I Need to Conquer My Fears

Well, I was profiled to apply for Quality Specialist. After five long years, I think it's high time for me to explore new things and see what else I could accomplish in my professional career. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a happy agent. I can do a lot of things without pressure, I can go home immediately after my shift, I can be absent for work if I want to. But through the years, I feel as if everything is routinary and that there are not much challenges for me anymore. I feel as if I need to try to unleash my potentials and see what else I can do besides taking in calls.

My current supervisor asked me if I would pursue with the application and I said yes. In the back of my mind, there are many doubts. I admit, I fear rejection. I fear not being able to get the job. I fear what other people might say. I know I can do the job well but one mistake might ruin it all. Still I am decided to pursue with it, until the last minute. The same day I was about to pass my application, my boss was absent. I don't know what I'll gonna put on my application letter as he never coached me about the position before. I felt inferior and I felt as if I won't be able to make it. I again took one step behind and let this opportunity pass me by...for the nth time...

I know I should not be like this. I know I won't get to where I want to be unless I try. I want to be brave enough to accept challenges and even possible failures. I should change my way of thinking and know that failures are necessary for me to be a better agent, better employee, better person. There has been so many regrets in my life solely because of one thing...fear of failure.

Have read Bro. Bo's book "Don't worry, be happy" and what inspires me is what he wrote in the final chapter about his first experience in rock climbing. Before he tried it, he was very afraid of the steep mountain. He felt as if he can never reach the top of that gigantious mountain...there's really no way. But when he faced his fear and started going up...he felt very brave. It's all because of the thick rope that is tied around his waist. He knows that whatever happens, even if he slips...even if he falls...this thick rope will prevent him from breaking his arms, legs. He knows that the rope will pull him up and will lead him to safe landing whatever happens. And how happy was he when he reached the top. He won't be able to reach it if he didn't even tried. Same with our mountains of fear. You can't conquer it unless you tried. God is the rope...we need to climb above our fears knowing whatever happens, even if we fail and slip...He will never let us fall because he is the one who'll lead us to safety landing. We just need to try and try.

I hope through the next opportunity, I won't be afraid anymore. I need to deal with failure the right way. As the saying goes, it really isn't about how many times you fail but how many times you get up after each failure. I guess I need to begin counting now...

A Video Birthday Presentation from My Brother

My little bro Peejay Bailon gave me this wonderful video presentation for my 30th birthday. It really takes creativity and wit and so much love for someone to create something as touching as this video presentation. Sobrang halo halong emotion ang naramdaman ko when I first saw this. Sobrang touched talaga ako as in. I don't know what I have in me to deserve being loved by special people. Thank you so much Utoy, you know you can count on me on anythings, as in anything....

On Losing Another Friend

At last, it's my rest day! I with the whole team are really looking forward to this day as we are really feeling so stressed out due to a number of calls that we take these past couple of weeks. No avail time as in. Sup said it's most likely because most of Americans purchased a new laptop for Christmas and they are calling us for help on how to configure it. Anyways, after our shift last Wednesday (that would be Thursday morning), I together with most of my teammates went straight to Cafe Agogo to relax and just hang out. We really had a great time and just talked about our future plans and our views on what's happening to the office. We ate breakfast and had some beer. My friend Sam already passed her resignation. It's really a sad thing. She has been my friend for almost a year now...but I also know in the back of my mind that she is not happy in what she is doing anymore. She continues to fail her scorecard and we all know that sooner or later, she had to leave. What I am sad about is that when she passed her resignation letter to our coach, the coach bluntly said..."eh dito rin naman pala mapupunta to eh kasi hindi ka pumapasa sa scorecard..." ("this is the same exact path it would lead you because you are failing

Chillax Sunday

Just went home from a tiring day at work. After our shift, we went straight to Yoohoo Bar at Metrowalk to unwind, to eat and to console our friend Ice as she just recently lost her ex boyfriend. He died last January 31st due to a motorcycle accident and my friend is still mourning stage. I thought she just wants me and my other friend Melai to console her as she normally just confides to us so I canceled my appointment for today and just chose to spend the day with her as I feel she wants to cry and confide to us. To my surprise, she wants to invite our other teammates and wants to enjoy and laugh instead. I feel that she's already fine and since she already invited our teammates over, I thought of just backing out and proceed with my plan of meeting with my business partner. But my friends wants me to come so there you go, I went with them and spent the day laughing our hearts

Wave 10.1 Graduation Day

Hahaha, nahanap ko sa lumang baul ko. hahahah! Video namin nung gumimik kami sa Metrowalk after our PST Graduation Day @ CVG. Grabe, diko maimagine nagchuwariwariwap ako ng bonggang bongga dito ke papa wilson aka papa piolo. Ngayon, apat nalang kaming natitira sa batch namin out of the original 15 and this is our third year sa current work. Two years more and makukuha na namin ang bonggang bonggang retirement pay! Yahoo! I'm sooo excited! Here's to reminisce the happy memories we had @ cvg with our wavemates. Miss ko na kayong lahat.

Addiction with Early Morning Chitchat with My Friends

Grabe, for the past 2 consecutive days last week...wala kaming ginawa after shift kundi makipagsocialize! Hahaha! Yup, after we've finished our FCR and DAWN chorva...eto at diretso kami sa Cafe Agogo along Ortigas Avenue to relax and unwind. Maganda kasi ang ambience at ang best part is may upuan silang me kutson. Hehehe. Meron kasi akong thing for chairs na me foam, I feel relaxed and parang ang sarap makipagchickahan pag ganun yung setting. You just need to sit back and relax and just have a good laugh with your friends after a hard night shift. Yung light pa nila sobrang cozy and parang sosyalin but the food is good and affordable naman. Ganda pa nung mga pinapatugtog nila. Medyo mellow. Buti nalang at ever present ang aking mga girlfriends na kahit na puyat eh gora lang pagdating sa gimikan.

The first time was last Friday, napagdesisyunang hintayin na ang pay till 11 am and magpalipas ng oras sa bar. So eto, nilimas na ang ilang natatagong lumang pera at nagkwentuhan at naglaitan lang. Present sina Imee, Ice and Melai...I told them gusto kong umiyak

Utoy's 23rd @ Muchos

Utoy celebrated his 23rd birthday last Saturday August 15 where else but on our favorite hang out, Muchos Bar! It was indeed a happy and very enjoyable celebration. Right after our shift – I, Melai, Ice , and Mitch headed straight to Metrowalk following Utoy who went ahead of us to meet his college friends and to have our room reserved. It was around 8:30 am and I cant believe that the bar is already filled with yuppies. Hahaha, ang mga tomador nga naman ng mga call center! Hehe. Anyways, since no table pa for us… we stayed outside for almost 30 minutes! Hay, we saw daddy Josh pa, our former teammates and Odie our current teammate na parang hindi naman (ang gulo noh). Anyways, Jonjon came earlier than Mamu-himala! And we came to meet Utoy’s friends namely AJ (Alfredo Jr but I tagged him as AR for I don’t know why, haha), Joy (my equally voluptuous sisterette) and our friend Benny Boy.. Mamu came late about an hour after we arrived and it must be destiny because he came at the same time we are about to order our food. Hahaha! After we have eaten our lunch, the waiter already gave the go signal saying the room is now ready so the three hour period of fun and laughter started at exactly 10 am. Dee, my dear friend who just

Mamu's Farewell Party @ Muchos Bar

Though it's been almost three weeks since we gave our dear Mamu a farewell party, I would still write about it as it is a very memorable event for all of us. Three days after he finally decided to leave our company, we - his former teammates/friends decided to to give him a Send Off Party or we may say a Good Luck Party. We want the best for him so though it hurts us so to see him leave so soon, we know this is what will make him happy and more successful so we just accepted the situation. Here's what happened last August 1,2009.

Just after our shift (around 9am), our team (Melai, Dianne, Kuya Kriz, Sam, PJ, Ice, Milo and myself) headed straight to Muchos Bar @ Metrowalk to meet our dear friends Mamu and Jonjon. We asked the receptionist if there's any available room for ten people and she said it won't be available till 9:30 am. They asked us to just find a table inside since we still have 30 mins left to wait. Right after we've settled inside and ordered some beer while we wait for our turn on the room, the waiter approached us saying we we're misinformed and told us that the room won't be available till 11 AM. We're so pissed coz it seems like we've waited for 30 mins. for nothing. Since we've already spent 30 mins chatting inside the bar, we just decided to stay and just spend the day chatting and just splurge on the overflowing supply of San Mig Light. We also ordered rice meals as we're already damn hungry waiting for our turn. The food is quite affordable, their menu includes sizzling plates such as sisig, liempo, chicken barbeque etc... which price ranges from P100 - P150 pesos each. They sell beers @ around P35/bottle

For Mamu With Love From Team Paul's Teeth

Another video presentation made by the one and only Perlito "Utoy" Bailon - a presentation to reminisce how Mamu touched our lives in sooo many ways. Team Pauls Teeth loves you Mamu!!! Good luck and we know this is not the end but just the beginning of a thousand more excapades together. We may have lost a teammate but we definitely gained a friend.... All the best Mamu! - TEAM PAUL

FIRST NIGHT WITHOUT MY BROTHER

Just last Thursday, my brother Mamu left the company for good. He already passed his resignation and bid his final farewell to the company he served for almost one and a half year. The same company that opened door for our friendship and which been a silent witness on how our friendship bloomed into something extraordinary. The first time I heard about the night he passed his resignation from our common friend and officemate....I was not really shocked. We've been talking about his plan of resigning for almost six months now so I am aware and I've already anticipated that this day would soon come. The first time I heard about his plan of resigning was last year, before Christmas of 2009. We were on our shift and we're on avail. For the fist time, he told me that he would soon resign, he talked about planning of getting a different job and he said it would probably happen after Christmas. I don't know why I was not able to control my

Paul's Teeth Team Lunch

Last Friday, our team had the chance to eat out with our dear TL Paul. It's a very rare chance as our coach don't normally go out with us, which we understand. Its been a tradition for the team to eat out especially after shift during paydays and this payday is not an exemption. We normally do that not just to unwind but to also spend time with each other and bond and I am so glad that TL made it extra special. We ate at Chef de Angelo and most of us ordered a plate of chicken, carbonara, and pizza plus red iced tea. The portions are huge (no wonder why they call their fried chicken Big Bird - LOL) and everybody was surprised to see leftover food on my plate and ate only half of what was served. I don't know why but lately, I just don't feel like eating. Maybe its the effect of Zhen de Zhou which I religiously take 30 minutes before breakfast. The entire experience was great and we were laughing all the time. I am looking forward for every payday not just because of the money we'll gonna get but because I know that I again would have a chance to enjoy a hearty meal with my wonderful teammates. Go go go Paul's Teeth! For more lunch dates to come!

i miss my best buddy

I miss my gayest gayest gayest friend Mamu. I've been without him for almost 2 weeks now and honestly... my day is'nt complete without him. No MAXCAP, no LOGOUTS, no LATES, no RAMPA moment sa break time, no JOKES with LAITAN on the side, no HEART to HEART talk, no LIBREHAN moments, NO ubusan ng kwento MOMENTS sa YM - NO MORE MAMU ON THE FLOOR... who would'nt be sad? It's just good that still have Melai, Perl and Ice to keep me sane through these tough times. I'm counting the days that we'll gonna be with our dear Mamu again and keep the good times alive with our wacky dabarkads! I sooo miss you Mamu!

Starcity Day!

After our shift last Friday, we decided to go to Starcity. It's really not planned, we actually planned of going there Sunday morning - but Mamu informed us that he needs to go back to Agoo on February 1 so we have no choice but to just go with the flow. After a very busy day, grabe a lot of calls talaga...nareskill pa kami one hour bago kami umuwi. phew! Sobrang nakakapagod...buti nalang I am looking forward sa end of shift because kung hindi..hay naku, nasira na ang araw ko. Anyways, after getting our salary - we immediately went to Robinsons Galleria. It's our meeting place and waited for Jojo, Bennie, Mamu and Jon. I called Mamu up and he said Jon just woke up and they will be in Gale within an hour. So we just waited. We met Jojo, then Bennie came after 30 mins followed by Jon and Mamu. We decided to take MRT going to Taft and would just take a cab from Taft to Starcity. It was really a very enjoyable day with my friends. The first ride we tried was the "Star Flyer" - actually, I really don't want to ride that because there is a loop in the end. I don't think I can handle that, but my friends keep on teasing me and finally I gave in. It was a great experience. It's nice that the ride only lasted for barely 2 minutes. I'm fortunate I did'nt tried the "Galaga Ride" because after they tried that, I cant hear anything but complaints. LOL! Next stop was "Gabi ng Lagim" - and of all people, I don't expect my hubby Jojo to say "Labas ng tayo!" Hahaha! We also tried "Surf Dance" - one of the best rides I rode so far in my entire life as well as the ever famous "Bump Car". They also rode "Magic Carpet" but I refused to join as I am already very dizzy. We also saw a "Ballet Presentation" on their mini theatre entitled "High

Happy Birthday Best Friend!

If my best friend is alive...she would be celebrating her 29th birthday today. It's so sad that she passed away 4 years ago. I still think of her once in a while...I miss her laughter, how she laugh on even the corniest joke I make. I miss her text invitations asking us, her barkada, to come and join her on some special occasions such as her birthday, her siblings birthday, their town fiesta etc. I miss everything about her. Life is too short indeed. If I only knew I only have limited time to spend with her...If I only knew I won't be able to grow old with her...If I only knew she would leave too soon... but it's too late.she is perfectly okey. I hope she would save a room next to her so we could still make "chicka" when the time when I need to join her in heaven. I can imagine where she is currently residing right now.. a very peaceful, green community surrounded by water just like what shows on the picture.



Anyways, our shift is light. It's a good thing they did'nt have me reskilled to HN split so since I am still on DSL - our avail time is longer, max of 30 mins. I hope the que would still be like this next week. It's my last day this week and tomorrow is my rest day! Finally! Coached called for a meeting and discussed SOPAS - which stands for "State of the Program Address" - he discussed our goals...where we stand in the call center industry, how we performed last year and what we would expect for the coming year. The meeting went well until we felt a commotion as Mamu, my gay friend started to share some concerns about how coach lead the team. He started saying he does'nt feel appreciated but instead hears negative remarks on event the littlest flaws he made. Everyone is tense as Mamu continue to show dissapproval on what our coach is saying and honestly...I feel for both of them. I feel Mamu's dissappointment as he constantly pass his scorecard and yet TL never commended him. I feel TL's situation as I know he was caught off

Happy New Year Everyone!

Happy new year to all of you guys! Indeed 2008 has been a great year for me. I received sooo many blessings last year including our house, our health, our finances and most of all I was able to meet good friends. I spent Christmas with my good friends Melai, Perl and my sisterette Mamu. We agreed to celebrate Christmas at our house since their families are all in the province and they don't have families here in Manila. The plan was already furnished, we will all go to our place after shift with Dianne when Melai suddenly disappeared. We went to Robinsons hoping she would follow us there but she was nowhere to be found. I texted and even called her to know where she is but the phone was off. Nobody wants to go back to the office to check if Melai is still around so I volunteered. I hurriedly went back to the office, carefully checking each floor but no shadow of Melai was found. I gave up. Then we suddenly received a text message from her saying she cant come because of an important matter that she needs to address before the day ends. Honestly I was hurt. Why would she do such a foolish act? Leading us on...making us

LOVING THE CVG LIFE

Good day everyone! Was'nt able to post for more than two weeks on this blog because I'm very busy at my full time work. Just last month, the entire team was reskilled to DSL split from the old split which is HOME NETWORKING which means more modems to configure, more scope of support and more avail time...Yah, we're experiencing avail moments on our new split now which sometimes take up to an hour before we receive a call.
Yahoo! Goodbye wireless, goodbye static ips and irate callers. I'm so happy on how things are going on my life right now... first, because of our new split and second because of my new found friends at CVG. I really thought my life would be different since our old team has been scattered to different teams - but to my surprise, life has been better. I was able to bond with most of my teammates and were not just teammates now - we do have a sorrority! Hahaha. Most of my them are very funny and "walang pikon sa kanila" promise, whenever we talk and bond - it is always a BLAST! Most of my new teammates are straight but since one of them already "came out of the closet" - parang naging gay sorrority na ang team namin! Hahaha. We started going out, eating out, bar hopping, and even saw a movie together! Here's some of our some of those memorable bonding moments with the team...

early morning LUNCH @ MCDO after VGH!

GHERJ'S DESPEDIDA
LUNCH @ D' PANTRY

saw a movie @ MEGA (napagtripan lang....KULAM)

I hope all the days of my CONVERGYS LIFE would be as happy and fun as this!

Friendship Beyond Work

i had my shift last night at 9 pm. Sinabihan na ako ni coach the day before that na wag na akong malate because 2 consecutive days na akong late ng more than an hour. Actually , I promised him naman na I will be at the office 30 minutes before my scheduled shift kaso sa kamalas malasan naman... hindi gumagana ang avaya ko! Nooohhhh! 9:00 pm na and hindi pa rin ako naka log in sa avaya though I have already logged in sa mytoto (our digital time card). Hayyyy. I really cant understand myself lately. I always woke up an hour and a half before my shift though I know for a fact that my travel time is no less than one full hour or even more lalo na pag Friday. Blogging takes so much of my time. Imagine, I would go home usually at 7:30 am and I would take my breakfast and the next 4 hours are spent in front of the pc updating my 10 blogs...yup, ten blogs all in all. Ang sakit sa ulo!!!! Well, I know I should not push myself to the limit but I know we need to strike the iron while the iron is hot. Most of my blogs does have PRs and before the master take them away.... I want to get as many review offers as I could while I still have it because I fear that I would it's a big 0 again on my tool bar. I hope I can have at least a week leave so I could catch up with my blogs. As for now, I think I would need to shorten my sleep time to 5 hours a day. I hope I can make it to the office on time tonight.

By the way, my officemate and my close friend Gherj already resigned. It's indeed a great loss especially that she is my friend. Wala nang tagatawa sa mga corny kong jokes, wala na akong katampuhan, kasabay umuwi, kachat, kasama sa banchetto pag wala si ice, kasama sa kfc, mcdo, jollibee sa lunch pag wala si ice, wala nang magpapasalubong ng triple choco boom sa floor...wala na si Gherj sa office.... and felt na felt ang kawalan nya at least samin ni ice. Sabi ko nga, almost a week na syang wala sa office...sya parin ang hot item sa mga kwentuhan namin. I would definitely miss her, but I know, there is a greener pasture for her kaya masaya na rin ako. Di bale, pag natuloy sya sa Singapore...magpapapetisyon ako. Hahaha. We'll miss you Gherj, CVG would never be the same without you! Here are some of our unforgettable moments together that I would forever remember.

I'll gonna miss our picture takings sa office courtesy of your hi tech na digicam... (nabisto tuloy na peke eyebrow ko, hahaha!)

I'll gonna miss our early morning breakfast sa banchetto and ang pag kokoya hunting nyo ni bebe ice

our gimiks and lunch dates... our chickahan and chismisan at syempre ang mga joke time!

ILL GONNA MISS YOU JORGE! THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!
Kahit minsan KJ ako...andito lang ako pag kailangan mo ng magpapatawa sayo. God Bless you my friend and till we meet again...

love,

Introducing...Paul's Teeth!

We had our shift at 11:30 pm today and it's good that the que allows us to have our lunch together and a meeting afterwards. Lalo na ako, I'm so happy because I even had a coaching session with tl for almost an hour last night! We've talked about my mom, my scorecard (which is 4.15 for the meantime, my highest score ever!) and my application to be transferred to CVG Commonwealth for the Pioneer Account. He said that there is around 70% probability that I would be transferred as I am the third person who actually sent my Letter of Intent to our Senior Operations Manager. I am kind'a excited and a little bit nervous because it would definitely be a new environment...a new set of friends...a new everything! I love change and I'm open any kind of opportunities that come my way. I am not getting any younger and I think it's time to go up in the ladder ... and moving to a new and pioneer account will open a lot of doors of opportunities for anyone who plans to move. I hope and pray that I will get the slot.

What's in A Name?

Good thing I'm not in the mood for war...


Emotera: "thank you for calling #@!#$, my name is Myles..."
American caller: (interupting my spiel, irritable and shouting) "what's your name again?"
Emotera: "my name is Myles ma'am..." (medyo inis kasi si ma'am atat dipa ako tapos magsalita)
American caller: "you say what?" (ramdam na ramdam ko na galit na galit si ma'am)
Emotera: "my name is Myles ma'am...MYLES...(repeating my name and medyo nilakasan ko baka naman bingi si ate)
American caller: "Mariel?"
Emotera: "I said Myles ma'am...let me spell my name for you M-I-L-E-S" (iniba ko nalang ang spelling para mas maintindihan ni ma'am)
American caller: "tsk..." (lalong nagalit si ate...) "what's that?"
Emotera:(sa loob loob ko - ano beh, inispell ko na nga - pero sige ate ispell ko ulit ha...)
"Ma'am... are you having a hard time hearing me? understanding me?"
American caller: "Noooh!" (nabasag ata eardrums ko sa pagsigaw niya...) "You are speaking too fast I can't even catch your f#@ck!n$ name!" (marami pang sinabi si ate diko na nagetz...basta galit siya ha!)
Emotera: (ay inuubos ni ate ang pasensya ko...ten minutes na kami nagpapaliwanagan kung ano talaga pangalan ko...) ok, ma'am I'll gonna speak slower now oookkkeeeyyy? My name is MYLES - M as in Mary, I as in Indianna, L as in Larry, E as in Echo, and S as in Sam. Got it? MILES...
American caller: "hmmmm....so now it's Mary! Are you kidding me?!"
Emotera: (grrrr....you could imagine kung pano ako nanlambot sa sinabi nya. Haaay, ate, di kita papatulan...) "Ma'am that's not what I said my name is... Ok, Ok." (reviving back my composure...parang nang-iinis si ate ah!) "Call me Ana... A-N-A. That's Ana, that's my second name anyway. Now what can I do for you?"
American caller: " whatever! ok, how much do I owe you for this month?"
Emotera: (halos manlambot ako sa kinauupuan ko...) Ma'am.... unfortunately your call has been routed to dsl tech support, but I'll be more than happy to get someone for you from our billing department..."
American caller: "WTF! We've spent 10 minutes on the phone, spending precious minutes of my time...then you'll gonna transfer me over to someone else?! F#@k you!"
Emotera: (ay nakadrugs ata si ate! Napikon na rin ako) Ma'am...you care so much about my name that you were not able to inform me beforehand that you need to check your bill. You did not even let me finish what I'm saying a while back..." (nagsasalita pa ako ininterrupt na naman ako ng bruhang to!"
American caller: " I don't care what you're saying. Damn you! You said your name is Myles? Give me your supervisor you fag$@t!" (ay all of a sudden naalala ni ate yung name ko! it's a miracle!)
Emotera: "I won't tolerate you cursing me like this Ma'am...but I'll gonna get my supervisor for you....and before I do that, did I mention you could call me ANA instead?"
American caller: (si ate tumahimik...parang narealize niya yung mga pangyayari at nag hung up)

That was the funniest and the most irritating call I've ever had! Ti'll now I can't get over it. hahaha! Yan ang buhay call center - you can't please everyone kaya kung di makapal ang mukha mo and you're super sensitive...this job is not for you. Yeah, you are well compensated but most people does'nt know that it takes a lot of patience and understanding for us to be able to stick with our work. Good thing, it's not everyday na nakakakuha ako ng mga lokalokang caller such as this one. Kaloka si ate, sarap sabunutan! Hahaha!

Bye to our Crazy TL...

Well what can i say?! Our crazy but lovely TL Chrisse will now be leaving for CVG Bacolod today. We already knew about this 2 months ago pa but only now have the thoughts really sinked in to my heart. For almost 1.5 years...she was our constant kachicka, our mentor, our refuge (lalo na pag me nangaaway samin), our advisor...our friend. There are a lot of tough times (you bet) but those are surpassed by the happy and funny memories we shared together. As she always say, our team might