebrations with mine and my husband's families - all for the first time.
First stop was Karon and Wayne's wedding in Baguio last December 10...
Then our company Christmas Party on December 17, at Shangri-la Hotel Makati, the first pic was when we arrived and before we entered the ballroom - I took home the printed pic so I scanned it. We prepared together at Anna's condo, hired Beverly Ochoa for hair & airbrush make-up at a very low Manila price of Php 1,200 (home service), discounted, since Tiff knew her as she got her for her wedding. Though her assistant did the hair.
The rest of the pics were grabbed from Jon and Mike:
I just had to post that because of Jon's funny look candidly captured :p (wouldn't be the first time LOL)
That's our big boss from Australia, whom my current boss replaced when he stepped up as part of the re-org.
If I were in my previous company, Dec. 21 would have marked the beginning of the holiday shutdown but since I wasn't there anymore, for the first I didn't experience the two-week shutdown. So, if it wasn't a public holiday, we had work.
December 22 we went home to Cagayan de Oro to spend Christmas with my husband's family. We attended mass on the 24th (salubong), but it was in Bisaya and I didn't understand much because I could only understand basic conversational Bisaya and the words used were rare and too heavy/deep for a non-native Bisaya-speaking person, and even my husband couldn't catch or understand other words. Then after that we had pineapple bread and ice cream for Noche Buena. On the evening of the 25th there was sort of a mini-reunion, James' relatives, whomever were in CDO at that time, came by for dinner at the house, and there was yummy lechon, for a cheap price of 4,000 for one whole big lechon. For the first time I didn't get to spend Christmas with my family at home, and I sorely missed them. Guess I'll just have to get used to it.
December 26 we had to return to Manila so we could catch Sarah's wedding. I forgot to bring my camera so I grabbed pics from people tagging Sarah in Facebook :p Can I just say, it's so much more convenient to have a car around, because in occasions like these where we're dressed up to attend an event in the evening we won't have a hard time finding a taxi back home. Of course, in general having a car is just much more convenient in many ways, but I digress.
We got to take home a very yummy strawberry cheesecake cupcake! Luckily my chair had a colored tag because they were pretty strict in handing out the cupcakes to only those who presented the tag (believe me, I tried). There were 3 flavors and the color of the tag indicated the flavor you'd be getting.
December 27 was a holiday but I went to the office to cover the day shift for our team so I worked as normal.
December 30 we finally got to go home to my beloved Iloilo and my family. That night was my mom's office's Christmas Party and they decided to hold it at home to save money and also since it was more convenient. My dad and brother fetched us at the airport (our 5:30pm flight got delayed half an hour after) and so we arrived home around 8:00pm since the airport wasn't that near. There were still a lot of food left so not a problem.
December 31 we had our traditional Gurrea clan reunion, each year hosted by a different family taking turns. Good food, family bonding, and ang pao's for the 3rd generation (my generation), don't we just love the holidays?
Then we went home and played some games and welcomed the new year with a bang!
Midnight snacks shortly followed.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Start of the new year we attended another wedding - Aiz's and Ivan's black-themed wedding. Hubby forgot to tell me about that little detail, hence I was not in black. Ceremony in Caleruega church, followed by reception in Tagaytay.
More photos here