It’s 1 hour before the New Year 2014 and I wish everyone a Happy New Year!
Thank you for visiting this blog for the past few years. Hopefully, next year, you’ll see this blog updated more often. By the way, here are the Holidays in 2014 so that we could plan our leaves ahead of time.
Picture courtesy of Spot.ph
I’m a fan of the TV series “Arrow” and I saw a gorgeous guy by the name of Grant Gustin. He is cast as Barry Allen (The Flash) and is scheduled to appear in a spin-off series for The Flash.
Thomas Grant Gustin (born in 1990) is best known as Sebastian Smythe of Glee. Now, I can’t wait to see him wear the yellow-red costume of The Flash. I love guys that are not so muscular and has angelic faces.
Grant Gustin as Barry Allen a.k.a. The Flash.
Grant Gustin as Sebastian Smythe from Glee.
I hope The Flash spin-off would be as successful as Arrow.
911 is a British boyband that’s popular in the 90s. Their single Love Sensation was a hit. 911 is in fact my favorite boyband. I even thanked them in my college thesis book for providing us with the background music while we’re doing our book.
911 is composed of the trio, Lee Brennan, Spike Dawbarn and Jimmy Constable. They released 4 albums in the 90s – The Journey, Moving On, There It Is and The Greatest Hits and a Little Bit More. I have all these 4 albums in cassette tapes!
Last September 8, 2013 they released their comeback album called Illuminate. It’s composed of 7 revival songs from their earlier albums and 7 new songs, including 2 Hearts 1 Love and Illuminate.
Right now, they’re busy with their appearances via the TV Show The Big Reunion and they’ll have a tour next year.
Just a trivia about myself – I don’t usually attend concerts and so far, I’ve attended only 2 concerts – one of which is the 911 concert held at The Folk Arts Center in Manila. Yes, they did a concert in the country!
In case you haven’t watched the most anticipated movie of the year, “Catching Fire”, there’s a cute guy aside from Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth. His name is Sam Claflin – and he portrays the role of Finnick Odair. He is one of the Victors that will compete in the 75th Hunger Games, which also happens to be the 3rd Quarter Quell.
“Catching Fire” is a commercial success according to Box Office Mojo and it started strong during it’s opening week. I’m sure a lot more movie goers will see the movie this weekend.
I watched the movie last week and it’s awesome. I can’t wait for the movie adaptation of the 3rd novel, “Mockingjay”.
I loved the first novel of The Hunger Games Series. This time, Josh Hutcherson returns in the 2nd movie – “Catching Fire”.
I’m pretty sure that this would be a blockbuster.
Pictures taken from Entertainment Weekly and the Official Website of Josh Hutcherson.
Anyone else here watches “The Vampire Diaries”? Season 5 will premiere in the US on October 3 and hopefully it will soon be available for the rest of the world after that. They recently posted the pictures of Matt Donovan (played by actor Zach Roerig) and Tyler Lockwood (actor Michael Trevino) on their Official Facebook Page. Hopefully, they’ll post pictures of Jeremy Gilbert (actor Steven McQueen) and Kol Mikaelson (actor Nathaniel Buzolic). These guys are the reason why I keep on watching the series even though it deviated so much from the novel.
Matt Donovan (actor Zach Roerig)
Tyler Lockwood (actor Michael Trevino)
Finally, I was able to watch the latest music video of my favorite boyband these days – One Direction. The title of their latest song (and MTV) is “Best Song Ever” and they really let their hair down!
I don’t know who the marketing guy behind the success of One Direction but h’s definitely brilliant to market the Fab Five as a group that is synonymous with FUN. The “Best Song Ever” video has reached 43,842,839 hits as of today.
Picture taken from www.onedirection.net
My favorite boyband these days, One Direction, is on the cover of GQ Britain. I probably mentioned this a lot of times, but Niall Horan is my favorite member of One Direction. I also can’t wait for their upcoming movie, “This Is Us”.
Check out the Fab Five!
Picture taken from http://depositphotos.com/
This is the 3rd time that House Bill (HB) 1180 is being filed in Congress. It was recently re-filed by Kabataan Partylist Rep. Terry Ridon. It’s known as the BPO Workers’ Welfare and Protection Act of 2013 and it has 4 main objectives:
I’ve been in the call center industry since 2007 and I’ve worked for 7 call centers already – Alorica, Sykes Asia, Convergys, Teleperformance, Sutherland, Transcom and now, Sitel Philippines. Let me try to recall which of these call centers doesn’t follow the 4 main objectives of HB 1180.
For #1, all of those call centers do regularize their employees upon the completion of six months EXCEPT Alorica Philippines. This was in 2007 when I worked for Alorica Philippines for almost 8 months and I never received any regularization papers.
For the #2 objective, I don’t have any problems taking a pee whenever I feel the need to, in all 7 call centers.
For the #3 objective, not all the 7 call centers provide medical benefits (particularly an HMO or health card like Maxicare or Intellicare) upon Day 1. Alorica doesn’t provide it upon entry, as well as Sykes Asia, Teleperformance, and Sitel Philippines.
I received my Intellicare with Convergys since Day 1, as well as Sutherland (Maxicare) and Transcom (ActiveOne).
For the #4 objective of HB 1180, all these 7 call centers have no Union, as far as I know. No one talks about forming or joining any Union in all these 7 call centers and no one is recruiting the newbies.
Therefore, I support House Bill 1180, especially because of the 3rd and 4th objectives. I see no reasons why Congress should not approve this excellent bill EXCEPT if these call centers (BPO) are opposing the formation of Union and giving out the medical benefits (HMO card) upon Day 1 or the New Hire Orientation.
Entertainment Weekly revealed recently that Electro will be the next Spider-Man super villain to appear in part 2 of The Amazing Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield version).
I can’t wait for this movie. I loved the Andrew Garfield version better than Tobie’s. I’m definitely a Spider-Man fan.
Today, I received a text message:
For Mr. Elmer xxx
This is from Cases Corpus Law office. Please be informed that your account with HSBC was endorsed to us recommended for Litigation. Please call 8171656 look for Atty Paulino Cases jr for out of court settlement. If non compliance you will subjected for legal visitation in your Home & Company add for possible small claim suit.
A few months ago, I was terminated by Sufferland Global Services for abandonment of work. I filed a case for illegal dismissal at the NLRC and 6 months after, I received the verdict of Elias Salinas dismissing my case. In other words, I lose my case. I was no longer interested in appealing my case because it’s tiresome. So I went to Sufferland a few weeks after, got my backpay and signed the Quit Claim form.
Image taken from www.ctb.com.ph
Due to this incident with Sufferland, I had financial problems and my HSBC Credit Card got cancelled because I failed to pay it in time. I was looking for job and struggling with money (up to now). So I ended up with a P30,000+ debt with HSBC.
This is not my first time that I received such a demand letter from a law office. I have a subscription before with Smart and I wasn’t happy with the service. My Smart account was terminated and I ended up with a P4,000+ debt with them. I receive harassment letters from a similar law office but I simply ignored those letters. It eventually stopped.
I got curious on this current law office that HSBC hired to harass me. I Google their name and found nothing – no Facebook profile, no website, no office address. I only found similar stories about harassment from this law office from other credit card holders like me. They too received such harassment calls from Cases Corpus Law Office. Some are customers of Citibank.
Having gone through 6 months of labor case with the NLRC, I pretty much know how long the legal process is involving our courts. In fact, I would love to undergo the same experience with HSBC and Cases Corpus Law Office so that I could write something on this blog.
If you have similar cases of harassment from law offices regarding your credit card debt, feel free to share it on this blog. Based on your own experiences with such harassments, did you actually ended up in court or you accepted an amicable settlement?
I’m a certified Directioner and I can’t wait for One Direction’s upcoming movie “This Is Us”. I’ve seen one of their concert videos and I just can’t get enough of the Fab Five.
Niall Horan is my favorite member of One Direction by the way. I even named one of my Ragnarok Characters after him. He’s an Arch Bishop and is at level 150.
Niall Horan in Philippine Ragnarok Online. He’s one of my favorite characters.
Niall Horan is the most gorgeous member of One Direction, for me.
Speaking of the upcoming One Direction movie “This Is Us”, check out this latest trailer for that movie.
Photo taken from www.live.ac.uk
In the call center industry, when an account has a lot of avail time (no calls coming in), it only means two things -- either the account is overstaff or the account will soon be pulled out. There's a lot of avail time in our account lately -- and we're not overstaff.
Yesterday, we already received the bad news -- the account is decreasing the number of agents since the demand of the client (call volume) was also decreased. We'll be redeployed to other accounts within the call center company. It means that we'll have some time off-the-phone until we can be absorbed by the other accounts. I heard it would be paid for the first 30 days. If we're still "floating" after 30 days, then it would no longer be paid. It's either we wait for a few more days or look for another company.
This is not the first time that I'll be redeployed. In the past 6 years that I've been in the call center industry, I've been redeployed (client decision) around 6 times already. I'm used to this scenario although it's still a pain in the butt. It means that we have to learn new tools, new processes, new product and new support. This is one of the several things that I hate in the call center industry.
If the call center company that hired you is a big company with a lot of sites in different parts of the country, then you don't need to worry. There's a big chance that you'll get a new account immediately. Otherwise, you have to begin editing your resume and start sending the updated one to other companies.
I better start updating my resume.
P.S.
We had a meeting yesterday and it was formally announced that the account is closing effective July 1, 2013. We’ll be endorsed to an ISP account and the interview process will begin tonight.
“300: Rise of an Empire” is the follow-up to the 2007 film “300”. It’s directed by Noam Murro.
I haven’t watched “300” yet (I’m downloading it as I create this blog post) but I heard so much about the movie. I guess the TV series “Spartacus” was inspired by the success of “300”. I think this follow up movie, “300: Rise of an Empire” would be a successful movie as well.
The poster of the 2nd movie in The Hobbit Series was recently posted on the Facebook page of Warner Bros Philippines. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug continues the journey of Bilbo Baggins and the dwarves to recapture their fortress against a dragon.
I can’t wait to watch this movie.
As far as I know, this is the first time in Philippine television that gay love will take center state. “My Husband’s Lover” is indeed something to look forward to. It will be aired tonight, July 10, 2013 so let’s all watch it.
Congratulations to GMA Network for coming up with a tele-novela that is not mainstream and for educating the public that there really exist love between two guys. Two good-looking and discreet guys.
Since they’re both Hanford models, would it be too much to ask them to strip to their underwear on primetime TV?
“War Horse” is a 2011 blockbuster movie starring Jeremy Irvine. I only watched it today and it’s heartwarming. It is set in England during World War I and it’s the story of a young man and his amazing horse.
At first, I got attracted to Jeremy Irvine when I saw him on Just Jared. I researched his filmography and found out that he starred in this Spielberg movie. It made him popular overnight and the movie’s story is to be credited for that.
If you have time, please do watch “War Horse”.
Brad Pitt is ageless. He’s forever gorgeous. He’ll be the lead star of another zombie movie.
After watching the zombie movie “Warm Bodies”, here’s another zombie apocalypse movie to look forward to – “World War Z”. Z as in Zombie. With all the news today of newly discovered virus, who knows, we probably would end up in a zombie infested future.
It’s the time of the year once more wherein we vote for the best celebrity in different categories, most notably the Actor and Actress of the Year. This event is presented by Yahoo! Philippines and McDonald’s McCafe. The awarding night will take place on Friday, July 19, 2013.
I primarily vote for the male categories. Other categories in this yearly award includes Actress of the Year, Breakthrough Actress, Celebrity of the Year, Child Star of the Year, Comedian of the Year, Comedienne of the Year, Male and Female DJ of the Year, etc.
So, who are you voting for this year’s Yahoo! OMG! Awards 2013?
My OMG! Actor of the Year is Coco Martin.
My OMG! Breakthrough Actor of the Year is Daniel Padilla.
My OMG! Favorite Male TV Host of the Year is Ryan Agoncillo.
My OMG! Male Performer of the Year is Abra.
It’s almost 2 years since Oreo and I ended our Long Distance Relationship. Our story that started in 2009 ended in 2011. The good thing about us is that we remain friends. In fact, we keep on sending each other messages, either via Facebook or Twitter.
My love for Oreo will always be there. We may never be lovers again but we’re definitely friends. We often tease each other about getting back to each other’s arms but that’s not a possibility at this time. First, he’s still in Saudi Arabia and I’m still here in Manila. Second, I really don’t know if he still loves me as a boyfriend or will he ever love me again. Our break-up was also traumatic to me and I can’t say for sure if I would say “Yes” if he ask me to be his lover again.
France and New Zealand recently allowed gay marriage in these countries and I’m teasing him into getting married in those countries. I’m also teasing him to give me a cellphone with Instagram capabilities and he said he’ll give me one. The question is, when will he return?
I’m glad that we’re still good friends in spite of what happened.
Markki Stroem is a supporter of The Love Yourself Project (a.k.a. Love Yourself). In this headshot by photographer Ian Felix Alquiros, he’s holding movie tickets to the special screening of Slumber Party to be held at Robinson’s Galleria on May 21, 2013.
The blog title says it all. I can’t wait to see Paul Walker again on the big screen.
I first saw the trailer of “Epic” when we watched “Iron Man 3” a few weeks ago. I was mesmerized by the trailer! The story probably is similar in concept with “Thumbelina” but I’m pretty sure it has it’s own unique plot.
Today I found out that Josh Hutcherson will voice the character of Nod – one of the lead characters. Now that gives me another reason to watch this movie! Not to mention that it’s from the creators of such hit movies like “Ice Age” and “Rio”.
I hope Nuffnang Philippines will sponsor the advance screening of this “Epic” movie. It will be shown in the country on May 24, 2013.
Gorgeous Josh Hutcherson lends his sexy voice for Nod.
So my idol Markki Stroem is now dubbed as the Prince of Jazz! Nice. He’ll be at 7th High, Bonifacio Global City on May 8 and 22 together with his 4WillDrive band for a night of soulful music. This event is presented by Apex Lounge.
Don’t miss him!
They are probably inspired by Justin Bieber’s 3D movie that’s why they’ll be releasing their own movie too. Hey, I’m not complaining! In fact, I’ll definitely watch the One Direction boys on their 1st movie.
I adore the guys of One Direction specially Niall Horan. In fact, I named one of my characters in Ragnarok Online after him. Let’s follow One Direction’s upcoming movie on their Twitter account: @1DThisIsUs
The Love Yourself Project will have a special screening of Markki Stroem’s movie Slumber Party on May 21, 2013 at the Robinson’s Galleria Cinema 2 at 7:00 PM.
Slumber Party was inspired by that famous YouTube video about a group of gay friends and their reaction when Venus Raj became part of the Top 15 in Miss Universe 2010.
Markki Stroem was also nominated in the 10th Golden Screen Awards for Movies (2013) in the Best Breakthrough Performance by an Actor category.
See you guys at the movies!
Paulo Avelino is set to appear as Miguel Rodriguez Jr / Jacob de Guzman in the upcoming movie The Bride And The Lover. He announced on his Twitter account that it will be shown on May 1, 2013.
Good luck on your new movie Paulo Avelino. I hope you’ll get an award for your performance in this film, like you did for the tele-serye Walang Hanggan.
Photo courtesy of Jerry Olea of Puri Titiwang Presents.
You really don’t judge a call center company by the way that they welcomed you to their office. You judge them by how fast they’ve handled the release of your back pay. By that standard, Transcom Asia is definitely a failure when it comes to handling back pay.
I’ve submitted my fully-signed clearance in the first week of February 2013. I was given my Non-Regularization Notice and a leaflet advising me how to make a follow-up on my back pay complete with all the instructions on how to get it as well as the duration for the release of it (45 business days).
Today is the 51st business day since I’ve submitted my completed clearance form. Prior to this, I’ve already sent them emails to the person indicated in the leaflet, who are Brian Manalo (brian.manalo@transcom.com) and a certain Emma (emma.60124@nucomm.net). I never received a reply from them. I sent another follow-up email regarding my back pay.
I also called the number indicated at that leaflet: 702-2400 extensions 38347 and 38029, which according to the leaflet is the Employee Relations. I called both numbers multiple times and I’m being directed to the Manila Recruitment – and no one is answering the phone. The leaflet also indicated that the hours to make follow-up calls are Mondays to Thursday between 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM. I’ve called between that duration and I’m being directed to a voicemail. So I left my name, my concern and my phone number – but I’m not expecting a call from them.
If only call center companies like Transcom Asia would release the back pay as fast as they terminated an agent, then we could probably recommend their company to our friends. All I’m saying is, Transcom Asia is so fast when it comes to terminating their agents (without even an admin hearing for a non-regular agent) but is very slow and inefficient when it comes to handling back pay.
It’s really a hassle getting my back pay from Transcom Asia. It’s no fun getting back pay here.
You don’t have to be a member of the gay and lesbian community to vote for Ang Ladlad this coming election. You just have to believe in the idea that “all men (and women) are created equal”.
Finally… the sequel to “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” is upon us! 20th Century Fox Philippines finally upload the international trailer of “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Sea of Monsters”.
The first Percy Jackson movie was released in 2010 and I thought that they’ll release the sequel a year after. After almost 3 years, the sequel is scheduled to be released in the Philippines on August 15, 2013. The cast are still the same with Logan Lerman reprising his role as the son of Poseidon. Without further ado, I give you, “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: Sea of Monsters”!
My Facebook page is getting flooded by news (or rumors) of a new Darna movie in the works. I am hoping it’s true since I’m a fan of Darna. I even drawn her during my college years.
Speaking of Darna drawing, here’s a nice once from Deviant Art. It’s Darna by Glee-chan.
Thanks to Nuffnang Philippines, Abenson and Nokia, I’ll be able to watch “Oz the Great and Powerful” tomorrow night at the Shangri-La EDSA Mall. This is part of the contest I’ve joined along with other bloggers a few weeks ago. I won 4 tickets to this movie!
“Oz the Great and Powerful” is an unofficial prequel to the 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz” with James Franco as the wizard. See you tomorrow fellow bloggers!
