Year: 2011

The Return of the Comeback

Noelle De Guzman

Oops! So I popped up, shut up, popped up again, then went completely radio silent. Sorry about that (not that anyone’s still out there listening).

So anyway here’s what’s been happening with me. I ended up not getting a regular 9-to-5 job because I got hired by TV5 to do a regular segment for them. I got to keep my other regular gigs as well, and the other blog really took off.

But you know there’s nothing quite like a space where you can put basically anything you come up with. Twitter’s been great for short thoughts, but sometimes I like to write about places I’ve been, people I talked with, things I’ve done.

Here’s to hoping with this migration to WordPress, I can rouse myself to write more than just 140 characters at a stretch.

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Storm in a Teacup

Noelle De Guzman

There’s a storm signal over the metro so it’s been raining off and on the whole day. After the past week’s late wave, this cool weather is very much welcome, especially since it gives me opportunity to indulge in thick blankets and steaming hot drinks.

Lately I’ve been indulging in hot tea. It’s the simplest of beverages to prepare — I mean, how hard is it to boil some water and put a tea infuser in? I usually enjoy it with some milk and Splenda at my favorite coffee and tea shop. I haven’t had any tea at home since my family and I have just moved into a new place and haven’t stocked our pantry well.

I attended the Lipton Thoughts and Teas blogger event at Paul Calvin’s Deli, BGC a few weeks ago (on a rainy day like this!) and tried to expand my tea preparation repertoire. Celebrity chef Rosebud demonstrated how to create home-brewed chai tea and orange tea with a few spices and extracts. It all seemed so very simple.

Lipton Thoughts and Teas: With Chef Rosebud

And then we were all challenged to create our own signature tea recipes for a prize! I immediately thought of apple-cinnamon, which would have been perfect for the rainy weather we were having…

…if only I knew how to execute it properly. I had no idea how difficult it would be to balance all those ingredients and flavors in one cup of tea!

Lipton Thoughts and Teas: Create Your Own Tea

I threw my first attempt out (it tasted like tea with vomit, ewww!) and tried again. It was better, of course, but didn’t taste as rich as I wanted it to.

In the end, it was a matter of who executed a good idea better: someone else was able to create an apple-cinnamon tea that appealed to Rosebud’s palate. As for me, I think I’ll stick to my black tea with milk. That one’s tried and tested. Ü

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I Need a Revolution

Noelle De Guzman

For the past two months I’ve been involved in a job hunt. Yes, I am finally quitting the world of freelance and seeking a 9-to-5. There are several reasons for this decision.

  1. I need a health plan and retirement benefits. I have finally realized I’m going to grow older whether I like it or not. I can’t teach group exercise forever.

  2. I need an income that grows. Yes I potentially make a lot of money as a freelance writer and instructor, but that’s not on a monthly basis. With a regular job, I get a guaranteed salary AND yearly increase and bonuses. Freelance rates remain flat year-in, year-out.

  3. I need solid financials. As a co-signatory of a property my parents are buying for our family, I also have to apply for the bank loan that will finance its purchase. it just looks better to be employed. (Also, being self-employed is a hassle due to the amount of paperwork to fill out!)

  4. I need to be productive. A large chunk of my day is spent checking Facebook and surfing the Internet for lack of anything else to do between classes. What a waste of brain cells!

My job hunt is about to come to an end, hopefully. And as I embark on a new phase of my life, I know I have logical reasons for this course of action. 🙂

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Bad Bus Ride

Noelle De Guzman

I went to CamSur over the weekend to cover a wakesport event (board and skate). While it’s about an hour away by plane (Naga-bound) and shuttle, the magazine I worked for on this particular assignment sent us there by bus.

The last time I was on a long trip via bus, I was in high school and it was for our yearly field trip. I have plenty of friends who go to their provincial homes every other month or so on overnight buses. I thought I could just sleep the hours away, since I pride myself on my ability to fall asleep anywhere.

What I didn’t count on was a bus breakdown 4 hours into what should have been an 8-hour trip. From my light almost-sleep I awoke to the sound of the engine losing power and the sensation of the bus coming to a stop. Although the engine was still running and the aircon was at full blast, we weren’t going anywhere. And for 4 hours after that, te driver, the conductor, and a kind bsmate pumped the clutch hoping that the hydraulics would kick in. Finally, we started moving again.

Unfortunately that wasn’t the end of our bus woes, as there was also something wrong with the engine’s fuel injection system. Our bus started and stopped a total of 7 times before our replacement bus from Naga came and picked us up.

Total travel time: 14 hours.

You know what the clincher was on that trip? Three days later, we took the same bus back to Manila.

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When You Gotta Go…

Noelle De Guzman

Albert Einstein says it’s insanity to do the same thing repeatedly and expect different results. I’ve been doing a certain thing going on 5 years, and nothing has changed. I feel like I’ve wasted my youth, effort, and money on what has no future in store for me. It’s just like a bad relationship: I’ve got to get out.

Don’t get me wrong. There are so many things that I love about it — the friends I’ve made, experiences I’ve shared, skills I’ve learned. But I’ve always prided myself on knowing when to leave. Whether or not I actually do it depends on how stubborn I am, or how hopeless I feel.

Right now I feel pretty hopeless, and I just know there’s so much more for me than being mired here.

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Pedestal

Noelle De Guzman

We all have a tendency to put people on a pedestal — usually people we admire from a distance. And we’ve all been star-struck when we finally meet them in the flesh. Then When we get to know them better, we take them off the pedestal.

Especially when we meet celebrities (of any kind), we tend to think of them as being better than ordinary people somehow; there’s a certain charisma that attaches itself to anyone who’s in the public eye. When you stick around them long enough and get to know them, the glow fades and you realize they’re just people too (albeit a little more attractive than the average Juan).

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