The Adventures of Tarabusaw

In order to add visibility and affirm my presence in the office, I decided to attend our group’s social event.  For the past four (or more) social events of the group, I think I have only attended one or two.  Minsan kasi tinatamad talaga ako… and ang hirap talaga mag-English ha at mag-pretend na naiintindihan mo ‘yung jokes nila. 

But actually, another reason why I decided to attend the social event is because it will be in a cruise ship!  Sosyal di ba?  Plus I thought of this very great formula — Cruise ship + Lake Ontario + Toronto Harbourfront = Superb pictures!  At hindi naman ako nabigo.  I would like to share with you some of the pictures I’ve taken.  Hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I was thrilled taking them. 

Row, row, row your boat…

Glen, Ian & Ces

Pinoys Unite!

Jilbert, Li-Yen, Michelle and Neeta

Toronto behind bushes

Ian!

Another panorama shot of Toronto. Can’t get enough of it kasi… plus look at the sky it’s so beautiful!

Sunset

Colours everywhere

Red and Blue

Love this pic!

Given that there are a lot of things happening in the office (and it really is a lot), my officemates and I felt that this is a good time to unwind, relax, get some adrenaline rush and shout our way out of the corporate hullabaloos. We decided to visit Canada’s Wonderland.

Canada’s Wonderland is the Disneyland / Universal Studios of Toronto. I am in no way a rider of anything that tumbles or flies, so I’ve already forewarned my friends that I’ll just be waiting by the sidelines.  Mind you, my Space Shuttle experience in Enchanted Kingdom was the most daring ride I’ve ever been into. And I would have never tried it if I wasn’t leaving for Canada. I know that I don’t have any heart conditions, it’s just that I don’t know if I can handle such adventure.  But knowing that there’s no harm in trying, I decided to take my first leap to being a ride junky. 

Our first ride was the Mighty Canadian Minebuster.  I was really so apprehensive because the drop was so steep, the tracks were so high and to top that all, it is only laid out in wood!!!  Nyay!  But there’s really no turning back.  And I knew I needed to do this. Besides, I’ve told myself that with all the uncertainties going on, I need to live my life as if it’s my last day here.  And how can you better do it than to do things that you have never done before.  So if tomorrow comes, it will be great to look back at the crazy little thing you did yesterday.  Anyway, here’s the picture of the Minebuster.

The Mighty Canadian Minebuster - Canada’s longest and highest wooden rollercoaster.

My nerves were loosened so much after that ride.  I felt like all my cares were wiped out and blown away by the gushing wind and sheer adrenaline overload.  The tension I felt before riding the Minebuster has been altered with pride and excitement.  And I wanted more!!!

So, I did this…

Tomb Raider, The Ride

And this…

Skyrider - Just your same ol’ roller coaster.  But instead of seating on a coach, you are actually standing.

And topped it all with this!

The Top Gun - The inverted roller coaster

We sometimes learn valuable lessons in weird and uncanny situations.  And to tell you honestly, I’ve learned something in my Wonderland experience.  I challenged myself and I am happy to say that I came out victorious!  And with this I say, that in order for us to succeed — not only in our career but in everything we do — we need to constantly exert effort to outdo what we have done before.  Because, in this life, our strongest competition is not our next door neighbor or the person sitting beside our desks.  It is actually ourselves.  So when we conquer ourselves –- our fears and our insecurities –- that’s the time when we can only do things that we thought we can never do.

Haha!  How’s that for life’s lesson learned in a theme park?

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Anatomy (&-’na-t&-mE), noun, is the art of separating the parts of an organism in order to ascertain their position, relations, structure, and function.

I remember back in freshman college, we had to take 5 units of Anatomy and Physiology.  Well it is good if I was a Nursing or Medicine student, but hello, I was in the Accountancy program!  I never really did well in that subject.  I hated it.  There was so much memorization, which my little brain can’t process anymore (even at that time).  And we even had laboratory exercises, wherein we identified the names of the bone (of a real skeleton… yak!), examine bacteria under the microscope and even dissect a poor little rat!  But anyway, this snippet is not about the science of killing live animals, exhuming their internal organs and comparing it to that of their homo sapiens’ counterpart.   This is about me… the anatomy of me. 

I will be writing more about this in my future blogs.  Need to do some research first.  I might even need to dissect myself in order to write something about this topic.  Haha!  Nah, just wait for it. 

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Our SFC Community went back to the Lakeside Long-term Care Center.  There I saw Mary again.  She was the lady I met last Mother’s Day for our monthly presentation at the center.  She was still very much energetic.  You can never tell that she will be undergoing laboratory tests next week as her white blood cells are way over than those of the red ones.  I hope she will be fine.  I want to see her more often and listen to her wonderful stories. 

Hay, I guess I miss my Lola.  ‘La, kayo ng bahala sa akin ha.

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I was starving when I came home today after our community service.  Unfortunately, I haven’t cooked yet.  And the more unfortunate thing is that I felt so lazy cooking my food.  Luckily, I still have some leftover rice from last night and my cupboard still has a can of corned beef.  Salamat sa corned beef!

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Pictures @ Wonderland.  As usual, click the thumbnails for bigger pictures. =)

Ian at Wonderland

Canada’s Wonderland

I’m guessing that the flags beside the Canadian flag are those of its provinces.  But how come its only 6, I thought there are 8 Canadian provinces?

Peace Man!

Sa labas

Fake falls and mountain… but real fun and excitement! (Trivia: There’s a rollercoaster inside the mountain!)

Tomb Raider. Asan kaya si Lara Croft?

How to ride the Tomb Raider

Hearty conversation

Pose kung pose

The next series of pictures is the Top Gun ride. Sorry, I don’t have much photos of the other rides. I was so thrilled kasi that I forgot to take pictures eh. Hahaha!!! Next time na lang yung iba. We’ll be going there naman ulit, naka-season pass naman kaming lahat.

Top Gun - One of those loops

Farther shot of the above loop

The drop!

Farther view of the drop above

Sideways

Now, the next shots are my "kaartehan" shots. Hehehe.

Bote

Wala lang

Chinese sculpture at the Tomb Raider ride

Once upon a time, in a far away kingdom…

Naalala ko tuloy ang Intramuros

Durungawan

Ilaw. (The other half of my fave duo in photo subjects. The other being buildings/skyline)

Twilight

Changing Colors

More pictures of the fountain

Fountain 01

Fountain 02

Fountain 03

Fountain 04

And finally, here’s a ride that I really wanna try - the Xtreme Flyer.

You might ask how it works. Well, its really simple. You will be enveloped in foam and then will be fastened to a cable that is attached to the big arch. The cable is then raised to the top of the pole (the V-shaped pole at the farther side of the photo. From there, you will be released to swing back and forth! Parang bunjee jumping, pero swinging motion siya. Katakot di ba?

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I know this entry is already long.  But I would like to share with you this clip.  This is my mini-movie courtesy of the Top Gun ride in Wonderland.  I laughed so hard while watching this.  Though I know that you will also laugh at me, I don’t mind.  At least, I helped you release the toxins brought by stress.  Hehehe…

Note:  This clip is up for limited time only.  I will be removing this in Youtube after two weeks. ;-p

Hindi ko alam sa inyo, pero minsan dumadating sa akin ang time na gusto kong mag-isa.  And last Sunday was one of those days. 

Hindi ako natulog last Saturday.  That was my way of self-medication.  Lately kasi, di ako nakakatulog hanggang hindi umaabot ang 4 a.m.  So, as my way of self-medication and correct my body clock, naisip kong wag matulog ng Saturday at pagurin ang sarili ko ng buong Sunday!  O di ba?  Sino kayang doctor ang magpe-prescribe ng ganung gamot?  Ako lang!  Hahaha!!!

So from the clubbing last Saturday, nakipag-usap muna ulit ako sa family ko sa Philippines.  Luckily, I bought a webcam na, so nakita na rin nila ang gwapong-gwapong Ian (ehem… hehehe).  At 8 a.m. and almost 24 hours of being awake, I decided to hear mass at a nearby church so I can start my day na.  Surprisingly, hindi ako inantok sa simbahan.  Pero sa totoo lang, parang hilong-hilo na ako nun.  Hahaha!

After getting back home, I took a bath, prepared and ate my breakfast and headed straight to Bloor and Bathurst.  I wanted to visit the new wing of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) kasi.  Kung tutuusin, pwede akong bumaba sa Bloor and St. George, which is closer to the Museum, pero gusto ko talaga maglakad-lakad.  Besides, I’ve never been to the Bathurst to Spadina side of Bloor. 

Habang naglalakad, na-realize ko na malayo pala siya.  Hahaha!!!  Halos 2 subway stations din kasi from Bathurst eh.  But, it’s worth it din naman.  And when can I better do my city walk than springtime di ba?  So, nakarating na ako sa ROM.  The new wing’s facade is so beautiful talaga.  It’s called Crystal, because literally, it really does look like one.

After two hours at ROM, naisip kong magdowntown tour ulit.  Marami pa rin kasi akong di napupuntahan sa downtown eh.  Pero, since it’s really a good sunny Sunday, naisipan kong pumunta na lang sa Harbourfront at magbasa ng dala kong book — Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.  Pagdating ko ng Harbourfront, nagbago na naman ang isip ko.  Mas gusto ko ng pumunta ng Centre Island!

Centre Island is an island (di obvious from its name no?  hahaha) located at Lake Ontario.  It is Toronto’s version of Manila’s Luneta or New York’s Central Park, but much much bigger.  And you need to ride a ferry to get to the island.  Um, consider going to Corregidor from Manila, mas malapit nga lang dahil it’s only a 15-minute ferry ride. 

Upon reaching the island, the great Toronto skyline can already be seen in the horizon.  Ang ganda!  Parang katulad din ng view ng Manhattan Island when you’re in Liberty or Ellis Islands.  Pero narealize ko na parang mali yata ang desisyon kong ako lang ang pumunta, dahil certainly, the place is for families and friends.  Pero siyempre ginusto ko naman pumunta dun kaya okay lang.  I took my book out and read the first chapter.  But after some time, my more than 24-hour of being awake is taking its toll — inaantok na ako!  Hahaha!!!  Kung may banig nga lang ako eh natulog na ako dun. 

At 4 p.m. I decided to go back to Toronto na.  Magluluto pa ako ng pangbaon at pang-dinner ko for the week.  At sa totoo lang antok na antok na talaga ako.  Feeling ko nga kapag napasandal ako sa kahit ano eh makakatulog ako.  Hahaha!!!  Sira ulo ko kasi eh no. 

It was really a tiring day, pero I’ve enjoyed it.  And thinking that summer will only be here till end of August, kailangan talagang lubus-lubusin ang sikat ng araw. 

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Pictures (Please click the thumbnail for larger pics.)

The Royal Ontario Museum’s new wing

Michael Lee Chin Crystal

The Lobby. Imagine how much electricity can be saved by letting natural light shine through. Brilliant isn’t it?

Another view of the Lobby.

Even the chairs can be considered as work of art!

Ceiling of the old wing

Up To the Ceiling

Down To the Floor

Left to the Window

Right to the Door

Perfect Angles

Totem Pole 01 - Bottom

Totem Pole 02 - Middle

Totem Pole 03 - Top

Buddha. Um, why does "it" have a crown like that of Virgin Mary?  I don’t know if it’s onlly me, but "it" looks androgenous.

Chinese Soldier and Arch

A replica of a Chinese Palace

They are not standing Buddhas. They are servannts of Buddha and are indeed aspiring to be Buddhas. Hmmm… I never knew that one can be a Buddha. Ano kayang qualification?

Another Buddhist sculpture. If you examine "it" closely, you’ll know that "it" is a man because of his mustache.

Ilaw

Japanese Armor

European Armor

Smaller version of the bridge in NY’s Central Park

Kayaking at the Lake (Skydome and CN Tower at the back)

The Toronto Jungle

Perfect Dating Spot… Imagine the view at night when all the buildings are lit and CN Tower is aglow.

Ian and the great Toronto skyline. Sorry for the blurry pic. I can’t adjust the settings anymore. It was really a smoggy day kasi eh.

Toronto

Lagoon

Centreville at Centre Island

One of the many kiddie rides at Centreville

Centre Island is a conducive place for creative writing

Eh kaya lang may dumaang babae, na-distract tuloy ako. Hahaha!!!

One of the great panorama shots I’ve taken. May nakasama pa ngang bata sa extreme right. =)

I went to the Princess of Wales Theatre in King Street West to see Phantom of the Opera.  In any commentary, it is more appropriate to start on a positive note.  So let me start my (sort of) review at the bright side. 

The production crew should be really given high credits.  The stage was magnificent, the sequence changes were flawless, the special effects and lighting were great and the costumes were fabulous.   Every concept and every move was indeed well planned and executed.  Add to that a fantastic orchestra who played very heartwarming renditions of the ever famous songs from the play including Music of the Night and All I Ask of You.  Now, let us go to the other side. 

Frankly, I was dissapointed with the play.  The performers didn’t gave justice to the magnificent stage and orchestra.  I believe the only performer who gave his best is the Phantom himself.  He really deserve the standing ovation at the end of the show.  Also, I find the story a bit dragging.  Or maybe because the sound system was not crystal clear that’s why I had a hard time comprehending the story thus making me conclude that it is boring. 

I can’t help but compare it to Les Miserables which I was able to see in Broadway.  Though the visual impression of Les Miz was simpler compared to that of Phantom’s, the former’s artists gave very moving and heart-wrenching performances.  The audience were really involved and engaged while the play was ongoing.  In fact, there was no single act were an applause wasn’t given.  Plus, the story was very clearly conveyed.  Or maybe it helped that I know some parts of the Victor Hugo classic. 

My verdict — three out of five stars!

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Okay, time for features… este picture.  Hahaha!!!  Hindi siyempre mawawala yun. 

The Princess of Wales Theatre

Pinoy Power (L-R front row): Sandre, Laarni, Ces and Jilbert; (L-R back row): Mark, Fatima, Mr. Statue and me

The Royal Alexandra Theatre (or popularly called “The Royal Alex”). One of North America’s oldest theatres.

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Though, this is no longer connected with the Phantom of the Opera, I would still like to show you some of my favorite experimental shots. Mukhang SLR di ba? Pero P&S lang yan!!! I need to buy a tripod though dahil medyo magalaw talaga ang kamay ko, especially for long shutter shots. 

Flowers in Bloom

Toronto’s Harbourfront Buildings with Luminato Festival’s Dancing Lights

Like any other business, insurance companies need to protect their image.  And since insurance is directly related to image and trust, insurers are very keen to protect theirs. 

The Insurance Commission has recently announced life and non-life insurers that are "black-listed" on the grounds of non-compliance to the new capital requirements for insurance companies (Wow!  Very Basel II-ish ha!).  I guess, the IC has been stricter in implementing these requirements to protect the public from further debacle such as those that happened to CAP policy holders. 

The "blacklisted" insurance companies are — Asia United Insurance, Covenant Assurance Co., Eastern Assurance & Surety, Finman General Assurance, First Integrated Bonding & Insurance, Generali Pilipinas, Investors Assurance, Manila Insurance, Meridian Assurance, Monarch Insurance, Oriental Insurance, Solid Guaranty, Summit Guarantee & Insurance, and Travellers Insurance & Surety.

Oh no!  One of my previous clients is included in the list!  Honestly, aside from that client that I had in the Philippines, the other companies listed doesn’t ring a bell.  For the full article, please refer to this link.

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Speaking of Basel II, I am wondering how our Bangko Sentral is faring with the implementation of the new capital requirements for banks.  I remember when I was still in the Philippines, the Central Bank of Thailand already have their timelines while ours doesn’t have a clear direction on how to implement the new capital adequacy requirements.

~0~

On other insurance-related news, the President of the Philippine Life Insurance Association Inc. (who is also the President of one of my previous clients in the Philippines) said that premium collections for this year are expected to grow up to 25%. 

It’s good to read familiar names in news articles.  It feels like I am so close with these people, when the fact is I have only seen their names in the organization charts while doing the IT Environment part of our audit.  Hahaha…

Here’s the link to the full article.

It’s always nice to see old friends.  Sharing your old stories and new plans is always a welcome breeze.  Cresta came to Toronto on her way to St. John’s.  She stayed in my humble apartment on her first night, while she spent her second night to Liza –- her college friend. 

Of course, I gave her a tour of Toronto.  I don’t know if I’ve been a good tour guide though.  She never gave her ‘satisfaction survey’ to me that she’d promised.  Hehehe… Anyway, I decided to bring her to Casa Loma — an old house down Spadina Road, just a stonesthrow from my house (that is if you really know how to throw a stone very far… hehehe).  This grand house was built during the early 1900’s by a rich Canadian businessman who wanted to have a "castle" of his own.  Casa Loma was built on a hill where it got its name ("Loma" means hill in Spanish). 

It was also my first time to enter the “castle” and my, I must say that I really enjoyed the tour.  Hmmm… pa’no pa kaya ang mga castles sa Ottawa, Quebec City or even in Europe?  Mas lalo sigurong enjoy yun!  My eyes would definitely be tired ogling at such wonderful structures.  And I will definitely need an extra memory card for my camera as I will surely be taking a lot of pictures.  Speaking of pictures, here are some of our pictures at Casa Loma

From L-R: (1) Cresta at the palace; (2) Ian at the palace; (3) Beautiful flowers at the courtyard; (4) Drama shot #1 - Cresta looking for something; (5) Drama shot #2 - Ian looking somewhere

After our trip to Casa Loma, I decided to introduce Cresta to Toronto’s mascot –- CN Tower! We decided not to go to the observation deck anymore as the queue was really long and our lunch is waiting at Jun and Sisley’s house.  So picture-picture na lang sa baba ng CN Tower.  Though I know a shorter route, I decided to take Cresta to Harbourfront (hehehe… sorry Cresta, na-enjoy mo naman ang tubig eh). The Harbourfront was really alive and thriving! There were lotsa people as compared during fall and winter (well, it’s understandable as I also wouldn’t want to walk when the temperature is sub-zero and wind gusts are very chilly).

After our Harbourfront tour, we decided to go to head to our lunch. I was able to convince Cresta not to take the subway to Queen Station. So we walked all the way to Jun’s place. Hehehe. It was really very good of Jun to prepare our very delicious lunch. And of course, chikahan to da max na naman ang nangyari! Here are some of our pictures from CN Tower to Harbourfront to Jun and Sisley’s house:

From L-R: (1) Cresta at Harbourfront; (2) Cresta with CN Tower at the background; (3) Optical Illusion (figure out why… hehehe); (4) Cunanan reunion - Jun (Batch 2001), Sisley (May 2003), Cresta (June 2003) and Ian (July 2003)

We finally went home as Liza will be picking up Cresta at my apartment.  I thought that I can rest my tired feet once Cresta leave, but Liza invited me to have dinner with them.  At first, I really didn’t wanna go, but nahiya naman ako, so sige na nga.  Pero sumunod na lang ako dahil I took a bath pa dahil feeling ko sobrang baho ko na.  Luckily, I wore my runners instead of my slip-ons as Liza insisted that I go clubbing with them.  I am not really a fan of clubs, but I don’t mind going there din naman.  Eh pag nag-umpisa na yung tugtog, ay sasayaw talaga ako!  Hahaha! 

We went to “The Docks”.  It was a GREAT club as compared to the one in King Street were my officemates and I went.  Medyo mahal lang ang entrance fee and even the drinks.  My one Stella can was already $6.50!  Tsk Tsk… Luckily, it was already tax-inclusive. 

After almost three-hours of dancing, a can of Stella and a semi-full bottle of beer from Cresta (sorry I forgot the name), I decided to leave the parteh!  I’ll be calling pa kasi my family in the Philippines… na inabot ng almost 2 hours (credit goes to Yahoo Voice!  Whohoo!)

It was indeed a very long and tiring day.  I just realized that I have been awake for almost 20 hours!  But, the joy of seeing an old friend and meeting new ones was definitely worth all the muscle pains, feet blisters and heavy eyebags. 

~0~

I sometimes suffer the attack of tactlessness.  But over time and several (bad) consequences of losing my tact, I learned to choose better words that are coming out of my mouth.  I also believe that choosing the proper words (or just being quiet about something) is a good practice of self-control –- which I also badly need.  Actually, as of this moment, I am really feeling the urge to write about something… but decided not to.  This is my own way of practicing tactfulness and self-control.  I’ll just leave you guys with few questions:

* How much change are you willing to undergo in order to belong?
* Would you still want to know a secret even if you have a strong gut feel that you will just be hurt?

I think Friendster is experiencing some technical difficulties lately.  I can’t seem to find my Friendster blog home page and whenever I click the ‘Blogs’ tab, Friendster is asking me to create one.  What the?!?  It really scared the hell out of me… No way that all my priceless online thoughts will be taken out of me.  But fortunately, hindi naman pala nawala.  I guess there are some bugs lang in Friendster.  And luckily, everything is back to normal na.  Yey!

But a lesson learned here is to have a Disaster Recovery Plan.  Hehehe… And what is the best way to start a DRP?  Have an updated backup.  Naks!  This is what you get for almost four years of accumulated IT exposure — nagiging nerd!  Hahaha!  And speaking of four years - PwC Manila’s SCQ batch 1 will be celebrating it’s fourth anniversary on July 4th!  Advanced Happy Anniversary Kendz, Ayms, Van, Emong and Ryan Jay! 

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It’s soooo boring here in the office nowadays.  I have been unassigned for almost a month na.  I don’t know where to charge all my time and I don’t want to read all the web-based learnings anymore.  Naalala ko tuloy ang work ko sa Pilipinas.  By this time, probably we are on the planning stage for our clients.  I would have been meeting my long-time contacts back there. 

Okay, this will be my first time to tell this.  I miss my work in Manila… mainly because I am in the front seat back there.  Working here in Toronto is so different.  Though I am a Senior Associate, I am just in the background.  Um, well at least that’s what I experienced in the past busy season.  I attribute that primarily to the fact that I joined the practice at the latter part of the audit and I wasn’t really involved in all the planning stuff and all I needed to do was to execute whatever they wanted me to do.  So for this season, I am hoping and looking forward to a big change.

And that big change will definitely happen as I have been assigned with lots of divisions for my BIG client here.  I am actually excited and nervous.  Excited in the sense that I can finally do what I am supposed to be doing here - that is to work till I’m exhausted to death and my energy has been sucked up by every client hoola-baloos!  Hehehe… Kidding aside, I just simple love challenges.  Hmm… I may not be too vocal about my fondness for challenges, but subconsciously my mind is really telling me that I should go for everything that come my way.  Besides, I would have never taken the opportunity to be in Canada if I am afraid to face challenges. 

On the other hand, I am nervous because I don’t know if I can handle everything.  Well, remember last year when I had some budget issues with my first assignment here.  Now that I have been here for nine months (whew! ang bilis ng panahon!), I can no longer say that I am adjusting and that I am still on the high slope of my learning curve.  By this time, I am sure that my managers are expecting that my learning curve is no longer curvaceous, but one that is already flat and steady.  Tsk tsk.  And mind you, my manager made this comment when I came back from my Cleveland assignment:

Ian:  Hi S!  How are you?
S:  Hey! You’re back!
Ian:  Yes.  Finally!  Do you have anything for me to do?  How about for our BIG client?
S:  Oh!  Ask J about it, he will orient you.  And you can also check the documents on the server for our planning documents… blah blah blah
Ian:  Okay.  Thanks!
S:  Just ask me if you have any questions.
Ian:  Will do.
S:  I WILL BE COUNTING ON YOU THIS YEAR, HA.  STEP IT UP, OKAY?
Ian:  No problem!  (Ian’s brain:  Bring it on!)

Hahaha!  No problem daw oh!  Well, how’s that for extra pressure.  But in fairness to S, he has never failed to encourage me.  Well, there are times when I don’t dig him, but most of the time he’s been very appreciative.  And it helps that he is also Pinoy. =)

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Hay, so I am just listening to my music here.  Hmm… Here are my current faves:

1.  Break It Off by Sean Paul ft. Rihanna

2.  Last Night by P. Diddy ft. Keysha Cole

3.  Say It Right and All Good Things Come to An End by Nelly Furtado

4.  Cupids Chokehold by Gym Class Heroes

5.  Won’t Go Home Without You and Makes Me Wonder by Maroon 5 (The Best!  Buy their album!  Di kayo magsisisi.)

6.  More Today Than Yesterday by Spiral Staircase

~0~

Say you’ll love me ev’ry waking moment;
Turn my head with talk of summertime.
Say you need me with you now and always;
Promise me that all you say is true,
That’s all I ask of you.

Wait my Christine.  I’ll meet you on Thursday.  Hehehe.

 

My blog was visited by Lala Rimando - Business Editor of Newsbreak!  Eeek!!!  And she even left this comment:

Hi Ian,
I chanced upon your site, esp your post on an article I wrote about the accounting firms in the Phils.
You’re right, your industry is one of the most low profile ones I’ve covered since I’ve been a journalist.
My first article on the accounting industry was on the post-Enron fate of SGV and Punongbayan firms. P&A was partnered with EY then, but EY decided to grab the slot of Arthur Andersen which was the foreign partner of SGV. There was a whole drama there, far from public knowledge, that uncovered an existing but well-hidden pro-and anti-SGV sentiments.
Your industry is so powerful yet so secretive and so elitist. I’m glad I have access to the powers that be, and that readers like yourself appreciate it.

Best regards,
Lala
www.newsbreak.com.ph
skype ID: lalarimando
blog: lalarimando.multiply.com

P.S. I did talk to some insiders from Isla Lipana, but they were not as involved in the deals as was Punongbayan. That’s why I decided not to cite my chats with them.

Posted by: Lala | May 31, 2007 10:15 PM

I was gasping as I was reading this.  She might put her editor’s hat and edit everything out!  Hahaha!  But on the more serious hand, there was indeed a whole lotta drama during the SGV/Andersen-PnA/EY-Enron days.  I wasn’t still in the industry, but our review professors were very keen in updating us on what’s happening in the "real" audit world. 

Hmm… I’m wondering who these "powers" are.  Hahaha!  Auditors know who are they.  To some degree, I want to agree with her observation that the audit industry is elitist.  But hey, I am not ha.  Hahaha! 

~0~

On international audit news, have you heard/read the latest about the industry?  Again, I don’t want to give my two cents.  My words might be taken against me.  Try to find it in CNN na lang.