Just want to let you know that I’m still here and I hope you (yes, you who are reading this) is doing well. :)

That’s all. See you on my next update. Hopefully it’s a long one.

Being home tempts me to want to slip in my comfort zone and bum out. I’m fighting it. My online jobs remind me that I am still working, earning and learning just like on my previous job. But the the difference is I’m enjoying myself and I own my time. I admit that I’m saving loads from all the expenses that I have if I leave away from home. All I will paying now are our internet and cable TV bills. I have the option not to do household chores too but I don’t mind doing the dishes or cleaning the house every now and then (lol!). Though it’s embarrassing.. I admit: Palamunin pa rin ako sa bahay. Good thing my parents don’t mind. I know they miss having me and my craziness around.

The first thing that I did or my first mission when I arrived was cleaned my room. It’s so dusty and messy. Being the OC that I am, I dedicated 3 days to clean and organize my shelves, and closets. I also cleaned and organized the cables of our (that’s me and my brother) computer. Now my sleeping-area and working-area is user-friendly. I’m proud.

Hmmm… I should be making a new layout. Maybe something white and simple for a change. I’ve also been wanting to use jquery and Google web fonts. I’ve studied the basics of jquery a long time ago and think I forgot them already. So this is a chance for me to refresh my knowledge and put what I’ve learned into practice.

I have to finish reading this ebook right now. Haven’t opened this for ages. See you on my next update. Hopefully, you’ll see a different layout by then. Bye!

I left a stable job (a job which was also related to my course), I know you think I’m crazy to do that during this time of employment difficulties. I plan to stay at home for a while, help with the family business and at the same time study/practice making websites and also learn php. I do have my online jobs to back me up. I don’t know if I have the potential but I’m just listening to my heart. This is what makes me happy. I’ve been very blessed to have a family that supports me. I am still young and I need to find what I really want to do for a career. I won’t talk about the job that I left here because it’s better to focus on the present.

The 1 year and 9 months I’ve spent living here in Cebu isn’t wasted one bit. God has lead me here in Cebu for a reason. I have learned loads from this experience. I have learned how to live on my own and pay the bills. I have learned how to be mature, how to battle loneliness and how to take care of myself. I needed that because life has been pretty easy on me for past 20 years. I’ve lived in a sheltered kind of life. I was comfortable in my comfort zone. Deciding to work here made me step out of that comfort zone. The greatest thing that happened to me in Cebu was the time when I realized what I want to do with my life. I have discovered what makes me happy and fulfilled. And I want to fully achieve that.

This is one of the biggest risk I’ve ever taken. I could win or fail but I am not afraid. The important thing is that I can say I have tried.

I am again stepping out of my comfort zone. Wish me luck!

P.S.: I really need to change my blog layout ASAP.

Fun.

At first you’ll find this song’s intro weird (just press play :)) but I’m sure you’ll find it entertaining when you hear the rest of it. The song is fun to listen to, hence, the name of the band.

Train

This is an old song from the band. I found out about this band from my sister who I never thought would like alternative rock bands. Maybe it’s just a phase. XD

Paper Route

Who likes ColdPlay? They sound like ColdPlay. So if you like ColdPlay, I’m sure you’ll like this band and this song.

That’s all for now. There’s more to come in my next updates. :)

I finally scored my first job at oDesk. For those who doesn’t know oDesk, it is an online marketplace for freelance jobs like web design, web development, data entry, copy writing, etc. I got hired for a fixed-price job. All I had to edit a WordPress theme, install WordPress, and setup some plugins. I finished it in less than a week. I am so thankful that the person I worked for was very kind and patient.

I hope I did a good job in that task so that he’ll hire me again for his future projects. He was actually very prompt in sending me my payment. He settled my payment after I handed him my work. All I have to do now is to wait for the payment to reflect in my PayPal account. I really enjoyed working on that task. I hope to do more.

I have experienced a bad situation previously. The other person who hired me for another job was rude to me and I’m glad I didn’t get to work for him because he sort of fired me immediately. Who wants a rude person for a boss anyway? He was very rude and demanding that I do a task instantly without giving me clear instructions like he’ll pay a high amount for the job but his bid was only cheap.

I shall forget about that bad experience because: I’m a freelancer now. I already have my first oDesk job experience. That’s all that matters.

Fellow freelancers, please welcome me to the club. Haha!

And I was not disappointed.

Sunday. After arriving at the airport, she headed to SM. I met up with her there. We strolled around and she bought a pair of shoes that she’ll use for her internship. Then we had lunch. The funny thing is, our lunch sucked big time. We didn’t like what we ordered. I promised her that I will make sure our dinner won’t be as bad as that. Haha!

We strolled some more. After that, we decided to hang out at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. We ordered tea: Strawberry Cream Tea for me and Lemon Chamomile Tea for her.

We just sat there and talked. We talked like we haven’t talked for ages. Since she attended med school and I moved out of the house when I started working, we never had the chance to really catch up with each other.

We went to my dorm where she will also be staying to freshen up because we will be going to mass in a convent chapel near the dorm. The mass ended around 6:30pm. Then, I brought her to see where I work. We had dinner at a restaurant nearby called Casa Verde. Thank God, the food was great this time. We had Ribs, Salad and Calamares.

We were tired but we still went to Pastrio, our last destination for the day to chill out and ordered steamed milk.

Monday. We had simple breakfast consisting of Pancake and a cup of Cappuccino at Bo’s Coffee. Then off to Ayala mall we went to kill time until her departure to the airport. Her flight schedule was 4:20 pm and she has to leave around 2:30 pm. We had lunch at Mooon Cafe, a Mexican-style cafe. We had Chicken Flautas, Pizza and Carbonara.

As you have noticed, all we did was eat, hang out, and talk. I hope this will happen again. I had so much fun.

Google Chrome has a come a long way since its humble beginnings.

I’ve decided to switch to Google Chrome for my internet browsing activities. Not to bad-mouth Firefox but I got tired of it because it has a tendency to crash more often and it takes forever to start up. In the past, I was not keen to using Google Chrome because I love (not loved, because I still love Firefox) using Firefox’s Add-ons and its site-loading performance was acceptable for me. But now, the latest versions of Firefox always crashes on my Windows Vista Laptop so I decided to change my browser.

The latest versions of Google Chrome has some of features similar with the features found on Firefox. Google Chrome now supports themes, a counterpart of Firefox’s Personas. It also has Extensions. Like Firefox’s Add-ons, it makes every internet surfer’s life much easier.

The two browser are almost the same now. No originality. I guess, in order to get ahead in the game, it’s OK to copy but make sure to have much a better version. LOL

But I can’t watch them play because I’m sooo far from Manila. *cries

If you are going to their concert, you’re sooo lucky.

To keep me from breaking down, I’m going to play their tracks nonstop today on my iPod to ease my pain. (Huh?)

Gawd, I miss our old desktop computer table back at home. :(

So one day, I scoured that internet to find a perfect laptop table that could fit my needs. Luckily, I found one on Ebay. The seller’s reputation is good so I decided to make the purchase. He seems reliable. He also replies to all of my questions instantly, I’m just a newbie at the whole online purchasing thing. I’ve paid for it yesterday through BDO and right now, I’m waiting for the item to arrive on the mail maybe on Monday. I will post some pictures once I have received it. But for now here’s the Ebay page of the item: Click here.

UPDATE!
I was not expecting to receive the item today. That was really fast. I was expecting it to arrive tomorrow or Monday but there it was. I’m impressed. My first Ebay/online purchase turned out alright. :D

Here’s the picture. Sorry for the low-quality image (taken using cellphone cam).

Sad to say, I’m not really impressed with the speed. It’s OK but not what I expected. There are times when it’s slow and I need to reconnect to reset the connection. I am yet to test the downloading speed when downloading torrent files. I guess I’m just used to the lightning speed of the internet in the office. Haha! There’s one thing I need to know, if it is possible to use OPENDNS or Google Public DNS. That could make a difference on the speed..

I’ve been busy these past few weeks. I started making my portfolio but I only have 3 designs (my past layout in rakenrol.asteeg.net, my current layout and a mockup of our batch website). If only I could score some web design jobs. I also plan to get active in 99designs.com and odesk.com. Having unlimited internet connection was the first step.

I could make you a WordPress layout too! Just give me nudge.

By the way, I’m going home tomorrow. It’s my Grandmother’s 15th Death Anniversary and my parents wants me home. We will be having a family lunch, I think.