double jetlag, anybody?

Posted by Analyse at 7:04 PM

Sunday, October 31, 2004

i just arrived from vacation last wednesday (oct 28 am) but my professionalism??? pushed me to rush directly to my office. hélas! 137 emails (not including personal emails of course!)! dont even ask if i read all of those. i just checked those which concerned me directly and needed response asap. the others, i classed them to my personal folder, i'll have time tomorrow at the airport to read and respond if needed.

oct 29 was ISO day! another training to prepare everybody for the certification. i just realized how much paper works i have to complete before the D-day!

tomorrow, as everyone does their stuff for the haloween / all saint's day, me, ill be flying back again to the philippines for work. my colleague told me that im the only one in the service who travels for work and goes home at the same time. lucky girl huh! yeah probably, but this time, im afraid i wont be as efficient as usual?? as ill surely have a double jetlag: from the US to france, from france to the philippines - with just 3 days in between. wow, let me check if my stamina is still the same, i just felt im growing old..darn!

i'm back!

Posted by Analyse at 3:52 PM

Saturday, October 30, 2004

a western adventure at that!

it started out quite bad. oct 11 after work, we rushed out to the station to catch up our train going to paris. arriving there, we took the wrong direction thrice - considering we consider ourselves parisiens after being dijonais! then we decided to try out the only filipino restaurant in paris. it was monday, and unlucky, it's closed every monday. well!

ok, i'll stop ranting and try to trace out our american adventure. the fun is just about to begin.


from the SFO airport, we headed directly to the car rental and drove to yosemite national park that same day. we arrived there late in the evening and here's one of the beautiful sites which greeted us there. we did a little hike (it started out progressively then the last part was too steep!!) which gave me a big pain on my knees. that kept me car-bounded within 3 days :(.

next stop was at death valley. check this lost sahara dessert - sand dunes in the middle of the USA. isn't that astonishing! it was a wow. hikers are adviced to always have water with them. it was too hot in this area. at badwater basin, ~86m below sea level, temperatures stay around 49°C during summer.

nope, not in paris - las vegas mi amigo. what can i say, casinos everywhere! it was fun, we lost $15 in less than a minute - it costs to have a feel of it!

who wouldn't stop at the mythic grand canyon? please zoom to have a better glimpse of it.

western spaghetti? there you go, welcome to monument valley! we captured nice pix here - with of course laurent playing as cowboy!

not tired yet? ok, ill give you a peep on la mesa arch at the canyonlands. given the chance, ill return here one day to discover more of this park. there's just too much hikes to do around around the area, but we didnt have much time..

hiker? dont miss this out. it was worth the climb.

look closer, do you see snow?? yeah, no tricks! this announced the end of our parks adventure. we were not equiped to ski nor to snowboard. too sad, bryce canyon seemed to be better during sunny weather - ok, we were nevertheless warmly welcomed!

we visited los angeles instead: hollywood, beverly hills, sunset strip, universal studios, etc. here's a pix of a baywatcher's hideaway..sunset lover, i am!

last stop: SF! among the other cities we've visited, SF was voted to be our fave! a mix of culture and architecture wrapped into one city. that was a pretty interesting visit we had.

that summed up our tour. tiring and fun, wasn't it. so to really sum it up, here's a list of interesting facts from an asian and europian eye comme moi:

  • french people should stop hating dutch people on their roads. they should be contented of not having an american neighbor: caravan/camping car = bus. look at that! the bus hauling the pick-up, not the other way around!
  • french autoroute translates to freeway. you got it right, dude: FREE!
  • they have wide roads which is limited to 75 mph whereas in france, the same road would be limited to 85 mph and of course, they will drive at 95 mph. germans will surely drive faster, no limits!
  • basic commodities are cheaper
  • everything is king size! cars, roads, burgers! we normally order for two, you bet, we even have left overs!
  • they give you the bill without even asking if you want to order more such as dessert or café or tea.
  • hike trails are well-organized! too organized that sometimes it's even paved!
  • they consider 146m altitude gain as 'difficult level' - hikers, hello?
  • and of course, they use english units instead of metric units..im not used to it, i always convert!
  • worst! a friend's remark: i've changed my accent to french accent. QUOI??? (as in WHAT???)

so that's it folks. american dream is over. back to reality now...

very unlikely

Posted by Analyse at 1:57 PM

Saturday, October 09, 2004

im hopeless...a real hopeless!

as i was looking at myself infront of the mirror friday morning before i rushed to work, i suddenly realized how baduy i was! it's not because it's automn and i had to dress up like a suman with all those wrap-arounds, it's simply because my clothes are century-old already.

this morning, i was in the centre ville trying to force myself to buy something, but as usual, i just went home with just a baguette with me. the mile-long queue to get to the fitting cabin stopped me, the choices were just too much for me that even before i start, i already resigned. oh well...

i hate shopping! when i was still in pinas, i was always buying in the same boutique - that cuts down choices. or else, i buy those displayed on the shop windows - that prevents me from searching. good thing in phils is that, i take my size and i know that it will fit me to T, here im obliged to fit them, clothes here are not cut to fit asian women! or else, my last resort is - i visit my sisters' closets :).

i hate heavy luggages! - this is in consequence with my hate of shopping. i once went home with a 12 kilo backpack. full of pasalubong! i dont bring clothes, i buy it there - oh well, ok, i visit my sisters' closets. and when they're fed up with me, they bring me to shops and do that stuff for me. and now that i travel for business, i try to bring more clothes (to be able to work the next day). but i still stay to my 12 kilo quota - not with pasalubong but with paperworks.

i hate la cuisine, or la cuisine hates me. i dont really know. what i know is that, it's not my favourite place. a friend of mine calls me up around meal time when she knows that laurent is on travel. her welcome remark is : 'have you had your meal already?' f...! she talks like laurent. i call her mommy now.

i hate HER. oh yeah, i still hate her.







hate her!

Posted by Analyse at 7:29 PM

Thursday, October 07, 2004

just want to vent out..

i start to hate HER. i'm starting a project in asia and SOP says: thou shall coordinate thy project with their engineering on-site.

i finished the industrialization project, did a good report in compliance with ISO standard (everybody in the office talks ISO now, final audit on december), and communicated it to the project team - europe zone.

conclusion: production pilot should be done in asia!

after the nomination of my ASIAN PARTNER, i started to feed HER with all the infos SHE might need for the start-up (im rushing things up - im leaving on monday for a 2-week long vacation! - and SHE knows it.). weeks passed and there were no questions. did i really write my report so well that it did not provoke any question or violent reaction? ok, i'll have to take it that way. another week passed, no questions either.

our agreed planning is to start the project in 2 weeks time. and i'm leaving on monday -that's 2 working days from now. i guess reality striked HER big time that SHE bombarded me with emails these past days. asking documents already existing on-site, asking obvious questions - i have this impression of spoon-feeding HER. worse is that i asked HER to send me a document that SHE started to write days before to which SHE responded that SHE doesn't have it available on HER computer. what?????? f... me! ano yun, sa typewriter nya sinulat??? and then SHE organized a project meeting this morning - french time - with me on copy, i promptly send HER my direct line as i start to be worried with the project advancement - but SHE replied that it will be an internal meeting. f... me twice! did SHE forget that it's MY project? is SHE trying to exclude me? what is this politic?

i was in a meeting this afternoon, and when i arrived in my office, hélas, i got mails! the project manager who is in asia at the moment was asking questions already asked, looking for documents already provided. that means to say that SHE didn't even answer to those inquiries i have already explained to her. what the heck!!!

i hate her...!


on the loose...

Posted by Analyse at 8:39 PM

Tuesday, October 05, 2004

just got my driver's license this afternoon! it took me barely 5 months to wait before they finally released it. actually, it was because there was this summer vacation and nobody was in the office to process thousands of files, thus the delay.

a morrocan national was at the prefecture at the same time, complaining about the long wait in obtaining the license. FYI, he filed his application a year ago. the lady replied 'every application is unique, it's a case-to-case basis mr'. good thing my case doesnt take a lifetime for the processing.

since i was already out and my boss knew that i was at the prefecture, i decided to ask for an international driver's license so i could optimize my time. after 15 minutes, i already have it. efficient!

well, just another crazy-on-the-loose pinay with an old pawis-steering peugeot 106 roaming around dijon...

my climbs..

Posted by Analyse at 7:12 PM

Monday, October 04, 2004

seems ages now that i haven't packed my hiking stuffs for a week-long or even a weekend climb. though im the kind who barks like a dog when im tired of walking and climbing and searching for the right path to get to the peak, i always make it sure that i reach the top. never surrender!


my first ever week-long hike. a loop itinerary crossing different villages and mountains of the beautiful island of corsica - l'ile de beauté. this was during the almost unsupportable hot summer of 2002. the 5-6 hours daily itinerary climb was a real tough challenge. the unforgettable breath-taking views, however, were real blasts!


a beautiful oasis in a natural swimming pool - still in corsica. simply natural. a hidden paradise which springs miraculously amidst the modern world that surrounds it.


on the way up.. who wouldn't want to savor this fantastic paysage as you go up?


hautes alpes - les arcs mountain ranges - bourg st maurice. this is what nature could offer... let's preserve it.


camping sauvage - in the wilderness. love it! not recommended for those who hate adventure. you will have to forget being chic here.


facing foggy geneva - with mont blanc on the back scene. switzerland view from the top - moooo!


jura's winter delight with the view of the majestic and eternal mont blanc - europe's highest peak, and the alps. you have to stare closer to appreciate the view - click on. we arrived just on time for this breath-taking view.

a must-see stop-over on the south - pic du canigou - an eye-refreshing natural park on the way to the peak where only footprints should be left and memories to be taken. a real nature's wonder.


barcelona - view from the nearby mountain. we just cannot stay on vacation without visiting mountains around the area, to appreciate nature and get away from the modern chaotic world.


my highest climb so far. >3000m altitude, >1000m delta height and proud of it. im bound for a bigger challenge. a friend told me that i should prepare for the mont blanc, oh dear, my stamina is not as energetic as that. i should content myself with what i could soar.

cant wait for my next destination...and that's just in a week...a different paysage, a different view, a different experience!






frequent traveller

Posted by Analyse at 5:59 PM

Friday, October 01, 2004

one downside, if you consider it that way, of my kind of job is travel. since i belong to the global engineering team of our company, the projects that i handle are on a worldwide scale upon implementation. and interventions on site could be decided in just a wink of an eye.

so far, im still enjoying it. the benefits are interesting. add to it that i could equally earn miles while travelling. during my last 2 travels, my miles status has just been upgraded and im now a certified 'frequent traveller' which gives me a direct access to business class lounges and all series of other benefits, isn't that great?

my next travel will complete my growing mileage stock and will give me a free round trip ticket via paris-manila...hmmm, i should save that so my parents could visit me here without me paying for it.

we will be on vacation soon...all travel expenses free!


always the last one to know..

Posted by Analyse at 5:24 PM

hay buhay...laurent was upset yesterday...

he was out of the office the whole day for a meeting in one of our production sites. he arrived late, but i wasn't home as i was in carrefour for my weekly grocery shopping. but just before that, i was chatting with my mom informing her i'll be in the phils for a two-week mission by november. i went shopping without closing the yahoo windows so he accidentally read the news. but i was planning to inform him that same night....

i woke up early this morning...

he: why so early?
me: i have to, otherwise i'll miss my train.
he: where are you going?
me: i have a technical meeting in paris.
he: what????

oh well, he should check my agenda so he'll know what i'm up to everyday...i gave him an access on my outlook calendar!

ok ok, we should communicate more, i know. but remember, he was upset last night.

hehe..i should have sent him an email...geez, aren't we bound to workaholicism???