Calling India Better

I have my cousin Quincy in India. She got married last year to a man we haven't met before. I think she met him in the same corporation she works for that caters to international clients. I literally had no idea when she transferred residency from New Jersey to Mumbai. I know it was kind of abrupt and thinking about it, it was like a whirlwind romance; ones that you only get to read off romance novels. It just started with long distance calls and a couple of email exchanges. She told me it was nothing serious when we talked because I know it would be impossible with the distance. After a few months she just contacted me and told me the circumstances... she called using calling cards that made everything look like the guy was next door.

Reliance India call also provides this service and they are better. Other ordinary VOIP services have everything metered and literally costs too much. Much to my surprise, they don't have any hidden costs for hang up/disconnected calls. They do not even charge anything for maintenance or long usage. That to me is a number one requirement when doing business. I applaud my cousin for getting this far with her relationship and business because we know how important hearing a person's voice is. It makes you feel the other person on the line and empathize in real time. I know things would have been never possible if not for this technology. I love how it works and from the looks of it, I'll recommend this to my colleagues in the BPO industry so they can call India better.

It's Holy Week!

Weird, I lost a post all of a sudden. I mean it was there yesterday and when I typed in something new for an entry it just disappeared. Sheesh! I think that is the most obnoxious thing I have ever done this week.

Well I think that was for my holy week entry. I think I can just re-discuss that =)

Aside from getting a break up just this last week (T_T) Haha but that's a different story! It's actually the start of the most NOT SO BUSY set of days in the Philippines. Holy week... it starts from people going out of town. Going to their hometowns. Them spending quiet prayerful times with their families. Visiting graves of their loved ones and saying a prayer or two for them. I think there are some things that they should stay away from. They need to know the true meaning of celebrating holy week. Some people need to understand why this is celebrated by us Roman Catholics in the Philippines.

1. Holy week is not VACATION week. It's not boracay or palawan week either... this is the time where we remember that Jesus died and some of us remember bikinis and merry making in the beach. Stop doing that okay?! How would you feel if people celebrated your funeral with a party as if they were glad you died?!

2. Don't act. Don't act as if you were all that holy. Don't go to churches and pray while shedding a tear for a few minutes. The acting won't work. Don't see celebrities?! They probably in Boracay too and you were designated as the budget conscious ones. No you are not cheap!

3. For the real people who go to church and spend time with their families, remember why we are spending a few days of grieving. Remember why we are doing these for a few days. Remember he died for our sins. Remember for each bludgeoned person who died on the cross, it was meant to wash away your own sins. Be grateful someone did it for you and be happy that it wasn't you on that cross okay?!

Thank God for all the nice things that are happening in your life. You owe it to him! Reflect on that!

The Great Build!

I am a good son. I have my folks asking me for things and I really want to give them all. Part of that is contributing to a house that we have in the south of Manila. It is a 4 hour drive that we take almost every week. The land was previously owned by my cousin but they planned to make a quaint village out of it. I saw them dredge the land and put in roads too. Most of it was heavily forested areas and the houses were all ours to think about since they gave us freedom to choose its design. There was a catch though because it was doubly hard to have a house built in the middle of nowhere. There was no electricity and they all had manual labor as staple ways to build a house. That didn't come as cheap as we expected even if it was supposed to be in a provincial rate. I just wish we had a chance to use a diamond saw blade so it would be faster cutting stuff but as I said they didn't have any electricity yet. I tried to get permits and all that brouhaha of permits from the local government. I was able to secure one and it was all nice! I had to pull some strings and had to tap local electricity sources and a gas powered generator to stand by. After a couple of months and a few hundred thousand pesos after; it was nice to know they had finished my folk's vacation home. Now they have a place to stay when they need rest and recreation in that part of the world. These are all for my parents who have gladly put up with me since day 1. I love them both!

Ampatuan Cleared of Rebellion?! WT*?!

I want to break free from the cycle I am stuck on right now. I am not doing my best going to the gym lately. I think I have been a little too tired from work and just decide to go back home and sleep instead of at least running a bit to reduce stress. I don't know why. I guess it's because of the schedule. I think I'm not used to becoming a day walker LOL.

We have some things in the office I need to take care of and some which I need to help my peers so we could do a project efficiently. I was not much of a team player before but I think I am doing a pretty darn good job lately. Just look at me now, I am in the office 2 hours early LOL... well I can't sleep at home so I decided to just go to the office instead so I can do something fruitful.

Today, I have heard the AMPATUAN's won their case of rebellion against the Philippines. I hate it... it looks like we are all losing faith in the justice system huh!? Supreme Court clears though that they won't get away killing 57 journalists still.... but you know, I still feel they did something wrong... please forgive me to wish someone to die after that. =(