almost december...

it's almost december. the air is starting to get chilly here in the philippines. we're even expecting another typhoon on friday. in a couple of months .. it will be kk trip already.

but before that ... the 3 stooges will finally get to meet up next week. i cant imagine the riot. oh man, the email today about what we want from china as a gift/token was funny. well, just surprise us.

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oh finally i see HL type something in this blog, even though it's just a comment. that still works! good good :)

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we still havent decided which hotel to stay in kk city. we're torn between a USD64 and USD250 hotel. it's quite extreme. hmmm...

almost december...

it's almost december. the air is starting to get chilly here in the philippines. we're even expecting another typhoon on friday. in a couple of months .. it will be kk trip already.

but before that ... the 3 stooges will finally get to meet up next week. i cant imagine the riot. oh man, the email today about what we want from china as a gift/token was funny. well, just surprise us.

*

oh finally i see HL type something in this blog, even though it's just a comment. that still works! good good :)

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we still havent decided which hotel to stay in kk city. we're torn between a USD64 and USD250 hotel. it's quite extreme. hmmm...

so smart...

im in the gym and i left my gym shorts. hahaha!

testing ... teaching howlake

test test...

bookings complete

oh finally all the flight bookings are done. now, we just need to look for a place where we'd be staying in the city. i hope we don't experience any hassle booking them.

i havent seen biggie type anything in here. must be busy.

airasia guest contact center

so i was trying to call airasia's contact center (in malaysia) to check on the "pending" flight booking of pare ko. first time i tried it, i never got to talk to an agent and was just listening to their "on-hold music/voice recording" for 8 mins. the recording was a mixture of malay, chinese, hindi and english languages i think. music was indian sounding. i'm not sure why, but it's annoying. then i asked a favor from another friend from malaysia to try to inquire for us, but she gave up coz she was waiting for what seem like forever. knowing how uneasy it makes me feel when things are left hanging, i tried it again (good thing globe -- my mobile network provider -- is currently offering cheap international calls where they charge int'l calls the same cost as the local ones). finally i got a live person, took my booking number and checked it on their system. funny 'coz he wanted me to call back coz his system crashed ... hahaha! i demanded that i cannot put down the phone coz of many different reasons 1)hard to get thru their line 2) long distance 3) i have a simple request -- to know whether i'll be charged or not, confirmed or not, if not ... it's ok i'll just rebook the whole thing. simple right? well he was kind enough to let me wait a couple more minutes and asked for my booking number again. finally he said, my initial attempt to book online was declined. HAHAHA!!! so i just requested to cancel the whole booking. i really hope he understood my request.

so bottomline ... i'm just gonna rebook everything over the weekend. hope everything works well.

geeeez!

-jason

brother yang

i really wish yang could join us in the kota trip. but since he can't, i'm glad that we'll get the chance to meet him.

oh wait ... i forgot ... up to now my business isn't approved yet :(

the chat today about changing the venue of the business travel was hilarious. i know yang seriously meant it when he said he's gonna kill me.

hahahaha!!!

-jason

to make it more interesting...

i know this blog is becoming a little boring. well, ok, boring - period.
i apologize. i know it should not be ... coz this is supposed to be a wonderful, adventurous trip of 2 people who are known to be really silly and hilarious.

so i'm making a few changes on this blog. i really intended to keep this blog from howlake and just show it to him once the whole trip commences. guess i can't keep my mouth shut. i ended up telling him about it and got this light bulb moment: to make it a shared journal and to allow both of us to update it. that way, you'll see each of our perspective. you see, i changed the profile as a first step.

let's see if it'll work.

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btw, we tried booking howlake's flight from kk to kl today, but apparently, the payment status showed "pending". it's weird coz we got a booking number. my cc didnt get charged though. grrr. and it's hard to get thru airasia's guest/contact center.

im really beginning to think that someone has a birthmark somewhere.

-jason (yea i gotta sign the entry to let you know it's me)

work and life

today i had a discussion with a friend about life and living it. there's more to work than life. if work is consuming you and taking you away from the (more) important things in your life - it's not worth it.

im very lucky to have met good friends at work. i hope to keep them as lifetime friends. although i've never really met them in person, they're both like brothers to me. they make work seem easier and fun. i'm really looking forward to meeting them soon (if im lucky).

i know i said im gonna post photos of kk, but for some reason, there's something wrong with the system that didnt allow me to post them. im gonna try again some other time.

oh today, we were also talking about a co-workers legs. hahaha!

nanay's birthday :)

first of all i'd like to greet the greatest nanay in the whole world a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! i love you :)

* * *

we finally booked the KL to KK leg. now howlake needs to book his flight from KK back to KL. we also gotta start deciding which hotel to stay in the city. i need to research on places to visit and activities to do. oh man, sabah's a rich place. so many beaches and things to do. i really want to visit the place where the original survivor took place, but i think time won't allow us. hmm... i'll research the possibility.

not about kota ...

i started this blog to document my preparation and experience on trekking kota kinabalu, but it looks like every now and then i type an entry totally not related to it. i never really blogged this regularly too. one reason as to why i don't is because it's hard to filter out stories especially if you want to keep it private. i know some people who blog careless-ly (or carefree-ly?) and enjoys it. they like living an open-book --identity known. others blog the same way, but anonymously. i blog responsibly (hahaha!), identity known, but probably with limited audience. i know i know -- which doesnt work for a blog, coz it's accessible worldwide.

oh well, i'm not sure how far i can go on blogging, but i guess the way to go is just to enjoy it.

* * *

i watch a few chosen tv shows. everyone knows im a survivor addict. so im into cook islands. i also like amazing race (in 2002, i encouraged tifmanny to join inquirer newspaper's e-mazing race competition -- a race around glorietta mall, completing different tasks and challenges. it was for a launch of their website that's why it was called "e"-mazing. i didn't really expect to win, coz i was there really for fun and the thrill of the competition. im so proud we won! and oh, howlake and i auditioned for amazing race asia, but we didnt get it ... awwww). i'm also into dream academy (i always love to perform and entertain people ... if you knew me in gradeschool and highschool, you know what i mean. i was always on stage. hahaha! so i guess if the same opportunity was available then, i would have joined -- hahaha!). so anyway, what's the point? this isnt a good week for filipinos and my personal faves. in survivor, jenny got voted off and it was merely a result of another big survivor twist. in amazing race asia, the first team that got eliminated was a filipino pair (although they're not my favorite). in pinoy academy, joan got expelled. she's my favorite even from the beginning. oh man!

now, what's next? hmmm... tomorrow is manny pacquiao's boxing fight against eric morales of mexico. this is going to be their 3rd fight. currently they have a 1-1 tally. eric won during their first fight. manny won on their 2nd. who will win this time? i really don't know, but ofcourse i go with my fellow filipino. there are a lot of tv specials interviewing experts and different opinions are going around.

mountain blogging

i gotta find a way how to update this blog while we're actually trekking it. talking about 'real-time' blogging. i need to contact my mobile network provider and they gotta teach me how to send a picture message and text to this blog. although i'm not sure if someone's gonna actually care. hahaha!!!

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i weighed myself today.

what's up?

haven't been updating this blog for about 3 days now. hmmm... must be a busy man. hahaha! actually yes, but i wont talk about work here. this is supposed to be a 'fun' blog. talking about vacation, unwinding and stress-free environment. hahaha! but those lodging bookings weren't exactly stress-free. hehehe!

i'll try to post nice photos of kota during the weekend. a malaysian co-worker forwarded a site to me. he's into photography so he must know what's a good site lah. hehehe.

so what's up now ... we gotta book the flights. i just checked air-asia and it looks like they have a sale going on. about RM20 cheaper. nice! but i gotta do it before monday. i was planning to really purchase them AFTER monday. why? 'coz i was watching out for my credit card cut-off. hahaha! weighing it out ... xmas bonus coming up ... i think i better take advantage of the sale. that's still RM20.

im not sure who else reads this boring journal. miss pearl alexandrite .. if you are reading this, please drop me a message :)

lodging - paid!

FINALLY!

Now we have to take care of the flights and the city lodging bookings.

what the fax!

they suck! yea, we couldn't believe how hard it is to confirm a booking and make a payment. we've faxed the freakin' document for like a million times now. are they in a mountain or what?! hahaha! seriously, this is takin' forever.

oh man ... to think we still have to book another lodging in the city. great!

rainbow

I took this picture on my way home ... i saw a beautiful rainbow. not very distinct in this photo, but you can still see it, right? it also kinda reminds me of san jose (but ofcourse not any where close to san jose's beautiful green hills - especially when you're driving the whole stretch of yerba buena in springtime).

complicated bookings

today, we faxed the cc info so we could finally close the deal and confirm/guarantee our booking. we havent received any confirmation receipt, but we're guessing everything is ok and that we'll probably receive an email from them tomorrow. the agent who's assisting us on this is jane.

then something weird happened. i saw another email which details exactly the same booking except for 3 things: (1) ref number (2) name of the agent (ziezan) (3) price.

i remember i booked something online. so it was a coincidence that after i called up their office (where i got to talk to a lady named ziezan), i got an email from their office detailing our reservation. apparently, the one i received was the reservation i made from the web. and the one i made thru phone just got through the email tonight.

good thing about this is that the price quoted to us by jane is cheaper by around RM50.

guess we just have to call jane and confirm our payment to make sure we're guaranteed an accommodation. otherwise, i'd ask ziezan to book it for us -- and maybe ask her help to get us a private room (with better toilet).

this should be something simple, but it's getting so complicated. why o why...

lodging update

so it looks like our desires for a better sleeping place (which includes a private restroom) is not possible. what should we expect anyway ... we're trekking a moutain. it's an adventure trip and i was actually expecting to poo in the corner and cover it with soil and dry leaves. hahaha! it's probably because we were made aware of the available options for a more comfortable trek that's why we demand for it, but i guess the real initial expectation was it's not going to be like a luxury vegas trip. alright .. no big deal. what's important now is that we have a reservation ticket, the dates are right ... we can go book ASAP before we lose it again. we're not getting any package deals too. so we'll take care of the food ... there's a restaurant up in the mountain so that should be no problem. i think we'll be able to save some money too.

a good day (?)

just recent progress update on the kota lodging. so i called them up -- coz i was getting worried and eager to know if there's any other open lodgings during our proposed trip dates. and alas! we made the reservation and the dates are correct. however, howlake has this sleeping disorder (hahaha!) and he can't sleep in a noisy environment (can't sleep when im around?) so he opts to take a private lodging than dormitory bunk beds. i actually agree 'coz although i dont have sleeping disorder, im particular with the restroom/bathroom. dormitory type lodgings have shared/common bath/restroom.

so now, he'll try to check if it's possible for us to change the type of lodging, otherwise we'll have to find a way to adapt to whatever is given.

we'll see.

good progress huh :)

a bad day (?)

missing the morning shuttle is not always a good way to start the day. it's given. whenever this happens, i just tell myself that there's always a reason why bad things happen. i want to believe it's for the good.

a string of other things happened throughout the day, which isn't exactly bad -- but it stressed me out. i was so busy the whole day, running here and there to close different tasks. i'm not complaining, but i was hoping to hear some good news by end of the day to at least balance out the bad if not completely eliminate it. i didnt get the good news.

so it looks like we're not drinking coke. but at least we're not going to be left thirsty. we're still gonna be offered pepsi - at least hardcore and cutie. i give big props to biggie for taking the news like a pro. he said the show must go on and that opportunities don't always come to you, so better luck next time. life's just that way. that's why he's my malaysian idol. hahaha! what we just told ourselves is that - it's the company that matters. our very wish to meet each other will come true and we're gonna have the best damn time. 2 weeks?! oh yea!!!

oh and about kota ... looks like laban rata is already fully booked. howlake will call them tomorrow to clarify the situation and hopefully be able to secure us a booking. oh man!!!

kota update (newer!)

there's a bit of a progress on our kota plans. a few changes on our schedule and we both agree that it's a better schedule. after flying from kl to kota -- we'll head straight to the headquarters. we're also taking the package which includes lodging and food (a total of 8 meals - day 1 lunch and dinner, day 1 bfast, lunch, dinner and day 3 pre-climb bfast, post-climb bfast and lunch). a net price of MYR550/person. not bad. at least we won't worry about shopping, preparing and carrying food with us. plus did i say it's buffet? although we dont expect it to be the best malaysian food so we'll still bring some good snacks with us. we're waiting for a confirmation for our pkg. hopefully we get it by wednesday. then we'll start booking our flights.

tuesday will be day1 in kota, wednesday is climb day, thursday is summit day. climb down ends around 230pm on thursday and we expect to be on the road around 4 going back to the city. oh yea, we need to find a good lodging in the city (somewhere close to the center and the airport), which we still need to research on, but not really as urgent as the kinabalu lodging. coz unlike the kinabalu lodgings, there are a bunch of accommodations to choose from. im sure we'll be needing a good rest on thursday night. can't wait for an ice cold beer and probably a pizza? then we'll tour around the city on friday. i'll search for the places we should visit. then i plan to get wasted on friday night. i wonder if there's a good night life in kota. hahaha! why not?! then we'll both fly back to our respective homes by saturday afternoon. i already booked a 220pm flight and he's getting a 205pm flight. an additional cost of MYR30 to avoid a 720am flight. who wants to wake up at 6am after a good night out? hahaha! so there, our schedule's set. all we gotta do now is wait for the confirmation and do the bookings PLUS pray hard for it not to rain during our chosen dates. oh man! im really getting excited. i can imagine the adventure. this is the closest i can get to my amazing race dream. hahaha!

kota update (new!)

there's really nothing 'new', but i recently got a reply from the webmaster of the very useful kota website i found (in which i posted its link if you look to the right). i inquired if it's going to be open during the dates that we've chosen to climb kota. he said it is and the only time it closes is during oct 1st when there's a scheduled competition going-on. cool! so we're all set on the dates, and all we have to do now is book our lodging since we wont be allowed to trek the mountain unless we have a confirmed booking in laban rata (mid-hike/mid-mountain) where we will spend the first night. the guy warned us to hurry up 'coz it might be all booked-up by now. yikes! so howlake must start moving and call up that sanctuary lodging to secure us a place. oh man!

D'CKS

the photo that started it all ...

Wahahaha!!!

codenames

on my last post, i introduced to you the 3 stooges: cutie, biggie and hardcore. today, we've had a bonding session by talking over the phone for almost half day. ofcourse we were mixing business and pleasure. besides, it's TGIF. so anyway, amidst the so stressful day at work, a lot of funny things came up during the conversation, but one thing that really stood out for me was that we talked in codenames and tongues -- a language only us can understand.

beginning today we're calling ourselves "ducks" ... no, howlake changed it to "d'ucks" ... but i thought of something cooler, which i'm gonna propose to them next week. we'll call ourselves "d'cks" (i'm taking out the emphasis on the "u" to make it sound like you know what). hahaha!!!

imagine this as an opening credit for a movie:

quick flashes of our faces (serious expression) then fade to black...
zooming in: D'CKS
then a voice over while a text is being typed-in ...

D ' C K S

a team where there's no
U or I

the etimology of the name will be revealed next time through a photo.

going back, so we conversed in codenames and tongues because of the confidentiality of our topic. although sometimes we had to stop and clarify something by revealing the real terms -- it was really more of checking whether we're still on the same page. i find it real cool, because it's our first time to talk this way and we just proved yet again that us three have this different kind of connection. you know how it works for twin siblings? i dont. hahaha! seriously, it's like that -- only we're triplets. hahaha!!! no seriously, we have the same wavelength. and if you happen to just watch and listen to us -- it's like watching a comedy sitcom. punchlines every 5 seconds. it's amazing! to think we havent met each other yet. the world's just wonderful.

i cant wait to meet my long lost brothers.

did i tell you that im the middle child? and i don't have the syndrome. cool!

time to meet up...

3 stooges. biggie, hardore and cutie are all excited to see each other and it's really just going to be a matter of time (in a month?). but we have one wish .. that's to meet in a country other than any of our own. oh man! how we wish and pray that it's going to be granted. im really going to feel bad if one of us doesn't get to travel out of his country. we've already done our part to convince the sponsor, but everything now is in the mercy of the managers. OH MAN!

let's wait and see ... we're all keeping our fingers croXed.

remembering my tatay

tatay (filipino word for father) is my lolo (grampa). may he rest in peace. i love you and you'll always be remembered. i miss you soooo much!

no deal

so my cousins decided that they'll pass on the kota trip. i honestly wish they'll come join us, but i also strongly think that saving the budget for another possible out-of-the-country trip (like hk or thailand) will be much more worth it.

i hope in the future it doesnt come down to computing our money's worth and just enjoy life and the goodness it can bring. they say money is not everything, but hey, in reality it is -- you need it to fly to bahamas and enjoy the beach... you need it to get pampered in a good spa... you need it to enjoy great food and wine -- the list goes on. don't get me wrong. i simply mean money allows you to enjoy more comfort and luxuries in life. all the hard work we do to get that cold hard cash, i believe we deserve some break once in a while.

jon and mons ... we'll get that break in summer.