unlucky raffle

It was our first night to sleep in our apartment after having bought the sofa bed last Tuesday. As we had to be at the meeting place by 6:30 AM, we woke up at quarter to six because we still had to fix the clothes we had to bring. I had no difficulty sleeping in our new apartment, and I normally have a hard time sleeping in an unfamiliar place. I consider that as a good sign, then.

A lot of people who registered and agreed to attend bailed out at the last minute and I was really happy to hear that. It means less people to deal with (i.e. the unbearable noise), and I was looking forward to a relaxing day. Plus, as there were about 50 absentees, it meant that we had more chances of winning cool prizes from the raffle. Again, I do not have the biggest luck in games of luck, but as there were 100 plus prizes for less than a hundred participants, I highly doubt I wouldn’t be picked even once!

After an uneventful hour and a half ride (though it was fun because I was with my friends/officemates with me, having a laugh over the silliest things), we finally arrived in Club Balai Isabel, a resort located at the edge of Taal Lake in Talisay Batangas. The last time I was near the waters was in 2004 (February 15, 2004, to be exact) during a field trip for our Geology 1 class. And as far as I can remember, it was my first ever banca ride and it was a really scary experience, seeing the kelp (or whatever you call them) swaying in the dark waters below. Rumor has it that that “Shake, Rattle and Roll” film, with the infamous undin, was shot in Taal Lake. I took that fact to heart, so even if I am a capable swimmer, I was (or am) still scared of the lake.

That was the time I became aware that the famous view of Taal Volcano was not the real crater. “Binintian Malaki” and its dormant crater is the face of Taal, but the real crater was located somewhere else in the near middle of the Crater Island. I actually got to go inside the real crater and we were even allowed to bathe inside. Of course, I did not but I remember a courageous lady from another section, who willingly took the plunge in her cut-out swimsuit (to the delight of the boys in the group). It was nevertheless nice to be back in a familiar place after almost a decade.

On a different note, it has been quite a while since Mon and I joined a team outing. The last time was unfortunate because Mon has acquired amoebiasis from Clearwater in Clark, Pampanga and we vowed to never join any of the future outings. But as we were in desperate need of kitchen and household appliances for our new apartment, we were eager to join so that we no longer have to buy some of them. LOL Again, given that there were far fewer people who attended, the succeeding events were a breeze, with only two games to boot. A far cry from the HOURS of games conducted before. Sporadic raffles in between eventually brought us three things: an oven toaster, a rice cooker and a digital camera! It was my first time to win a raffle!

Club Balai Isabel was a nice place, but we had high hopes with the food because when we were still in Makati earleir, Mon and I spoked with a random guy in the elevator, commending thir food and service. So imagine that come lunch time, the roast beef was like rubber, the pork still had a lot of hair on the skin, and the soup was a macaroni short of being a macaroni soup. It was really unappetizing and it did not help that when we were about to be served snacks at around 3:00 PM, we saw that the delivery truck had accidentally dropped the trays of sandwiches on the lawn. I did not bother eating a sandwich, because it was a station away from being a soil-wich (corny, LOL).

However, make no mistake because the environment itself was beautiful. There were a lot of fruit-bearing trees, but the signboards were very explicit in warning us with bold “NO PICKING OF FRUITS”. What do they dowith them? We had no idea because the ground was littered with overripe fruits. What a pity. =(

As we were given a lot of free time to roam around the area, we had to visit the lakeside and see the bigger pool. There were few people swimming but I assume it would have been full if only the other company were done with their teambuilding activities. It was difficult to get a closer shot of the ‘volcano’ because my camera was not skilled enough, all of us had a great time taking pictures, particularly jump shots under the sun.

We also had a dip in the smaller but nearest pool to us, and I think we were inside for more than an hour. An officemate unfortunately had a mishap as she stopped swimming in the middle of the pool, not knowing that it was the deeper part. It was scary and funny at the same time because Mon and I had to rush and help her get out of the water. I knew that she would drag me in the matter, had I tried swimming to get her, so I just went below her and walked her to the gutter.

Before leaving, somebody made us fill papers for a raffle, and it was for a free stay in their place for some days and nights. As it was a raflle, I definitely have a small chance. It was a free trip so I should not be complaining, but the food was really a letdown. I even heard that they are charging about a thousand pesos for a sinigang dish in the executive restaurant, yikes! We also highly doubt that they have prepared food enough for about a hundred people. If none were absent and backed out at the last minute, alas, we needed a miracle to have enough food for all os us. =D

*(Some photos were grabbed from Faye and Dale) =D

The month has barely changed from November to December and it was already our company’s yearend event a.k.a. Christmas party. On one hand, why was it so early? Other companies might not have even released their 13th month pay and yet we already had our party. On the other hand, I was quite delighted with the date because it meant less traffic and it would be easier to go to-and-from the venue. And for the first time after four years, I went to the party without Faye as she was still out of the country!

Mon and I were really pinching the penny because of our trip next week so we decided to keep our outfit simple. I was initially over the Moon with the supposed Yohji Yamamoto Pour Homme top that I was about to wear, but the cancellation of the transaction meant that I had only a day to look for something to wear. Then, why bother? Let’s just wear a similar shirt!

We have a knack for coordinating our outfits and the last time we did so was in 2010 during a ‘masquerade theme’ Christmas party.

Anyway, we traditionally invite a guest host every party (a celebrity) but this year, we invited two hosts. First was Rovilson Fernandez (from the ‘Amazing Race Asia’ fame, whose partner Marc Nelson has coincidentally hosted our party last, last year) and Joey Mead (current judge on ‘Asia’s Next Top Model’). Rovilson was unexpectedly funny because I thought that he’d end up being like Marc, who was eloquent, but lacking in the humor department. I had high expectations with Rovilson because Luis Manzano really carried the whole event last year, so the former had big shoes to fill and it was surprisingly well-done. As for Joey Mead, the girl was a goddess. My jaw dropped because I did not expect her to be that beautiful, and the girl can really walk. O_O

Anyway, more than the hosts, I had a great time seeing interesting looks from others who attended the party. There were several fashion contests/segments and there were two outfits that really caught my attention. The first one was a girl wearing a tuxedo and I think that it was an excellent take on Yves Saint Laurent’s ‘le smoking‘. What I loved most about it was the fact that she was not tall nor extremely skinny but she did not end up looking like a penguin. I was living for her! Her ensemble reminded me of one of Minzy’s (from 2NE1) look from the ‘Can’t Nobody‘ music video. And the second one was this, let’s admit it, costume and replica of Lady GaGa’s infamous red lace outfit from 2009 MTV VMA. I was not familiar with the candle thing but maybe GaGa carried something similar to that but the people went crazy when he got at the end of the runway and blew the flame off. Werq!

(Photo from forums.allkpop.com)

But I was more happy to see Mon go up the stage with his teammates, to accept an award recognizing their efforts. I really liked how he looked on stage with a leather jacket and white skinny jeans, together with that black shirt. I had been pitching to him the idea of wearing this leather jacket I personally intended to use for our trip to Seoul and he only agreed last minute before we left the house.

The food was great as well. I couldn’t remember who was the caterer last night but we had several trips back to the buffet table. I didn’t even care about dieting nor the fact that I was still drinking CarbTrim — let’s now see your efficacy! Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, I was unlucky with the raffle. I was so unlucky that my ticket number 1414 was almost picked several times. The numbers, 1412, 1413, 1415 and 1417 were picked out of the bowl, as well as 1424, 1434 and also 1484. Fate has to remind me again that I should work hard if I want something and not be dependent on luck.

To make matter worse, the committee in charge of the program had to drastically and deliberately delay the raffling off of the MacBooks. There was a band who sang non-stop for more than 30 minutes, as if it was a shaking-off medley to test the people waiting for the raffle. It actually worked because when they began drawing out stubs, a string of names had been called and the people were no longer present. It was literally a drawn out event that the whole thing had not finished until a little past 2 AM.

(The best picture that our crazy and energetic officemates can take, given the festive atmosphere)

I just dragged Mon to the ‘wall’ (or whatever you call it) because we haven’t had our picture taken with it. The raffle was almost over when we positioned ourselves to take pictures and we had to rush taking each others’ photos. We then ran out of the venue, a time-tested tactic of ours, to avoid the rush of people scrambling to go home.

We got home in about an hour, which was pretty fast, considering we went all the way to Marikina. I just felt a bit nauseous, maybe because of the glutton-fest that had happened a few hours back that I had to drink a can of pineapple juice. When I was already checking over my bag from last night, I was mortified to see that the bottle of alcohol inside had accidentally opened and spilled on the bottom of my Bayswater. >_< I was hoping it would dry off but as it has already happened last night, then the mark will most probably be permanent. Why haven’t I checked on it last night? I could have done something to prevent it. Big consolation: the liquid hasn’t penetrated the leather and the finishing/sheen from the outside was not affected.

All in all, the alcohol stain hasn’t dampened my spirit. I had a fun night even if that raffle has annoyed the hell out of me.

Out to Taal Lake! (Club Balai Isabel)

For some “Fashion Ball” — we wore a T-Shirt!