Well, I've spent the past few days frustrated with people. Nice holiday feels eh? š Everyone is in a vacation mode while I was still working. š
What's The Holiday Problem?
Do you prefer to spend time with your family during Christmas time? I don't. You won't either when you're from an "abnormal" family. Oh, also when the Holiday season makes you feel awful instead of happy.
Not that it's all bad but when you're frustrated everything seems terrible. Also, I've been working to make a sale this month but everyone's freaking on vacation because it's a long holiday. š Everybody is out relaxing and not working.
The Employee vs. Freelancer/Entrepreneur Angle
Well hey as an ex-employee I can definitely understand what's going on. After all the work I used to prefer to take a "vacation". I got used to being a student who had holiday breaks and semestral breaks. Upon graduating of course the corporate world also had that setup (a Christmas break) that's until I got into the BPO industry.
In call centers, you'd prefer to stay and work for double pay during holidays. Some people resent having to work on such days but others like it more. Can't blame me for wanting to work 'cause my immediate family isn't exactly happy during this season. š Also, why not when it's more money for moi? š Not that I knew how to save back then. Ah well.
Suffice it to say, I brought the BPO culture with me even to my real estate career. Why? Cause I spent the longest in it and also I learned a lot from being in customer service.
The difference with the younger and older me, after a short work stint in the insurance industry too, was the realization of getting my sh-t together. I'm not a kid anymore and definitely not an employee as well.
There's no time to waste! If you're not earning anything daily then you're fcked. And then this year happened, voila! I still prefer to work during the holidays. š
No I'm not a workaholic. I'm simply earning a living without a fixed income. That's the freelancer/entreprenuer lifestyle. The employee life is a lot easier imho.
Also, I've learned to stop being a self-proclaimed workaholic last year but sometimes not doing work or anything worthwhile in life is just making me bored with everything else. š (The single and work at home life is just great for me thank you very much. š ā„ļø)
To Work or Not To Work
And so my broker keeps telling me not everyone is like me who prefers to work even during the holidays. And I tell her, the holidays and weekends are the most preferred days of real estate agents and major developers. We should know because we've been in the real estate industry for a few yrs. There's a higher chance to sell during holidays while clients have the time to view and buy. Why do you think malls and other establishments are also open on holidays?
We definitely don't have the same priorities so I don't bother her much unless I really need assistance. After all, if I get to sell something she'll get her broker's fee and I'll get my commission. Might as well still loop her in when I need help.
And so there I was, all fired up on getting lots of affordable townhouse inquiries but not getting the details I needed for my new clients. Apparently, small time developers and their employees feel the same way as her. Man they need to step up their game. I'm just getting started and am on fire but heck "everyone" is "against" me. How frustrating.
I do not like to give up but sometimes it can help us get a better perspective. On the afternoon of Dec 23rd I finally called it quits on working on townhouses. Of course I was mad at the world but it's not worth getting stressed over things I can't control. š¤¦ I did everything I could and still nothing was happening so it was time to quit it and feel the Christmas spirit.
Guess what I did to take all the frustration and stress away? Somehow my energetic feet took me to various places in Quezon City.
Out and About We Go!
Fed up with working at home for days and not moving forward with some properties, I finally went out and brought my laundry to the laundry shop. Yeah about time I did it. And then off I went to Project 4 to buy some of the all natural superfoods juice for my sick grandma (and some for me too). (Oh I haven't written about this one yet. Was supposed to but got sidetracked.)
Anyway suffice it to say, not everyone prefers to be open for business during holidays. What should I have expected when I got to the store? Of course it was CLOSED too! Couldn't reach the person on the phone as well. A dog barked at me but the padlock was at the front of the store so heck I got no choice but to be more pissed at the world. I wasn't having a very nice day at all.
The only good thing was the sun was finally shining on me even if it was a cloudy day. I've been staying at home for days so getting outside is better than staying cooped up all day for days.
Still annoyed, I decided to go to Cubao instead. I walked to the jeepney route as walking is also good exercise. And no I did not turn on that Actifit app. Upvote isn't much anyway.
Hello Araneta Center City, Cubao!
I hopped off the jeepney I rode and voila, I was in Cubao. At first I thought I should watch a movie. Have to walk to the other mall to check on it so first I thought I'd eat something before doing anything else.
I dropped by the nearest mall and went straight to the food court. Didn't see anything I fancied. Eventually I walked over to the next mall to see if there's any good movie on. Nope nothing.
And here I thought Star Wars was showing... š Since I didn't plan on being there I just walked around for a bit.
Saw a siomai food stall and bought some with gulaman. Yum. Feeling slightly better, I thought I'd go on my way home.
On the way out though I saw something funny. Look what I found. š I dunno but it seemed funny to me.
Are you thinkin' what I'm thinking? š Tell me if you see the same thing. š¤”
After snapping the pics, I went on my merry way. But of course I decided to buy me some sweet vodka/beer combo drink first. A very frustrating couple of days is something alcohol can "fix".
Oh What a "Thrilling" Experience
As I was sipping my drink thru the straw in the paperbagged bottle, I saw bright and colorful lights and the giant Christmas tree from afar. I regularly see this place whenever I'm in Cubao but never bothered to go into it.
By the time I was there, it was already evening. As I walked by I saw the variety of food being sold so I thought I should get a quick bite there. Walked around but didn't see anything I would like to eat. Probably because I had to drink all the alcohol before I could go in. No drinks or food allowed inside. š
Finally feeling emotionally numb, I decided to ride that small ship thingamajig. Welcome to the Viking in Times Square Food Park, Cubao! š
It's way smaller than the one in Enchanted Kingdom (Anchor's Away) but it's better than nothing. A rough Friday to Monday work at home schedule should be no match to the thrill of park rides, yes?
There I was, bought me a ticket for the most exciting thing I've ever done the past few days. š Kids and their parents/relatives sat next and opposite of me. Yeah, okay let's get it on. šŖ
I videoed myself for a bit as it started 'cause I couldn't wait for the machine to start. When it did, I figured I should put my phone in my bag before I accidentally drop it or something.
Suffice it to say, the ride wasn't thrilling at all. One kid was screaming "Ayoko naa!" (I don't want to do this anymooore!) over and over again. Mmmhmmm. Should've kept taking that video and stared at it with a bored expression. š
It was all over quickly. I was left feeling like I just went on a big swing ride and got very little thrill out of it.
Sad.
Even park rides can't help me have a little fun huh?
But wait...
The operator said we can stay for a 2nd round if we wanted. He said the kid was screaming to stop so he did and we'll have round 2!
Yay!
Everybody else stayed except for the one kid and co. It's not a jampacked "ship" so we could definitely stay for another "trip" plus new riders.
Fantastic!
And so the Viking ship started swinging again. Up and down, up and down, getting higher and higher, faster faster faster and whopeeeeee!
I threw up my hands in the air while my feet/legs hung on for dear life. Now that was finally quite thrilling! š¤© Had like three or four whopee moments until I realized some kids were screaming they didn't want to do it anymooooore. Swing swing swing.
Ah that was fun enough. Thanks mister park ride operator. š
As I walked away from it, I felt slightly woozy from the drink. (Something I usually feel after a few beers.)
Well haven't been drinking much in a long time so that one bottled drink definitely got circulated well in my body after the ride. Haha.
And so I walked over to the other side of the food park to see what's there. Didn't see anything new, just other tables and benches plus food stalls. Oh wait here's the giant Christmas tree. Oh I hear some fireworks! I walk over near the fake tree and finally get to view the last few dazzling display of lights in the night sky.
Afterwards I was back to my normal self. Nothing new to do anymore. š¤· I was soon walking again and decided to pass by another mall. Walked into lots of people at the nearby bus station first. Lots of them waiting and queueing to go on buses to go home to their provinces. The holiday season is such a busy, busy time of the year.
Past it was the mall. Hey what to do here now? Hmmm. š¤
Oh look, there's Santa Claus and a big decorated Yuletide tree.
Anyway, time to edit the video and pics I took to post online. Thank you free mall WiFi.
After almost an hour, I decided to start moving again. I remembered to pass by my mobile provider's mall shop. Paid my bill and left.
Saw a pizza resto; bought two large pizzas. While waiting, I started writing the draft for this post.
People in the mall were dwindling. Then I took pics of the big Christmas tree again. You feeling the Christmas bug yet?
After following up on my order, got lots of ketchup then finally walked to the jeepney station to go home. By that time it was already past 9pm. "Rush hour should be over by now," or so I thought.
There were many people with me at the two road sides I went to. We were all waiting for the chance to ride any jeepney with some empty spaces to sit in. Took me about an hour maybe before I finally got the right jeepney ride home.
Yeah I could've gotten a taxi or agreed to ride the habal-habal (colorum motorbike service) but I wasn't in a hurry to go home. More time to clear my head off you know. Staring out into the oncoming vehicles and doing nothing while waiting. š
Had to walk all the way near EDSA cause once the vehicles got further along Aurora Blvd., they were all full by that time.
To cut the long story short, the pan pizzas were way cold when I got home.
Once I was home, I decided to finally watch The Witcher while I ate some cold pizza. Then got some zzzzz's.
December 24, 2019
Next day it was time for the Christmas lunch with relatives. Yeah there's no such thing but we all had to fit into the best schedule for everyone. (Thanks for all the seafood. š)
Now what? Well I still get the occasional call and text about the lot for sale. Uhmhm... That's good. Back to online work I go. š
Had a bit of fun with it. Who wouldn't when I was making random Christmas graphics like these on my phone.
Would have made one for the Tandang Sora lot for sale too but hey it's enough for one day huh. I still had to send Christmas greetings and such through text and online. Spent a few hours on all of the above and finally it was time to eat dinner!!!
Yeah well so much for working on the eve of Christmas. No complaints here. I just do what I do when I can.
As we still had a full refrigerator, I spent my Noche Buena watching the rest of The Witcher episodes until morning. Might do a review soon too. š
Merry Christmas!
So we arrive to this day. I love how people are contacting me out of the blue whenever I'm not doing anything. Thank you Lord I got an inquiry on another property near Ortigas.
See? During the holidays, people have time to inquire on properties they prefer! Anyway so I'm done working for the day. Time to watch a movie. Next time I should go spend some time outdoors again. Hopefully somewhere in Cebu. Let's see what happens in 2020. š
So that's all I did this Christmas! Do you also work on holidays like me? Lemme know!
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