New Challenges Ahead

Electronic Banking, early 2009.

After almost six years with my department, Electronic Banking, it's time for me to take a new challenge. Not only did it come as a surprise, it was also short notice, I mean very short.

Last Tuesday, I learned that I was a candidate for the bank's LEAD Program, which is an accelerated program for developing future managers and executives. I attended the assessment session last Thursday, which consisted of time pressured exercises and presentations. Luckily, I made it to the top five, and by Monday, I have to say goodbye to my unit.

I love Electronic Banking, here I had some of the best experiences in the bank, and here I met some of my closest friends. But this program is for my own good, and there's no other direction to go but forward. Electronic Banking will always be a part of who I am.

So for the next three years, I will be rotated to different units of the bank and attending classroom trainings, until such time I can sell/present myself as an effective leader. Tough, but I know I can do this.

My Photoblog

The Photoblog of Jani Balani

I've decided to create a separate photoblog for my snapshots, sort of my fresh start in photography. I'm trying to keep that one clutter-free, so the descriptions will be brief, and most of my other content will remain in this blog (e.g. links, photography gear, personal stuff).

If you have time, please visit my photoblog. The link is posted above, as well as one of the first pictures posted there.

Moving Forward To 2010

Depending on when I finish writing this entry, this would either be my last post for 2009, or my first one for 2010.

The year 2009 was sort of a "mix bag" for me. It had its fair share of ups and downs. This year marked many adventures and blessings, as well as trials and hardships (Ondoy comes to mind). For whatever it's worth, here are some of my highlights for 2009:

- US Trip (got my MacBook and iPod while I was there, and saw the Grand Canyon and the Golden Gate Bridge)

- Promotion at work (well, it was actually last year, this year it was just for formality)

- Hong Kong (where I popped the magic question to Roxanne)

- Isabela

There are still some more, but I guess the one above are what I consider the best for this year. As for the trials and hardships, I want to start the new year on a positive note, so it's best not to dwell on them anymore.

So what's in store for 2010? I feel that this is going to be a special year. If all goes well, this is the year where we finally tie the knot. I also feel that a lot will change for the better for me, that's why as early as now I'm trying to visualize how to manage the new year, what actions to take, and for some reason, what new gadgets to buy.

So with that, I will end this post and enjoy some pasta and ham. Happy New Year!!!

Today Is My Birthday...

...and I only have a year left to enjoy my twenties. It's about time I review my plans for the future, and reflect on the lessons of the past. On this day, I'm thankful for:

- Roxanne;
- peace of mind;
- friends and family;
- a stable job;
- new gadgets;
- and better things to come.

God bless us always.

I'm Now On Twitter

Follow me on Twitter.

I must admit that I didn't understand Twitter back then. But now it seems like a good alternative to traditional blogging, where I can say short things that pop in my head without devoting so much time in writing them. It's a good way of announcing things and saying short tidbits to people close to you, or in some cases, people who find you interesting.

I’m Sick (And Other Realizations)

I rarely get sick. Wait, let me rephrase that. I rarely get sick and miss work. With the threat of A(H1N1) looming, our office building has tightened its measures by deploying nurses with thermometers and thermal scanners (seriously). Although I’m feeling much better now compared to yesterday, I decided to sit out the rest of the week just to be sure.

With thermometers sold out in most stores, all I can trust is my gut feel. So far, I feel okay now. Yesterday, I experienced some chills and body aches. No coughs and colds, just body weakness. I guess I got fatigued, lately I haven’t had enough sleep, and the weird climate here in Manila didn’t help either.

It’s hard missing work. I get calls all the time (just got one while writing this) and it pains me that I can’t attend to most of them. And even with amenities present, sometimes boredom just strikes. Worse is today is our 20th month as a couple, but I’m so thankful that Roxanne is so caring and understanding.

Asides from that, I’m also thankful because finally I got to have all the sleep I needed, and watch a lot of shows from my collection. But nothing beats having a healthy body, so I hope I get well soon.

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I’ve been using Globe’s 3G connection as my ISP today, and I think it’s okay, but they could still do better. It’s fast, but I often get timeouts, especially when someone is calling.

I use my Nokia E51 as my modem, with Windows machines you need Nokia PC Suite to do this, while on Macs all you need is a Bluetooth connection.

It’s best to inquire first at Globe’s customer service before trying this. By default, they charge per kilobyte, which is costly. If I’m not mistaken, you text time to 1111 to switch from per kilobyte to per minute charges (which usually amounts to PHP5.00 for every fifteen minutes). Also, set your access point to internet.globe.com.ph if you’re a postpaid subscriber or else you won’t be able to connect. It’s weird because it seems prepaid subscribers don’t have to use this access point, just connect and surf.

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As much as I’m loving my MacBook, I have to admit I still have dependence on PCs due to work. I still need Visual Basic for our projects, and I’m not sure if most of my Excel and Word files would open properly in NeoOffice (I’m still saving up for either iWork or MS Office for Mac).

Plus I also realized that there are issues with flash based memory (e.g. USB thumb drives) greater than 4GB when used with both systems. I had to reformat my 8GB PQI flash disk twice just to get it seamlessly working with both operating systems.

Thankfully, there are ways to run Windows on a Mac, but not the other way around. Now I’m just waiting for the release of Windows 7 (as well as save up for it) and try it out on my MacBook.

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Tomorrow is La Salle's first game, against the University of the East. Good luck to the Green Archers. Animo!

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And to Roxanne, thank you for the twenty months (and counting) that we have been together. I love you so much honey.

The Photographer

I rarely post portraits of myself here, but I really like this shot courtesy of Gelsen. This was taken last Friday, we were playing with our cameras and this was one of his outputs.

You can see more of Gelsen's photos here, and some of his tutorials here. Maybe you can find something interesting from the links mentioned.

As for my shots, they are still in my camera, and I'm still deciding if I will post them here.

House Of Jani Balani

No new adventures this week. Actually, I'm quite exhausted from celebrating fiesta today and still grieving over last Friday's gruesome bank robbery (even though I work for another bank, I'm so affected by this news, but I'd rather not post anything about it).

One thing though is that I finally found my house on Google Earth. Yey.