cebu! (cebu!) cebu! (cebu!) ahcu moo moo achoo moo moo boo hoo moo moo ahcu moo moo achoo moo moo boo hoo moo moo cebu!

Greetings from Cebu! I've been here for two and a half weeks now and I figure it's about time I showed off some pictures of things I've done. For the most part life consists of going from my hotel room to work and back. However, I'm trying to use my weekends well and get out to see the city.
Last weekend I went to the Ayala shopping center, twice. I went on my on on Saturday and then Sunday my coworkers wanted to go, so I joined them again. Other than being a shopping center, they're several yummy looking restaurants and a beautiful garden in the center.
Here's a self portrait showing off the garden.

This fountain is at the mall too. Just a fun water feature.

My favorite discovery so far... Gelatto! The first time I tried mango. It was SO good! I am absolutely loving the mangoes. They're fresh and taste so yummy! I have a mango shake or mango juice any chance I get :)

I've started "collecting" the Starbucks mugs that are specific to the region I'm in. Here's the one for Cebu. Guitars and making custom ones are very popular here. All the souvenir shops I've seen so far have guitars, some real and usable, others just for show.

There's a restaurant on top of our hotel called Blue. I ate there last weekend. It was an amazing meal and a spectacular view. My camera doesn't do the view justice, but the bar had a cool wall feature that I took a picture of :)

I miss my espresso machine at home, but when I was in Manila I found this coffee chain that I love. There's one right next to work, so I have my driver drop me off there before work every day :) I love this place. Not only do they make a really great latte, they have wifi and when I walk in I hear, "Hi Miss Howrey" and they're starting to remember my drink. There's just something about being known and recognized that I like. That, and being the only curly blond haired white person in the shop, I'm easily recognizable ;)

Today our group went out to Lapulapu and had lunch at a fresh seafood restaurant. It was so fresh I saw the crab crawling across the table before it was brought out 30 minutes later, ready for us to eat. Here's a shot of us looking at all the seafood options.

The fish were beautiful! The pink one is a lapu lapu fish, named for the native who killed Magellan after Magellan "discovered" the Philippines.

And here's what the clams looked like cooked. I had one, but admittedly it was a little difficult to enjoy. The squid was the best, since I'm more familiar with it. I did try everything but the seaweed. Crab, Shrimp, Calamari, Clams and clam soup.

And lastly, here's the shrine that we were next to that is supposedly built on the actual place where Magellan was killed.

All in all, it's been a fun trip. Next Saturday I work, but on Sunday we're planning on going to Manila for a day of shopping. Back to Greenhills! I'm excited since I've been there and I know what to expect. Not sure who all is coming with me, but it should be fun! I'll try to keep you posted on the goings on around here.

God is GOOD!

Can I just say, I love my job! I was just struck today by how amazing God has been to me. I was just sitting poolside at a grill restaurant in the hotel I'm staying at, in Cebu Philippines, eating molassis and pecan crusted salmon as this great tropical breeze blows by and I just have to be amazed. All of this is being paid by work, and all I have to do is my job, which I love! Never would I have thought three years ago that I would be on my second oversease business trip with this company. I dind't think I'd be there longer than 6 months and this month marks 3 years!
I have been so blessed to be able to travel and do what I love. I've been to Asia 4 times in the last 4 years. A testiment to God's sense of humor since I never had any desire to go to Asia :) But if I'd gone to work anywhere else, my opportunities to travel probably woudln't have been available.
So, things that happened today to make me write this... I had jumbalaya and fresh, as in I could have watched them make it, mango juice. That was lunch. Dinner, molassis and pecan encrusted salmon, mashed potatoes and asparagus. Topped off with a pina colada! All on the company's bill! I may not be eating foods I've never had before, but I'm ordering things I've never been able to afford! Life is good.

And I'm off again!

So, I didn't look to see how long it's been since I posted last time. Probably way too long! Yep, on my birthday was the last time. Wow! Life is moving quickly!
Well, I jumped on tonight to say that I'm going back to the Philippines! This time I'm going to be on the island of Cebu, and I'll be there for almost two months!!! Nope, not excited AT ALL :)
My class starts on October 1st, so I imagine I'll be leaving around the 27th or 28th to give me enough time to get there, get settled and start the class.
More news to come when I have it. But for now, Wahoo!!!

Randomness

"We're kidnapping your bike... The lock's in the way though." Was the text I received from my roomies tonight when I got off of work around 11:30pm. They're so fun :) As I stepped into the lobby I saw them sitting in the dark, on the couch waiting for me to come out. They'd been out for dinner and thought to come pick me up from work. How sweet! We got home and as I went up the stairs I checked the time, 11:56pm. Brie disappeared into the kitchen and Eron blocked the entrance. "What time is it?" he asked. I told him. "Well, we'll go off of mountain time!" and he and Brie burst into song, singing Happy Birthday. Brie had made me homemade, Giradelli chocolate brownies with homemade caramel sauce on them! Mmmmm, they we're delicious!
I love my roomies!

Classroom Training Manager

I got the job! Yesterday I was officially offered the CTM position and of course I accepted it :)
What does this mean? It means I'm going to be training non stop until probably December. It means I'll be training mostly for our new contract, I'm going to Seattle tomorrow for two weeks of training. I won't have my own team anymore but rather get the chance to see the new recruits as they come in and see how they move through the company. It's a small team of trainers, two current and two new. There's also a possibility for two more. I'm very excited about this! There's also the potential of travel which I don't have any issues with!
I'm not anticipating work changing much for quite some time now. I'm in the position I want. No, I'm not vying for a job as the head of our company. I'm happy where I'm at.
Funny how I decided in school that education wasn't where I'd be headed and here God has me set up as one of the main trainers for our site... He certainly has a sense of humor!

Seattle or bust

I had an interview yesterday for the CTM position! If I get it, I'll be a classroom training manager, which just means I train agents as a job. So, even though I decided in college that I didn't want to teach, I'm teaching full time. Ha! God has a sense of humor!
My interview was good. Honestly I have the job it's just not official, so the interview was more of a formality than anything else! I expect an offer today and I'll head up to Seattle as a full time trainer!
Today's going to be exciting!!!

Is it April already!?

It seems like I get the urge to blog about once a month :) Or maybe it just takes that long for things to change at work just enough for me to write about it. I'm not sure. Either way, it's been a while and things are on the move, again.
Not a whole lot has changed recently. At least not concerning work, but I'll get to that... Stess and I are thinking about living together again, but it probably won't happen until the end of summer, maybe. She's teaching out in Sandy as a temporary sub for the rest of the year. It's nice to know she's got a steady job, but that's causing her some stress since she now has to plan a lesson every day as well as get her school work done. We don't see each other as much anymore since we're on the opposite ends of town. We're making up for it during the weekends though.
Last weekend Mom, Dad, Stess, Crista and my Aunt and Uncle all came up to Portland to see Cat's the Broadway. I think we all agree that we didn't really like it. I'm glad I've seen it, but I won't pay to see it again. However, I'm really looking forward to seeing The Lion King in June!
Stess and I went over to Sisters three weeks ago as she started off her spring break. Mom and Dad took us on a bike ride, 30 miles later, we were a little tired :) We're planning our summer vacation and want to go down to San Francisco and then ride our bikes on the coast to San Louis Obisbo. I can't believe it, but they're turning me into a biker. I actually bought my first pair of bike shorts! Well, actually second, but these are the tight kind. Am I seriously going to wear those in public!? Yep, I guess I am. (Sigh)
Stess and I have decided that next June, for my 30th birthday, we are going to Hawaii! We'd both been thinking about doing something. I thought of a cruise, she thought of New York, and then on the way to Sisters I said, "What about Hawaii?" and it was settled. So, we're trying to decide where to go, where to stay, and what to do... Mom and Dad are thinking of joining us too since they'll be celebrating their 35th Wedding anniversary. That being the case, we are NOT sharing a hotel room between the 4 of us. Although, the snoring that all three of them do is enough of a diterant for me!
Work's been quite interesting lately as well. About a month ago I moved my team over from desktop support to notebook support. It's been a fun change and my team grew in size. The other two managers had too many agents and I was short some, so I got more. I'm still liking the work a lot, though I'll admit, letting people go is not fun :(
We've been working on a new contract in the building that would potentially give us 750 new employees! It's been in the works for a few months now. Last week one of my agents showed me a job posting on our internal website for a Classroom Training Manager position. This job would be what I used to do as an Associate Trainer, but permanently. It's something that I figured would be coming up some time soon but there weren't any postings when the management position came up in January. With internal transfers at work you have to be in your current position for at least 6 months to qualify. It was a concern when I applied for my current job, but I applied anyway.
Well, the CTM position closed on Wednesday of last week and I found out about it on Monday. I went in to speak with my manager about the job. I explained to her that I'm happy doing what I'm doing, but that I wanted to apply for the CTM job, but wasn't sure if the fact that I was in my current position for less than 6 months would immediately take me out of the running. She said she would be surprised if I DIDN'T apply for the job and that she would back me if I applied. I did :) We'll see how that goes. It's another situation where I'm at peace with either job. I like what I'm doing now, but I really liked the teaching aspect of the CTM position. That and there's travel potential...
On Wednesday we found out that we got the contract! It's a huge deal at work now. They'll need some 30 plus managers to support the agents. There's also now 1 CTM position for sure, but possibly 2 more that will open up!
That same day my boss' boss, the head of our site, asked me into his office. He came over by my desk and asked me to come with him. In the hallway was another agent, an associate trainer as well, who was apparently waiting for us. Corwin, the boss, asked me where another associate trainer as my boss, Jillene, came up. He sent the other AT and I to his office while they looked for Dan. I knew I wasn't in trouble, cause I hadn't done anything, but still very curious as I'd never been asked to his office before!
Well, all three of us associate trainers, as well as my boss and Corwin were in his office and he proceeded to tell us that they, Jillene and he, wanted to ask us if one, we'd applied for the CTM job, and two, were interested in going up to the Seattle area for training so we could come back here and train for the new contract! Of course all three of us immediately jumped on the opportunity! We basically came away from that meeting knowing that the head of our site is aware of us and that we have a good record of being hard workers and good trainers. On top of that, it seems like we're the top 3 picks for the potential CTM jobs! I talked to Stess on the way home that night, then called Mom and told her then told Dad. To say I'm excited is quite the understatement!
To top that off, I've heard from a source that if I'm successful up in Washington, I'm probably going to be the first choice for the CTM job! I just am amazed at how God has orchestrated this whole thing! He's amazing!
Okay, one last thing. Thursday was April Fools Day. I played a prank on my team and had such a blast doing it! For training everyone has to take a series of tests to show they know the material. Well, the tests aren't that good and some of them are terrible. I drafted an email to my newest agents, the ones who were in my last training class and the one that followed, telling them that one of the tests, the hardest one, had a snafoo and the scores weren't recorded. Unfortunately, since the scores weren't recorded, they had to retake the test. I had agents sending me screenshots of their scores and some asking if it was a joke. I was able to keep a straight face and tell them that their screenshots weren't enough. I then sent another email with the link to the material they needed to go over before taking the test. The link opened up a page that simply said, "April Fools!" in bright, bold, flashing letters!
It was fun! And I got a few of them really good...
That's all for this month ;) Thanks for reading.