back to reality

After my 5-day long vacation, I am practically dragging my feet back to work, which is exactly what I hate about long vacation leaves, work welcomes me like a baby misses its mom.  All my days of rest and relaxation are gone.  Actually, all the stress that I’m having now outbalanced the breather that I had that I want to go on leave forever! Of course, that’s not possible unless I want to be poorer than a rat.

Aside from going back to working my ass off, I am conditioning my brains to go back to reviewing for my GMAT.  I know I have been putting it off for months now and there’s nobody to blame but me.  Actually, I’m still having cold feet especially when I’m thinking of the millions I’ll be spending to finance my MBA.  I have to put in my head that I’ll cross the bridge when I get there.  The money will come.  I just have give my best for my GMAT.  Argh! I hate myself for procrastinating.  But yeah, I’ll be a good girl from now on.  I’ll allot at least 2 hours a day for my review.  No exceptions!

Also, I have to start talking to alumni from different B-schools.  I already saw one possible contact from Wharton but due to my laziness, I haven’t even started thinking of what I will ask her in my email.  Hardiharhar!  I haven’t even started in the process yet and my mañana habit is already showing.  Hopefully the B-schools won’t get wind that I have that repulsive attitude. 

*Sigh*  I guess I have to stop thinking of all the things I have to do for my B-school applications and get over with my GMAT first.  I need to know how I’d score first so I’d have an idea which schools I will apply to.  Hmmm…to put it more accurately, I have to condition myself to get at least 700.  Actually, I want 750 but since I can’t gauge myself yet, I’d go for 700 for now.

In the meantime, I need to go back to work.   ZZZzzzzz

i *heart* New York!!!

It's been 4 months since I've left New York and quite unexpectedly, I still have nostalgic memories of the place.  I feel a certain longing whenever I see a place in NY whether on TV or the net.  A certain high sweeps through me whenever I hear songs on the hit list while I was there (Last night…I couldn't even get an answer!)  I love NY! I never thought I would but yeah, I did and I still do!  I know some people see it as garbage but you have to give credit to the uniqueness of the place.  It may have filthy streets and stinking subways but there's no place quite like New York.  Here are some of my reasons:

• You can go anywhere, anytime.  Thanks  to its efficient transportation system (a.k.a. its subways), which is open to the public 24/7.  Every corner there's a station you can reach and the lines are connected somewhere somehow that you can transfer to another line without paying another cent (it costs $2 per ride near or far).    You just have to grab a map to make sure you  won't get lost and listen to announcements for closed rails or reroutings during weekends and off-peak times.

• Changing it may be, I still love the weather there (include their very accurate forecasts).  I love the fact that it's not hot all year round and there are 4 seasons that make the place more exciting than it already is.  Yeah, the bitter cold and the snow (specially the snow!) may be irksome at times but at least something can be done about it, that is, wear layers of the right clothing or turn on the heater.  At least you get to dress up differently each season.  Fashion, fashion, fashion!

• You can walk wherever whenever and still feel clean and comfortable while welcoming the amusing view of the city and its comical people going about their lives.  And it is safe, contrary to what some movies and other media allude to.  I have walked the dark deserted streets in the most unholy hour and reached home unscathed without going through any paranoia that someone or something is attempting to hound me.

    

• Parks! Central park is splendid! It's free, big, scenic, natural and active in every sense of the word.  Joggers, athletes, musicians, kids, writers, lovers, dogs, name it, it's in Central Park.  You can pass your time there without shelling out a single penny.  Ain't that a breather from our usual hang-out places like malls, which suck out our money like vacuum? 

• Shopping! Though I never really shopped my heart out, I did enjoy looking at the goodies there.  They're not at all inexpensive but designer items are definitely way  cheaper there than they are in the Philippines, that is, if you go to the right store.  If you're just staying in the city and have no time, Century 21 is definitely the best place to shop.  It carries a whole array of selections from the most well-known brands to names I haven't heard of my entire life at the least prices (plus taxes of course).  But if time is not an issue, outlet stores are definitely a must.  You'll find quality goods at the best prices. 

• There's always a place you could go to and kill time and actually enjoy.  If you want to have a little cultural immersion, there are museums everywhere, the Met, Museum of Natural History, Museum of Modern Art, and Guggenheim to name a few.  It's good to spend time in museums, I get to learn a lot and actually see and feel what I usually just read in my school books.  If you want culture but want it in a different medium, you could buy a ticket to a Broadway show or if you're a bit old fashioned, to an opera.  I've seen both and it's worth the try.  I enjoyed Les Miserables and I appreciated Madama Butterfly (an opera).  And on just any other day, you could just hop on a train and get off at Times Square where there's always a whole bunch of people, tourists and locals alike, walking the streets finding something worthwhile to spend their time with, spot a celebrity or probably just take their own pictures. 

• Some people hate it, but the sheer busyness of the street when I get out of my apartment is exhilarating.  For a foreigner like me who has no family and friends around, it sure made me not feel homesick.  The hustle and bustle of NYC is actually one of the topmost things I miss about NY.  

• Did I ever mention the dating scene?  If you're single and looking, NY is definitely the best place for you.  You can meet a plethora of different personalities.  True, you may not like all of them but it's getting to know somebody new in the process that counts.   I did gain new friends while I was dating in the city.  It was fun.

• New York made me realize that it's not a small world after all.  In my country, I only get to interact with Americans, fellow Asians, British and some Germans.  Even when I went to Singapore, I never got to see so many races all in one place.  It was actually fun to watch different shades of hair walk by the streets of the city.  But it was more fun to get to know different cultures without actually going to different countries.  Just by talking, you'll get to learn the differences and similarities of  cultures from the most popular to not so well-known countries from the seven corners of the world.

• But of all the things that made me love New York, it is the openness of its people that tops my list.  Everybody gets to act him/herself and nobody pronounces judgment on anybody.  Well, so long as nobody gets hurt in the process.  It is actually liberating to act without inhibitions and needless worries about other people's superficial opinions. 

I may never justly put to words what kind of city New York is like.  But I do understand now why a lot of people wear shirts that say "I LOVE NY!"

Buntis Moments

Due to unbearable boredom, my friends and I came up with the idea of showing the whole world thru friendster that I'm pregnant and letting all the ever curious chismosos and chismosas guess/pick who might the father be from a roll of pictures where I'm hugged by equally eligible (sige na nga!) bachelors.  

The Victim

Hmmm…I never thought pregnancy would look good on me…PWEDE!  Well, at least even if I don't get pregnant in my entire fertile life, I had the chance to feel or at least look pregnant!

The Suspects

 Pick the Father Choice No. 1

 Pick the Father Choice No. 2

 Pick the Father Choice No.3

 Pick the Father Choice No.4

Pick the Father Choice No.5

Those are the choices.  It was fun.  Hits on my friendster page within 6 hours probably matched (or maybe even surpassed) those  of the latest celebrity columns (local nga lang) proof that news of unexpected pregnancies are still hot and controversial as they always were in the past.  Hey! I thought we're all living in the new millennium where people are already used to such episodes that they are now considered frivolous.  Tsk tsk…well, I just have to accept that people don't change easily.  We still live in a society of creatures thriving in the demise of others.  Then again, I still enjoyed posting these pictures and playing around with gossipmonger's watchful eyes! 

Hey you all nosy parkers, you just made my day!!! (and I probably made yours hundredfold!)