Happy 11th Work Anniversary to Me!

All over the world, the workforce celebrates Labour Day on May 1. While everyone enjoys the day off, we at this part of the planet continue to work simply because we don’t recognize the holiday here. On the other hand, this day is special to me because on this day in 2006 I joined the company I’m currently working at.

Can you believe it’s been 11 years? Time sure flies fast. Although it hasn’t been exactly a walk in the park, I have to say that I’ve been happy most of the time. I like what I’m doing, and the relationship I have with my colleagues and managers is great. Sure there were instances when we would have conflicts, but generally, we all get along fine. It’s also a bonus to be working for a multinational company that’s known worldwide for its quality products.

Congratulations to Me!

I forgot to share the good news with you guys…I was promoted! From Coordinator, my position title is now Executive. And from Category E, I am now Category D. Yaaaaay! Praise God!

Finally…after almost 9 years with the company.

From the time I joined, there hasn’t been a female employee who was promoted or hired at a category other than E so I’m pretty proud of this accomplishment. I didn’t get additional benefits though (you get those if you’re a Manager, which is Category C), but at least my efforts have been recognized. 

Day 34: 24 April - God's Answers His Own Way

I prayed. I researched. I prepared. I negotiated.

In the end, I didn’t get what I really wanted…but God still answered my prayers.

It may not have been in the way I had asked, but if you add everything up, I’ll be getting the equivalent.

And for this, I am grateful.

Day 19: 10 April - Indian Goodies

Received a bag of goodies from India from a work colleague

fresh jackfruit, bananas, mangoes, jackfruit chips

Day 8: 30 March - Family Time at Home

Before leaving for work in the morning, Hubby and I sat down to pray together.

We received a delicious cake when the General Manager of Riviera Hotel came to the office for a meeting.

After so many evenings of being busy and going home late, Hubby and I finally had a free night to bond with our daughters.

Caila led the prayer again before going to sleep. She asked Papa God for the same thing (to give her a good dream), but it was longer and more elaborate.

Day 7: 29 March - Happy Day at Work and Caila's Prayer

Wearing my yellow pants and pink blouse to work helped make my day look more bright and vibrant.

 Caila and Hubby dropped by at my work for a short visit after she took her entrance exam for Grade 1 at one of the schools. She told me that the exam was “lots of fun.”

Celebrated my birthday with the rest of the February, March and April celebrants at work.

Caila initiated and led our prayer before sleeping: “Papa God, please give me a good dream tonight because I don’t want to be scared anymore. And please tell Daddy to come home soon (he was attending a seminar in Deira) because I miss him. Good night, Papa God. Amen.”

company family year-end party

The company party was the most stressful event last month mainly because I was the organizer, coordinator, host/emcee/ music and video jockey, photo-wall backdrop designer, etc. etc. etc. Almost everything that had to be taken cared of from the company side was prepared by me.

The only task I didn’t do was be the photographer which I appointed 2 of my colleagues on the spot when I saw that they had brought their DSLR cameras with them.

Since it was for the staff and their families, it wasn’t the usual company party which is usually formal. I had prepared a few video clips, but to make the event more fun and enjoyable (especially for the kids so they wouldn’t become antsy from boredom and beg to go home) I became the game-master again. I was ready with a few prizes which encouraged most of them to participate (including our General Manager!), and when the program ended, adults and kids alike enjoyed following the Just Dance videos on the screen. Here are a few shots of that night.

recognition of the loyal employees

traditional singing and cutting of the cake for the birthday celebrants

employees enjoying a game

kids relay

wives' chopsticks game

some of the men dancing to Jai Ho

girls dancing to Beauty and the Beat

Fortunately, the party was a success (based on the positive feedback, comments, and words of appreciation I got from most of the attendees), so at least the stress and weeks of preparation was worth it.

Of course the delicious food, elegant set-up, attentive hotel staff, alcoholic drinks, and beautiful view overlooking the Creek from the party’s venue at the Plaza Ballroom on the 20th floor of Radisson Blu helped a lot.

 

One comment that I really appreciated came from the Canadian Project Manager. Knowing that I was practically running the whole event by myself, he said he was really impressed, adding that I should consider hosting parties as a sideline.

You know, hindi sa nagyayabang ako, but I’m really proud of myself. Not because I was able to pull off the party, but because I had the confidence to host an event like that. Years ago, you would have never seen me willingly stand in front of a huge crowd to say a few words (much less carry out an entire program). But that night, I did. Sure it helped my confidence that I knew almost everyone, but still, natutuwa ako sa sarili ko na nakakaya ko. But don’t ask me to give a talk yet in CFC, SFC, YFC, or KFC, though. Di pa kaya ng powers ko yung ganong level =)

neuhaus le carré 10 flavours chocolates

Aren’t these pretty? 


One of my colleagues had just arrived from his European vacation and these chocolates were his omiyage /pasalubongs for us. When the box was being passed around, I just took 3 (milk speculoos, dark raspberry, and dark exotic lime). But because they looked so cute and colorful, I couldn’t resist getting the rest of the 7 flavours (takaw much?!). Initially I had planned to take a photo of the 10 flavours and then return the 7...but then, that was just the plan. I decided to use the image from the Neuhaus website instead kasi nakakahiya sa mga amo ko kung makita nila na kinukunan ko ang tsokolate.

back from a stressful week

Last week was so busy, hectic and stressful! I took a day off in celebration of Easter Sunday, and upon my return to the office on Monday, I was swamped with all sorts of urgent and important things to do...and it went on all throughout the week! Actually, it continued until early this afternoon. The thing is, our company’s financial year begins on the first of April so there were so many reports to finalize and submit, then there were 4 new people who joined on the same day , plus there was the core meeting for the performance evaluations, and then the letters I had to prepare for the employees; add these to my regular tasks that I do on a daily basis, and AAAAUUUUGGGGHHHH! I was so busy which is why I didn’t blog at all last week. There were some times when I had a few minutes of break, but when I wanted to blog, all I could think of was "I’M SO STRESSED!" and I couldn’t think of anything else. And when I arrived at home, I just wanted to relax and spend time with my family.

traditional birthday celebration at work

Last year, our office started this tradition of gathering together in our conference room once a month (preferably on the first working Saturday of the month) to celebrate the birthdays of that month. (Sorry! Too many "months" in that sentence.) Everyone is happy because we all get to enjoy drinks and slices of cakes, and the celebrants are given special attention.  Since I’m the HR and Administration Coordinator, naturally, I’m the one who has to make the arrangements to carry this out. There’s not that much to do actually; just prepare and send the announcement by e-mail and take care of the drinks and cake (which can either be ice-cream or normal). This month was no exception even though I was one of the celebrants. I didn’t mind though; at least whatever I bought was according to my taste...which is why I included cupcakes so that all of the celebrants (there were 6 of us) had a cake each.

Baskin Robbins ice-cream cake

the other Baskin Robbins ice-cream cake

It may be a small thing, but as one of the employees, I really appreciate these simple things that the company does to recognize the staff and to make us feel special.

gratitude

Several times during the day, I have to provide reports, information or documents to colleagues and bosses who require them from time to time, and I’ve long accepted that it’s part of my job as an HR and Administration Coordinator. Usually, after giving them whatever they requested, I often hear a simple “Thank you” or “Thanks.” Of course, I’m glad that they appreciate what I did for them (whether it took me lots of effort or not), because it’s definitely better than receiving no acknowledgement at all (which, unfortunately, happens).

i met the president!

The CEO and President of our company, that is...the big boss from our head office in Japan. It was his first time to visit us, so naturally all of us (from our General Manager to the Office Boy) were excited and anxious to make a good impression.

Knowing that he had a packed schedule (he was only in Dubai for a little over a day), we didn’t think he would have time to go around the office after their meeting. However, my colleagues and I were of course silently hoping we could at least catch a glimpse of him just so that we could say we saw our company President up close. And fortunately, he did! He went around the entire office to greet and shake hands with each one of us! Of course, being employees of a Japanese company, we’ve been taught that it’s important to bow as a sign of respect, and that’s what all of us did.  That's not all though.

name and religion

After conducting a telephone interview with a candidate whose name was "Islam," I asked my manager "Is he muslim?"  to which my manager just let out a loud snort and couldn't stop laughing...and I realized why.
Ang labo ko talaga!  Di ko man lang naisip na yung asawa ko nga, "Christian" yung pangalan, tapos Kristiyano sya.  Toinks!
Buti na lang tapos nang gawin ng amo ko yung evaluation ko...di na siguro yun maaapektuhan dahil sa blooper ko 'no? =)

bonding

Life’s simple pleasures of spending time with people who once used to be strangers, but are now very good friends.

Pinoy Mafia Christmas Party

Gutierrez Home

23 December 2012

Family, food, games, prizes, and exchanging gifts

a new desktop after 6+ years

As soon as I completed 6 years with the company last May, I immediately informed our IT engineer that I wanted a new CPU/desktop. Although it was working fine at 6 years old, it was getting slow and I experienced some problems occasionally (although nothing that major that a simple restart couldn’t fix). And besides, compared to the employees from our Projects department, mine was already ancient. I thought for sure that since our department’s printer and scanner were connected to my computer, I would get a new desktop right away. But unfortunately, being from Admin, my request didn’t seem to be a priority, so I just had to make tiis.

job secured

It’s no secret that although Dubai is reviving, there are still some companies out there that are forced to terminate employees’ contracts or delay giving the staffs’ salaries for several months. And although the company I’m working for has somehow managed in spite of the crisis since 2008, my colleagues and I were worried that if we don’t get a project soon, we might not be as safe as we hoped we were.

i'm still here

So much has happened since I last blogged anything here and the reason I haven’t blogged about any of them yet is because I’ve been so busy. My line manager is leaving soon and we’ve hired a new one, plus our DGM and our Engineering General Manager left yesterday, so of course there were so many things I had to take care of (cancellations, meetings, handovers, etc) before they officially left our office. And then new Japanese managers are joining us beginning the 1st of April, so of course there’s a lot of preparations that need to be done prior to their arrival to Dubai.

Usually the Saturdays when we work aren’t really busy, so hopefully I’ll be able to at least draft some posts this coming Saturday. On the other hand though, that day is also the last day of our Fiscal Year so there’s a lot of reports I have to prepare, have checked, and send to Japan. Oh well. We’ll see.

In the meantime, I’ve just got to grin and bear the stress I’m going through. Stay happy everyone!

post-valentines chocolates

The big boss from Japan came for a visit again, and that means SWEETS! This time, he gave us Patchi chocolates...one box for the office, and another one for me (yup, he never fails to bring a separate package especially for me whenever he’s in town, because of all the bookings I have to do for him). I loooove Patchi! They’re so delicious! And since they’re pretty expensive, it’s always a treat to receive them. But that’s not all.

stress, patience and patients

The last day of January really tested my patience.

I had applied for a half-day leave off work yesterday because I had a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon, and anyway, there weren’t any deadlines or urgent matters that had to be taken cared of at the office. For that part I was right, but it didn’t mean I would be free from stress, from work or otherwise.

pag walang magawa sa opisina

One day last week, we had just finished having lunch when we found out that our server was down and the phone lines were dead. Because of this, we couldn’t do anything...we couldn’t send or receive e-mail messages, we couldn’t make or receive calls, no internet, and no access to the company files and documents because they were saved in the server. So, while we waited for Etisalat to solve the problem, the Filipino Mafia had a semi-pictorial at the office.