1. After months of waiting, my income tax refund was finally approved. yipee. I just received the letter from the tax department that I will receive the refund thru cheque within 14 days.

2. Working abroad has its own pros and cons. Though I’m sacrificing a lot in terms of my personal life, I realized that financially, I was able to save more in less than a year. To set the records straight, I do not earn a very high salary compared to other Overseas Filipino Workers. It’s just enough to send money at home, to buy my basic necessities, to pamper myself with the things that I like, and to save a part of it. I learned that no matter how big or small your salary is, you could save if you want to. Less drama and more money!

3. It’s inevitable that you feel ugly about yourself and I sometimes do for no reason at all. Luckily, there are some people who make me feel special and who think I’m still hot (applause). I love compliments. But who doesn’t? In addition, most people I meet in KL think I am a student here. I’m ageless. haha.

4. Stress gets the best of me at times. I’ve already planned to resign a million times. Working on a thirteen hour shift really makes me dead tired. The first thing I think of when I reach home after a dayshift is sleep. After a heart-to-heart conversation with one of my colleagues (thanks Geri!), I realized that although dayshift is really like hell only hell is better, night shifts in the office are the best. I could sometimes sleep for four hours straight because there are less calls. Besides, no company in Manila could give me a salary which is at par with what I’m getting here. Happiness is really a state of mind and I choose to be happy.

5. I’m turning a year old in Kuala Lumpur. It seems like yesterday when I had my worries and doubts if I could make it or not. The first week in the hotel made me realize that I was already alone. I hated the silence because it screamed the truth that I was really on my own. I’m not ashamed to admit that I cried before. My only regret was, I did not have the chance to cry in the hotel shower while leaning on the wall and slowly sitting down ala soap opera. Perfect.

6. Thank God for the internet. If there’s none, I must’ve been crazy by now. I’m still updated with the most important news and happenings in Manila like Marian Rivera is the new Darna. I could also watch Pinoy shows like Adik Sa’yo, Rosalinda and Ngayon at Kailanman. It’s crazy because I’ve never been a fan of telenovelas. But when you’re abroad and nobody speaks your language, you crave watching tv shows which make you feel closer at home.

7. Blogosphere rocks. I used to maintain a blog in Friendster but I felt like I have to reach a larger audience because I would like to inspire other people the way the other bloggers inspire me. Besides, I am a frustrated writer. I was supposed to take English Journalism as an elective back in high school but due to peer pressure, I took Filipino Journalism (my closest friends enrolled here). It did not make any difference except that English Journalism was more active and the adviser was better.

I also met really kewl people and friends who I’m hoping to keep for life because of the blogosphere. To the people who drop by my site by chance whether they like it or not, to those in my ym list, I could not thank all of you enough. Thank you for the company and the support as well. I will forever be grateful because you’re all part of this chapter in my life. Rye for President. hehe

The best thing that I’ve learned is that, in order to feel very blessed, we should stop comparing our accomplishments to the others. At the end of the day, nobody can tell us if we did an excellent job but ourselves. I never thought for once that being a call center agent will give me the opportunity to work abroad. My colleagues told me before that working for call centers is not the best thing to put in my resume because it won’t bring me anywhere. I proved them wrong. I really did.