Oh My Janey

Fangirling in Hong Kong

It’s like a whirlwind romance (with Koryan boys, of course).

I learned about the KPOP Festival: Music Bank in Hong Kong last May and in less than a week, Haszelle and I ordered our concert tickets online. But we couldn’t immediately buy plane tickets and had to wait about two weeks before we could book our flight. After about two more weeks, we made a reservation for a hostel in Tsim Sha Tsui. So on June 22, I jumped on a plane that will take me to where the love of my life for 8 years would hold a concert.

Before I say more of my weekend affair at Hong Kong, let me explain how this came to be. I just got back from Korea when I heard about the concert. A part of me was happy that I finally went to the land of the oppas, but another part was incredibly sad that I didn’t get to see any oppa. So despite being almost broke, I made an impulsive decision to watch this concert. And I’m glad that Haszelle is as impulsive and as in love with DBSK as I am. It’s also lucky that she’s YunHo biased and I’m ChangMin biased so seeing TVXQ (despite JYJ no longer in the group) felt as if it’s the right thing to do.

A lot of people were against my decision. A lot of people were telling me to think about it long and hard before I do anything rash. But it’s not a rash decision, you see. I had been waiting for that opportunity for the past 8 years and I felt as if I’d have to do it then. I don’t think I’ll ever see the 5 of them at the same stage in this lifetime, but I’d be fine to see ChangMin and YunHo perform live. Though of course, I’d love to see JaeChunSu in concert, too.

But once I explained that it’s something that I’ve wanted for a long, long time and that I promise to not grow old without savings, friends and family had been supportive. I can never thank them enough.

It was an exciting and nerve-wracking experience. It was Haszelle’s first time to leave the country so it made me feel all grown-up and responsible. But it was weird because responsible is a word that people won’t use to describe me. But I had no one older to depend on the way I used to, so I had to act a bit more independent.

It was also the first time I went out of the country without my sister. She’s often the one who holds our pocket money and keeps the passports. Her not being there made me all paranoid. Heh. I really wanted her to be there for tons of reasons, actually. First, she’s my travel buddy! But I did not (and do not) have enough resources to fund for us both. Second, she’s the first person I fangirled with over DBSK! We both wanted to see them live but she said she’d be more bitter if YooChun was there. Ha! And third, well, she’s my sister.

I’m pretty sure there’ll be a next time, though, and by that time, I’m pretty sure my sister will be rich enough to treat me. Hohoho.

[Read more…]

Never Again, Ensogo

Having a film camera is something that I’ve desired for quite some time now. So when Ensogo offered an Waterproof Lomo Camera for only 429PHP last May, I grabbed the chance as fast as I could. Since it’ll be cheaper to order the assorted set (3 cameras in three different colors), Ate Karen and Marj and I just decided to share the payment.

We paid through Dragonpay, an over-the-counter payment at BDO. Another officemate, Ayessa, ordered the same product and paid through the same process. When she received through e-mail a confirmation of her payment and we didn’t, we started to get worried.

We sent Ensogo multiple e-mails, with complete details of our payment transaction, saying that we didn’t receive a confirmation e-mail of our payment. But did we receive a reply? No. Then we sent some more and still received no reply. Then we sent another one through here, thinking that maybe our message would have a greater chance to be noticed. And still, we didn’t receive any reply. Oh, we tried calling, too. We called a lot of times and they happened to not pick it up.

The start of the shipping date was on the 4th of June. That day, Ayessa received her camera. The three of us didn’t. Then we worried even more.

Ate Karen once again tried to call Ensogo and finally, they answered. They didn’t give us an explanation on what happened, why they ignored our messages. They just kept saying sorry. But they did say that our payment didn’t register. They said they’d do something about it. We waited for them to do something about it. But did we receive our cameras?

NOOOOOOO. The last day of shipping (July 4) came and went, and the cameras didn’t come.

And this is why I’m fuming. This is why I’m irritated with Ensogo. I could understand our payment not being registered. I could understand that the products might be defective so they stopped sending them out. What I don’t understand is why they kept us in the dark. Why didn’t they inform us? Why didn’t we receive anything from them, saying that we should no longer expect our cameras to be delivered?

If we didn’t call to inquire about it, would we be informed that our cameras won’t be delivered? Or are they hoping that we’ve long forgotten the cameras? Because if they have known long before that the cameras were defective, then we should have been informed early on that we shouldn’t expect anything, that they couldn’t make the deliver. And I guess they didn’t inform the customers about the unshipped cameras so they do not have to refund it. Yes, it’s just a silly assumption. But they’re not offering any explanation and not making any efforts to make up for it, so I’ll continue making assumptions. Thank you very much.

They said they’d just refund it, but what ways did they offer for our cameras to be refunded? They wanted us to go to their office personally and present our deposit slip. REALLY? We even have to make that effort? HA!

Yes, I wrote this incredibly long post because I felt as if I’ve been robbed off my 429PHP. But it’s not just that. A part of me no longer cares about that 429. A greater part of me is pissed because they let us wait, they let us pine on our dreams of having our own film camera. We made some efforts (half-hearted they may be) to go to the bank to pay, to send e-mails to complain again and again, to call their office a couple of times. And what do we get in return? Some half-assed apology.

Frankly, the main reason I’m pissed is because they ignored our e-mails. Would it take so much of their free time to reply to at least one of the tons of e-mails we sent them? My pride was hurt, okay!

So yes, I wrote this impassioned blog post for a petty 429PHP. You know what I could buy/afford with that 429? A paperback from National Bookstore, 8 books from Book Sale, a meal for two, a freaking full-body massage, a 10” pizza from Yellowcab, tons of clothes from an ukay-ukay, and a bunch of other things! See? That 429PHP isn’t that cheap. That’s 8 meals from a Jollijeep, already! Also, we ordered a set so multiply that 429 three times and that’s how much we paid. Argh.

And if you want to know more how messed up their service is lately, read this.

I don’t know much about running a business and as a customer, I have only paid for 3 vouchers from Ensogo. But I do know that it’s their job to inform their customers if the shipment wasn’t made. It’s their job to make sure that the customers weren’t displeased. And if the customers are already displeased, then they should at least make some efforts to appease them. Sadly, Ensogo failed to do all that. It may be okay to avail vouchers for meals, services, etc. from Ensogo, but when it comes to products? I don’t think I can trust Ensogo again.

I may be just one customer, but if Ensogo won’t get their shit together, they’re about to lose more.

Last Day of Being 21

Though June 2 is a day that’s incredibly important in my life (heh), I can barely remember the days before that, or after. But this year, I made sure to remember the my pre-birthday. It’s a sad day, because come on, who’s truly happy getting a year older? Not me.

So on June 1 of this year, I took a leave from work and promised to celebrate being 21. Because I really didn’t want to grow old and I didn’t want to waste my youth stuck at work. Haha! But other than that, I just really needed a break from all the stress of writing about the same topic everyday. /sigh So what did I do, you ask? I dated myself!

I started my day by not setting my phone on alarm! Ha! The first thing I did was watch King 2 Hearts because what do you really expect me to do on a vacation besides watch a Kdrama. Hehe. But of course I didn’t spend the entire day just doing that. After watching the last episode (I was broken-hearted! HUHU), I had to get ready since I had the entire day planned out.

I decided to pamper myself and had a pedicure! I also wanted to have a manicure but I was also sadly running on a budget. Heh. I also planned to finish reading Mere Christianity but that didn’t happen. I actually only finished last saturday. What is a slow reader. (Me.)

After the quick pedi, I was already so hungry! I wanted to eat somewhere I’ve never tried before so I was thinking either Sbarro (ang loser ko lang!) or Banapple. But I don’t know where Sbarro is in Glorietta and I also got to lazy to have a stop-over at Ayala Triangle for Banapple.

When I reached Glorietta, I couldn’t find a good place to eat! I was too lazy to go to Greenbelt. Ha! So I ended up eating at Greenwich because I’m a bit in love with their lasagna and I hadn’t had some for so long. It was a sad lunch and I was still hungry so I ended up buying a sour cream pretzel from Auntie Anne’s. What is hungry. (Me.) And oh, a chocolate frosty from Wendy’s. I had a lot of stop overs.

I had to eat quickly since I had a movie to see! And yes, I finally watched a movie by myself for the first time! I saw Snow White and the Huntsman and the place was packed! I was actually shocked since it was a friday, not a holiday, and only 2:30PM. But the cinema was almost full. I ended up sitting next to this old couple who kept calling the evil queen salbahe. Haha. It was cute, really. [Read more…]

The Pico de Loro Misadventure

When my officemates asked me to join their Pico de Loro climb, I immediately agreed. I didn’t even think of my physical unfitness (???) and my inexperience in climbing mountains. I think my mountain climbing adventures back in high school do not count. I was so excited to join the Pico de Loro climb. What I didn’t know was that it would be the scariest thing I’d ever do in my life. I’m still not sure whether I want to do it again. I don’t know. Maybe once every ten years.

We did a lot of preparation for our climb. Des was the leader of the group since she has been to Pico de Loro a couple of times (and she calls it her backyard!) and she’s the most experienced. Do not ask who’s the least experienced. Anyway, we held a couple of meetings and planned everything! But the planning still didn’t prepare me from the hardship I would go through.

The day of the PIco climb (May 26!) came, and I arrived late at our meeting place. Hehehe. But I was only 15 minutes late, okay! We agreed to meet at the 7-Eleven near the bus terminal for Tanza, Cavite. The bus ride took about an hour or so. But it wasn’t boring since we talked a lot and I was talking on the phone. I actually planned to sleep since I barely got any the previous night.

We didn’t go straight to Ternatte (where Pico is), though. We had to go first to Des’s house in Cavite to eat lunch. Heh. (For some reason, it’s so hard for me to narrate everything that happened that day! This will take forever…) Once we arrived, I was forever awestruck at Ate Des’s mansion. It was BIG! It has a basketball court! It has three kitchens! Hehehe. Before eating, Des told the people who hadn’t pitched a tent before to practice. So that’s me, Jinky and Eunise. I didn’t know pitching a tent isn’t that difficult? Well, we practiced on a marble floor so maybe it was easy that time!

After eating lunch, Ate Karen and I went to the nearest Puregold to buy some more things for the climb. We waited for the rest of the gang over there since the bus to Tanza would also pass that way. We went on another bus ride that took about 45 minutes. From the bus terminal, we had to ride a tricycle to get to the DENR for registration. Apparently, it’s mandatory to register first when planning to go up a mountain.

Before starting our hike, we had some warm-up first. Hehehehe.

How to Embarrass Yourself 101

We were told that there were so many people hiking and camping that day. I panicked a little because I didn’t really want so many people to see me struggling. We hadn’t even started but I was also feeling the burden of my heave baggage.

And so one of the hardest challenges I’ll ever face began. Ate Karen, Jinky, Eunise and I were virgin climbers, and Kimpee climbed once already. We put a lot of faith and trust on our team leader, Des, and she didn’t fail us. It’s thanks to her that I’m still alive now. Haha!

[Read more…]

Hello, Damon

Just because I’m not on Team Damon doesn’t mean I can’t fangirl over Ian Somerhalder. Ha! Unless you’re hiding under some rock, you probably know that Ian visited the Philippines this week. You also know that he was here for Penshoppe. But what you probably don’t know is that I belong in the minority, Team Stefan! Hehe. But stilllll, how can I let this opportunity pass?

So when my officemates learned that Ian would be in MOA yesterday, May 24, we started planning to go there, too. I almost didn’t want to go because of some reasons but I don’t know. I just can’t let it pass. Come on, it’s the one-half of the Salvatore brothers, I couldn’t NOT go.

And we did go! Kimpee, Ate Karen, their friend Sarah and I trooped to MOA along with hundreds more. We arrived at around 3PM and there were already so much screaming and the crowd was already so thick. We couldn’t think clearly and we were just running and went straight to the crowd. We couldn’t even pick a good location where we could see Ian better.

First, I just want you to see the crowd we had to face:

The little ones (including me!) had to exert so much effort just to see Ian. And we were pushed forward and squeezed and harassed and sweated like pigs. And I suddenly realize that I can never watch a concert while standing like that. I simply wouldn’t see the stage! When Ian came out, everyone was screaming. I couldn’t react because I couldn’t see him! I couldn’t even see the projector. I didn’t even know where he is. OMG. I hate being small. Tall people like Kimpee and Ate Karen didn’t even make much effort and clearly saw him. NOT FAIR HAHAHA. But I did see him after being pushed about 50 times. That’s when I started screaming, when I finally saw him and his grogeous face. Actually, I ended up screaming even when he still wasn’t there. I just got carried when I heard other fans screaming, okay.

AND OMG IS HE GOOD-LOOKING OR IS HE GOOD-LOOKING. Dayum, can’t believe he’s 100 times better looking in person!

Anyway, I now present to you the lousiest and blurriest photos taken that day. I had to take it all without looking at the viewfinder. I am not making an excuse for my photography skills because it’s lousy anyway. But I could at least complain that I hate my height at that very moment. Please forgive the photos with the cropped out body parts. I swear it’s not intentional!

I just kept on shooting and most photos came out like that. T_T [Read more…]

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