What Am I Doing In A Real Estate Company?

My mom used to be an active real estate agent. Minsan, mas bread and butter nya pa ito kaysa regular job nya bilang property appraiser sa Quezon City hall. Dad passed his brokers licensure exam, but never pursued a career in the real estate business kahit pa all his career life, sales ang forte nya. After so many years in the Customer Service field, and a few years as a media practitioner, I am now in a real estate company, PRO-FRIENDS. In my (almost) couple of months stay in the company, I can say that I like the company's values. There's a lot to learn, to do, to discover, and to fulfill in the company as it rapidly reaches out to more people. yep, reach out.

Matagal-tagal na ring panahon bago naibigay sa akin ang trabahong gustung-gusto kong gawin noon pa man--- ang gumawa sa ilalim ng Corporate Communications ng isang kumpanya. Unang naging inspirasyon ito sa akin noong nasa radyo pa ako. Laging naiinterview ang Corporate Communications Officer ng isang kumpanya kapag humingi ang media ng interview tungkol sa isang isyu, kung walang opisyal na spokesperson para rito. "It must be a glamorous job," ang sabi ng musmos ko pang kaisipan noon kapag nai-interview namin si Bb. Dina Lomotan ng MERALCO. Pero habang tumatagal, nadagdagan ang kaalaman ko ukol sa trabahong iyon. Na hindi lang pagharap sa media ang inaatupag. Pati pala aktibidad sa loob ng kumpanya na may kinalaman sa PR, ang Corporate Communications team din ang bahala. It's not boring, I thought. But I haven't had the chance to land on a company which will offer me that kind of a job. Until PRO-FRIENDS came knocking on my jobstreet email subscription. Sabi ni kaibigang LINA, kailangan daw ng PRO-FRIENDS ng isang Corporate Communications Officer. I emailed my resume. The following day, I got a call from the HR. The following week, i had two interviews and the succeeding week, my final interview was done and i signed the job offer.

Why?

To bullet the things that made me decide to jump into the real estate company, here are the initial reasons:

- the company is growing, it means more things to do, more opportunity for growth (company-wise & career-wise)
- normal working hours (day shift)
- job is for regularization (read: security of tenure)
- basic employee benefits are back (SSS, PAG-IBIG, PHILHEALTH, VL, SL, PL, 13th month pay)
- some perks added to employee benefits
- guarded parking space for employees

basically, those were the deciding factors i considered in shifting (again) to another career.

After almost two months of stay in the company, I've come to validate that I've made a good decision of joining the company. I enjoy what I'm doing. I think it's what matters most on top of the compensation you get in doing your job. My colleagues are also helpful. This blog post isn't enough to detail what I do everyday. Basta sa ngayon, ang alam ko, gusto ko ang ginagawa ko. And even if I've worked for so many years already, I still learn so many things from where I am in right now. Kaya hindi boring dahil marami pang dapat gawin. Marami pang dapat matutuhan. Marami pang dapat tulungan. At ibinigay sa akin ng kumpanya ang pangarap kong gawin nang matagal na sanang panahon....

Little Aya's summer fun - 2012 edition

yeah, since i don't have a lot of money to spend during the 5-day weekend (wow, 5-days!) I decided to drive to my dad and asked him to treat his grand daughter, little Aya to an activity that'll beat the heat of summer. yep, we went swimming! and the little girl didn't want to get out of the pool. she was still energetic even after sunset and the grandfather patiently played with her in the water. but the happy grandfather also arranged a trip to Ocean Adventure the following day so the little girl had a good glimpse of the animal world, specifically the marine world! the vacation may be short (as we didn't spend the whole 5-day stretch vacation-ing) but it sure was a great breather for my family!

























we also saw to it that we visit my lola in the old town. after watching the traditional Good Friday procession, I met with my good ol' high school pal, Jeff. From japan, he now works in SG... with the same company.



looking forward to more looooooong weekends. :)

Baguio 2012

March 29, 2012, Thursday.
After performing my duties in the morning worship service, we took a warm breakfast at Jen's place. It was an awesome morning that wifey & Jen had to plan another one this coming week. After a good few minutes stay, we fetched our companions to Baguio--- Mia & L-ey, in Jollibee where they had their breakfast fresh from night shift work. We tread the road up north and made our lunch-stopover in one of the "turo-turos" in the highway of Urdaneta, Pangasinan. We had lutong-bahay served for lunch with halo-halo / banana con yelo as desserts.

[caption id="attachment_2543" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Lutong-bahay: better than those pricey fast food meals"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2544" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="lunch is served :)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2549" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="beating the heat with "mx-mix!" :P"][/caption]

after lunch, i again took the driver's seat and "got lost" with the alternate routes. i'm really bad at road directions, tsk, tsk.. anyway, after a few hours, we found ourselves taking the Kennon Road route. It started raining and we were dumbfounded to see small rocks falling from the mountain to the road where we were passing. When we reached the Lion's head, we were not able to get off the vehicle because it was raining so we just had to take photos from our vehicle. too bad because it was Mia's first time to see it (Lion's head) and wasn't able to maximize our presence there.

[caption id="attachment_2546" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Lion's Head drenched in rainwater "][/caption]

Before locating our hotel, we took a short stop at The mansion, and took a photo of Wright Park. We got lost looking for our hotel and after wasting a few liters of gas, we finally checked-in our hotel which is just nearby Baguio Townhouse! A few more minutes and it was also time for dinner...

[caption id="attachment_2547" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="posing just outside The Mansion"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2548" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="it's raining in Wright Park, too!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2550" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="testing our bed..."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2551" align="alignnone" width="300" caption=""Helloooo... Ba-go!" :)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2552" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="veggie soup"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2553" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="grilled bangus"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2554" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="just can't get enough of the classic telephone"][/caption]

March 30, 2012, Friday.
Day 2 is the peak of our Baguio stay. This marks the wedding day of our good friend, Kerwin (to Blessie) and the main reason of our trip to the City of Pines. On that cold early morning, we went up to the famous Good Shepherd Convent to buy their famous goods: Ube jam, Strawberry jam, Peanut Brittle, and others. It was all our first time to enter the convent's premises (except Mama Susan i think) and it was nice to have been in that famous place. As a bonus, not much people are there to purchase the goods, just like what we used to hear that lines are long just to purchase a couple of ube jam bottles.

[caption id="attachment_2555" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="gateway to temptation :P"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2556" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="temptation 1 & 2"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2557" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="temptation 3 & 4"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2558" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="si Mama namamakyaw ng Good Shepherd products :D"][/caption]

After carrying a few bags of Good Shepherd goods to our vehicle, we decided to round the stores in Mines View park. The St. Bernard dogs found a place in the park and make money with the tourists. Too many picture-taking businesses in the park now...

[caption id="attachment_2559" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="solo pic - Mines View Park"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2560" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="wifey & i with "Douglas""][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2561" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Igorot family costume"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2563" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="with my little girl in Mines View Park"][/caption]

while still early, we took time out to locate the church edifice where Kerwin & Blessie's tying the knot, and as expected, the church architecture is magnificent, inside and out! During the wedding, the church was filled with happy guests and the couple had the best time of their lives! Celebration followed in the grand ballroom of Baguio Country Club! Good place, good food! ;)

[caption id="attachment_2564" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Gibraltar Locale, Benguet District"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2565" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Kerwin and Blessie exchanging vows"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2566" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="the choir loft (my most loved place in the church) ;-)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2567" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="fresh & colorful flowers dressed the already stunning church interior"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2568" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="wifey & I, after-wedding pictorial"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2569" align="alignnone" width="288" caption="a more decent shot inside the church's compound"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2570" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="the original PEx barkada minus the groom"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2571" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="friends of the groom: Ayah, Jon, Jary, LA, Mia"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2572" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="the couple and the traditional wine ceremony"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2573" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="kainan na! tama na ang photo shoot :P"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2592" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Jon, Kerwin, & LA: guess who's the groom?"][/caption]

before we went to the reception, we drove back to the corner street of Outlook Drive to do something that no one will imagine...







[caption id="attachment_2577" align="alignnone" width="224" caption="PISHBOLS!!!!!"][/caption]

March 31, 2012, Saturday.
Day 3 is our last day in Baguio but it was also a day to remember. We checked out of the hotel early and drove to Camp John Hay to visit Chocolate de Batirol where they make good chocolate drinks. I'm not so fond of rich, bitter-tasting cocoa/chocolates, but nonetheless, the drinks in Chocolate de batirol are exceptional. You can easily identify its distinction from all other chocolate drinks. And the way they are made, it adds to that visiting experience that you can consider as "unique." After having our breakfast there, we posed for some photo then headed to the camp's outlet stores. Then Mia gave a hearty baby back ribs lunch treat at Little John's. After our sulit meal, we drove to the town proper and parked beside Burnham Park to buy another one of Baguio's trademarks: vegetables! It was a quick day as we try not to catch sunset in the mountain area in driving back to Manila. We took Marcos Highway this time and we were literally in the clouds on our way down the place. We made our last stop at Villasis (Pangasinan) Bagsakan for.... MANGOES!!!

[caption id="attachment_2579" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="mommy making two cups of chocolate de batirol "for here.""][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2580" align="alignnone" width="300" caption=""breakfast is served!""][/caption]









[caption id="attachment_2585" align="alignnone" width="300" caption=""outlet stores" here offer (almost) the same price as the goods in Manila"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2586" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Little John's Baby Back Ribs"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2587" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="suking tindahan :)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2588" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="going through the tunnel via Marcos Highway"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2589" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="driving through the clouds"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2590" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="driving to Baguio was a milestone for me ;)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2591" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="haggle the price for those mangoes!"][/caption]

It was a very good trip back to the City of Pines and one milestone achieved (for me) was to drive to and from Baguio without falling asleep! Of course, our prayer to God for guidance made our Baguio trip safe, enjoyable and definitely superb! sa uulitin! ;)