Baffled Hush

June 12 (Independence Day)
7.41pm




I was being pious and attending to the needs of my soul, when I chance upon my mobile with a text message from an unknown source.


'Hi Hush'


Curious, I scanned the history of that number.  Ahhhhhhh…


'Hey Kris, how are you?'


'I see na di mo pa dinelete yung number ko.  Ok lang. Ikaw?', was his message.


'Of course, why would I do that? :)  I'm doing good.  Kaw ba?', I lied.  White lie lang. :p


My mind travelled back to that night I saw him on the dancefloor with somebody else.  The guy he was dancing with turned out to be his boyfriend afterall and I kind of decided to delete his number.  I was thinking, what's the use of retaining his digits when the guy's taken already, right?  Or probably, I was just avoiding the temptation of punching the keypads and going out of my way to check on him.  Either way, I still deleted his number (and NO! I am not bitter, hmf).


I was hurled back to my present state when I felt my phone vibrate.


'Not rily.  We just broke up.  So im out sumwer'


Hmmmmm… My mind was racing, and my attention diverted from the liturgy that was ongoing.  Tsk tsk!! Bad Hush!  Still, I was plotting on how to respond to him.  Definitely, I was taken aback by this news, and admittedly, I still like the guy.  What does he want to imply with that message?  Does he need a shoulder to cry on, a warm hug to comfort him or a companion to, uhm, accompany him (?) during this darkest moment of his life?? hehehe I might be a bit overboard there, but, but, but!! Was it a sign that he still liked me and bridge whatever gap it was that separated us?


Then again, I was also musing, am I the spare tire that he could just replace the minute the other one got punctured?  The rebound gorgeous (hehe, sensha na ulit) guy he will run to whenever things go wrong with his current relation?  Or the boy-toy he could play around and show to his bf that he wasn't affected much by their separation??


What is he after?  Did he long for my passionate kiss and warm embrace when we cuddled after that first explosion of the year?  Or did he just want comfort s3x to avenge or cover up the hurt he was nursing? :(


I got tired of thinking.  I responded.


'Alam mo Kris, ilabas mo lang yan then after it will be ok.  Marami pa naman dyan na magmamahal at nagmamahal sa yo eh ^_^ I'm just a text away should you need me, i.inom natin yan!!'


I pocketed my device and turned my attention back to the priest.


*hush hush*

Krazy Garlik, I Like ♥

I had promised to treat Idelle out for dinner today and thought to take her to Contis, since I find the food there sumptuous and affordable.  She suggested that we check out Krazy Garlik at Greenbelt 5 since she had heard rave reviews about that restaurant.


'For the record, libre mo to ha', she texted.


'Oy, It's my discretion whether I find the prices reasonable or not, for the record also, otherwise we go back to Contis', I replied.


As expected, parking was full at Greenbelt and it took a while to get to Krazy Garlik.  The place was packed!! Hmmmm… good sign that the food must be palatable :9

I love the ambiance that the restaurant depicts, I fancied the lights that looked like, uhm, garlic? hehehe I easily felt right at home :)  On the left side of the entrance had collections of Garlic-stuff toys and I simply adored them.  I forgot to ask the attendants whether they were for sale.  I was anticipating that they would give it for free to dine-in customers. hehehehe hmf.

cute menu

Since it was both our first time, we asked our attendant, Trisha, for the best dish.


'Sir, our best seller is the crispy pata'


'Uhm, miss, wag naman yung kababuyan po.  Medyo light lang'


I scanned their chic menu and was curious with their Amazing Krazy Garlik Salad and ordered it.  Aside from being picturesque, it was fantastic for my taste :)

photo grabbed from http://www.krazygarlik.com/menu.php#

Bbq Garlic Chicken

We also ordered the BBQ Garlic Chicken and the burst of flavors with each bite was exhilarating!  The strong barbeque sauce, together with the melting cheese, chewy chicken bits and sweet onions was enough for one to crave for another bite :) hehehe  Plus top it off with Tabasco, and I was blown away! Whew! 

We complemented our food with these beverages: The Shadow and Infinity Ice Tea.  Well, the latter, I alternated with their Infinity Lemonade. hehehehe Trip lang.

The Shadow

Infinity Ice Tea and, uhm, bottomless in-house water :p

This is where the restaurant, I think, fell short of expectations.  The attendant highly recommended the Shadow, which is a mix of dragonfruit, vanilla ice cream and strawberries (per their menu), and it did sound delightful, yet when I took a sip of it, it tasted like children's flavored medicine!! And for the price of Php180, I definitely will not order this drink the next time around :(

The Infinity Icetea (or bottomless ice tea given a fancy twist) was, I think, just Nestea, and I can't help compare to the bottomless ang saya commercial of only Php10 per liter, against this Php110 drink. Hmf.  Next time, I'll just have the in-house water with ice :)

I also noted, and I don't know if it's a good thing or not, but I simply can't distinguish the garlic that complemented the pizza and salad.  I heard that everything in their menu, well except for the drinks, has garlic in it! Or probably because I am not an expert in food tasting.. well :)

The prices are comparable to that of Itallianis (read: Php 450 and up per dish), well given the fact that both are under the Bistro Circle, and our total bill cost me Php1,105 (including service fees).  It would definitely be considered under the high-end bracket for me.

I enjoyed our dish, plus of course, the camaraderie and gossips I got from Idelle.  It is always nice to hang out with my ex-San Miguel officemate and the ideas and ventures we would want to go into seemed endless for just one night :)

I'll definitely go back to this Krazy restaurant :)  I like it.

*hush, hush*

That Thin Borderline

In my 7 years of handling people, I have always been challenged and will continuously be learning from the different personalities that I deal with at work.  Lately, I have been subjected to an obstacle I am faced with and I have admitted in one of my entries that it's so much easier to accomplish a task compared with supervising and molding an individual.  I can fly with rainbow colors with the former, yet pass the latter as easy as a camel going through the eye of a needle.


When I entered the bank, I had wanted to adjust my management style from being a pro-work type to a more lenient, interpersonal working relationship with my staff.  I thought that I was too strict then, and idealistic, to demand something from a subordinate that took me years to appreciate.  I envied Oliver, a colleague at San Miguel, who got perfectly well with his staff (at the expense of being scolded immensely by our manager for not delivering the reports on time).  Then, I enjoyed the praises I got from my superiors, even my CFO and National Sales Manager for the work output I produced, yet at the expense of 'slavering' my staff.  I would require them to work from 9am to 12mn just to finish and wrap up the day's work.  I realized it was unhealthy.


So I adopted the pro-employee management style, I befriended my personnel, opened up to them and eventually became my buddies (point being Ferns become one of my hangout buddies).  Came a time at year-end, when the tasks required by the country we worked with was yet defined, I anticipated that there may be surprises since everybody was caught up with the deliverables and requested all my personnel to stay and wait for the country's requirements to materialize.  I designated Ferns as my officer-in-charge as I was in Cebu that year.  He came back to me and reported that two of his colleagues didn't comply with my requests, had not even texted me and Ferns only found out that they were taking half-days via electronic mail.  I think my BP rose to 130 when I heard his report and from there, things turned out for the worse between me and those 2 personnel.


Late last year, I hired 2 personnel to replace the 2 personnel I mentioned above.  I took pains to scout out these individuals, even playing the HR role so I can personally testify the credibility of the person, and believe me, it took me 3 months to do so, I was that meticulous.  One of those I hired was Jechel.  She showed promise, besides the fact that she was pretty.  She exudes confidence and her accounting background made her a potential to exceed and I explained to her that what matters most for me is personality, because that is what I lack.  I needed somebody to complement me when difficult situations arise and what is brains if you don't have personality.  Leave the brainy details to me.


Now that difficult situation I was talking about came to be.  Over the course of time, she was discussing with me how easy the jobscope was, and she needed more challenge.  Given that she has the potential, I assigned her to consolidate a reporting package that involves reporting to our VP and AVP.  I never anticipated that I will regret that decision..


The team was busy with the forthcoming compliance audit, and since we failed the other year, it was essential that we pass this one, otherwise heads will roll, literally.  One of the key tasks I assigned to her was to print the documents that we missed out.  I was in the mood to sign off these documents and made a follow-up, noticed that there were missing elements to the file.  I pointed them out, in a friendly manner, to which I got this response:


J: 'Di ko pa nagawa'


H: 'Why?'


J: 'Tingnan mo naman ang ginagawa ko, busy ako sa reporting package that you assigned to me!  Di ko na naasikaso yan.'


That was an unexpected response and I could feel the heat rising up to my ears.


H: 'So does that mean that you will neglect your other duties?'


She grew silent seeing that I was fuming already.


Another day passed.  There were deliverables for the team to accomplish that day and she came up to me.


J: 'Hush, magmeeting muna ako'


H: 'regarding what?'


J: 'the team outing we are planning'


H: 'Nope, please tell them that you can't attend.'  I had already planned out to her what we were supposed to achieve that day.


J: 'So hinde na ako aa.ttend ng meeting ever??'


Did I tell her that?  That statement blew whatever patience was left in me.  Did I deserve that retort?  I gave her opportunities to shine, assigned tasks that the VP and AVP would notice, that she could literally mingle and discuss directly her outputs.  I gave her a free-hand in unexpected deliverables, again to make her stand out from the pack, assignments that required her to mingle with other people, to better her interpersonal skills.  I even went to the extent of re-adjusting her work frame because she was having family problems and I didn't want to lose her because of that.  I tried to understand why she reported back after break, tipsy and all red, evidently had a drink or two.  I wholeheartedly discouraged her from having office affairs as this will not do good, especially when you see that person at the premise everyday, but she turned a deaf ear.  At the end of the day, this is what it boiled down to.


I am not one to count whatever good things I do, but those are the thoughts that ran my mind when she responded to me.  I felt betrayed and not respected as a mentor (not even as a superior) and given the minute patience I have, all hell broke loose.  I threw my reviews at her when she wouldn't yield to putting down the phone when I asked her to, since I wanted to discuss things with her.  Admittedly, I should have known better to do so.


How do you draw that thin line between you as her manager and she as her staff, when over time I had treated her as a friend and comrade?  My intention was to bridge the gap between the manager and staff, so that if there is a problem, it is easy to consult with.  I didn't want to seal off entirely the gap, but it seemed I did.  I could only compare to amiga's boss, where they all cowered down whenever their boss arrives.  I did not want that to happen to my team.  I wanted to team to feel at home with me, but not disregarding the idea that I am still their mentor.


I have always pondered, had Jechel just said, 'ok, I'll start doing the missing items you noted in the print-outs', I would have dismissed everything and nothing like this would have happened.  I had wanted to mold her to something that I was never good at, but the clay seemed too rigid already.  Does she really need to itemize the things she did, when I know why already but I just needed a timeline?  What does she want to prove?


Ferns: 'She's becoming the brat that she is' (her rebellious stance with her dad and grandmother).


Well, as for me, I will have to answer HR's administrative notice to me in 5 days.  Good luck. 


*hush hush*

The Simple Life at the Bukid

May 28
Rosales, Pampanga
(backgound: Drew belting his voice out with their karaoke!)


I'm stressed at work, so I decided to take the offer of Drew to go to his hometown province, Pangasinan.  I figured, it has been some time that I haven't made any spur-of-the moment decisions (besides the fact that he will pay for gas and toll! hihihihihi).  I needed some breather.


He picked me up at the office (ay ang tweet ☺) and I introduced him to Ferns.  Ferns texted later na magaan loob nya kay Drew.  Ok na yan for me. hehehe


We went to his apartment at San Andres in Manila.  Uhmm… No comment. hehehe :)  I thought that only his sister would join us in our journey, but to my mortification, his brother in law and his son, his nephew and his sister all crowded in!  Puttanesca, driver ako?? Hmf!!  That irked me a bit.. no a bit lot. 'Boy, pa.full tank, Drew san na pera??'


That was eve of Friday, May 27.  We arrived at 1.30am, Saturday dawn.  Took me only 3.5hrs at 140kph hehehe  I fueled my disgust through driving. hehehe

What greeted me was mud, caused by the earlier downpour.  He lives in the farmlands of Brgy Acop and no clear path to take me to his place.  I was beginning to regret that I  agreed to this arrangement, plus the fact that the place was pitch-dark!  Paranoia sat in and I really did think that his family was a pack of aswangs! sh3t! hahahahaha  I wanted to turn back Baby Blake to the comforts of metropolis.  I was breathing and thinking hard of my next action steps.


I was also weary and seeing that I had to sleep on the floor brought tears (no! they are not tears of joy!! hmf) to me. :(  I was beginning to feel depress, honestly, and there was no clear mattress, but only blankets to keep the cold floors creeping through my bones.  I sound soo maarte, but I can't help it :(


That night, Drew asked me if I was ok.  NO!!  I was not ok!! hmf!  Syempre, I responded, oo naman, through gritted teeth. hehehe  Then he hugged me (with all the nephews and nieces aged 3 to 4 looking through the blanket curtains!) and whispered 'Thanks, mahal for  all these sacrifices.  I appreciate what you did for me'  I melted. :p


The next day, we woke up around 8am for us to do some wet market!  My gosh!!!! I was dreading my next misadventure.  He brought along the chikitings and to my nightmare, they all started wailing when they wanted this, and wanted that! Puttanesca, leche flan!! Sabi ko na nga ba ayoko magkaanak eh!!  The good tito that he was, he granted all their wishes and that made me smile.  Drew was sooo caring towards his nephews and nieces.  Pang.papa material talaga. hehehe  Pogi points 2!

My stomach started to rumble and he took me to the carenderias within the marketplace.  Uhm.. ok.  I couldn't decide among the plentiful of viands they were offering, definitely not because they look sumptuous!  We settled with Aling Mary's (I think) because they had 2 stalls, so I thought that this might be the best among all the carederias :)  We ordered Bicol Express and something that was famous in Pangasinan (I forgot the name!).  I was right.  The food was yummy, and looks can definitely be deceiving. hehehehe 

 

Upon reaching his place, and since it's daybreak, Drew showed me the stretch of land his ancestors bestowed upon his family.  As far as the eyes could see, he proudly stated.  Mayabang din pala sya. 'Hanggang doon sa mga puno ng mangga sa dulo, sakop namin yan.  Gusto ko dyan magtayo ng bahay ko, sa may sagingan.', he proudly pointed.  'Bahain man lahat ng Rosales, pero dito sa amin, di kami binabaha', he continued.  I stared at him the whole time, with his eyes twinkling like a child boasting of one's toy, plus the manner he speaks, innocence written all over his words and beaming with every action he makes.  He then chased the chikitings around the backyard, giggling and kissing them.  He turned to look at me, smiled and beckoned me to come.  I looked down at my feet.  Hay.  Ayoko ng mud.. mudly in love. :p


Andrew: 'Lapid, padala nga ng silya sa may puno at kakain kami ng mangga' (Lapid, his grown up nephew, nodded)


A: 'Ate Vilma, eh yung bagoong naluto na ba?  Dalhin mo nga rito't para masimulan na namin kainin yan'  (The ate yelled back her response, oo na!)


Hush: 'Uhm.. masyado ka ata pala.utos rito'


A: 'hehe oo mahal.  Lahat ng gusto ko, sinusunod nila.  Ako nalang kaya tanging anak na lalaki sa sampung magkakapatid ng nanay ko, pagkatapos sumakabilang buhay kuya ko.  Syempre, aalagaan nila ako' 


He took off his shirt and proceeded to yell yet again:


A: 'Inay, saan na ba yung bola sa basket rito?  Makapaglaro nga muna habang nag.aantay.'


I don't know.  There's this manner that Ilokanos speak that I perceive as very demanding, no hint of calm intonations, but all straight and frank.  I still am not accustomed to it, no matter how much they (yeah yeah, madami na akong na date na Ilokano :) ) explain that my views are biased.  hehehe


A:  'Mahal, tara na, hinto mo muna yang internet mo at kain tayo mangga'


I gazed back at him.  His eyes do sparkle.  He offered his hands to help me up.


Sige, mahal, I responded, took his hands and had him led the way under the mango tree.

I could get used to this.. 

or maybe not! :p




*hush hush*

Carbonara

5.26.11
Awaiting Chedeng's arrival while watching Showtime


Hmmm… I have been under the weather for 2 days already and been home alone.  Andrew knew of my situation and cooked Carbonara, packed in a plastic container and gave it for me to reheat today.  Awwwwwww… isn't he sweet? hayst. 

Masarap pala magkasakit :) hehehehe

Beyonce

Her performance at the Music Awards is simply astonishing!  This is probably inspired by that Japanese guy's video on youtube, nevertheless, amazing! :)  This must have cost her a fortune!




uhm… but the song.. I am not still feeling it.  I find it all noise, rather than tune and lacks luster :p

Bothered profusely

I've had a crush on him from the time I saw his picture from a common friend of ours.  The Aussie friend blatantly described him, oh kana sya, he is bayot uy!, mixing her Aussie twang with Bisaya.  Cute.  I mean the way my friend enunciated those words. hahahaha :)

I officially met him in BED (no, the club! well, I wish hehe) by February of this year.  He was  with a friend, who I initially thought was his better half, as Chantelle (Aussie friend) had mentioned that he was hitched.  I scrutinized his companion then, and remembered clearly exclaiming to myself, it was exaggeration that he was hot, he is not! hehehe  Turned out he was just a friend of the guy.  Then my eyes wandered over to the guy I saw on the picture.. ahhh.. my type.  Tall, chinito, fair-skinned, intelligent (CPA, love my own hehehhe), 23 years old (young! hehehe), lives in Mandaluyong (no proximity issues) and definitely gay. hehehhehe :)  I definitely like him.

It's not natural for me to add up guys on Facebook, but I was not able to resist. :) I clicked on his profile and devoured (??) all the information I could get my hands on.  He accepted my friend request and from there, we were constant chat mates every Sunday.  It was there that I subtly asked for his number:

Hush: 'Gimik this saturday, join ka!! :)'

K: 'Sa malate ba?  Kaka.gimik lang namin sa Palawan2 last night with Bogs'

H: 'Who's Bogs?'

K: 'hehhehe kala ko na introduce ko na kayo.  Yung BF ko'

Ahhhhh.. hmf.

H: 'ahhh oo nga.  Well text me if you want to join us. 0917 696 6969.'

K: 'ok. Will do'

He joined us that night, but what was ironic was, Aldrin bought along a guy he dated, and Ferns was with Vic, his then-boytoy.  So, it turned out that it was as if we were having triple dates, which I felt self-conscious about.  I didn't want him to feel that it was a triple date and tried to elude him as much as possible.  Hay.  I should have been sweet instead! tsk tsk!

I have always loved challenges, and the idea that the guy has a partner excited me to my very core.  Somehow, I sensed they were on shaky grounds, based on stories he tell, and the manner we exchanged text messages.. or maybe it was just my imagination.  Nevertheless, I restrained myself from flirting too much with the guy and even joined him and his boo on one occasion to Palawan2.  His boo is ok, pa.tweetums effect.  I distanced myself and seldomly texted the guy, unless he initiates first.  hehehe

Then, 8 hours ago, I saw the post above in his FB account, then all  sensual  feelings rushed forth and I was giddy.  I called him up (atat lang) and asked whether he was ok, and that he shouldn't worry coz he should know that I have shoulders to cry unto.  Very drama, actually, but I mean it. hmf!!  He wouldn't divulge the reason why he broke up with his boo, only vague statements about words spoken but not shown (tama ba, paninindigan sabi nya eh. ) and how he has been waiting for it for a year already and still nothing.

I called up Rori to seek for advise, and he said to give it time.  Maybe it's just a phase in their relationship (sh#t ka!!) and that they may still be able to resolve it (puttanesca!!), afterall, they have been at it for a year already (leche flan!).  Hmf. hmf. hmf.  I hate him, and yeah, those are words that I will heed, as much as I would love to go to his office and play nota, este, DOTA with him.  I will learn that game, I swear!! 

I am confused.  Hay.  But I promised myself that the next time he falls, I'll be there to catch him tenderly :) weeeh 

*hush hush*