Mental Blabberings

Mates from work. This is a few days late but I just got a couple hours of alone time to allow me to write in isolation -- more on that later. This past birthday for me is one of the most special ones I've had so far because of a few things. I feel like the past year for me has gone way too fast having a lot of things happening between July 2010 and July 2011. This of course is the obligatory birthday post which I do outline things that I find interesting and even some things that I find annoying. Here goes nothing.

The Stark Cup by El Gris It's been a week into our new place outside the city and there are a few noteworthy things I'd like to share with the world at large. These may be useful reading for people who might think about moving to Sydney from a country like the Philippines (or anywhere there's no winter). It may have done me good if I heeded the Stark saying that "winter is coming" and prepared better -- unfortunately now I'm in a situation where winter has got me. Here are a few observations and insights you might find useful or amusing.

Tonight is our last night here at the Somerset Darling Harbour right at the heart of Sydney. This location is so convenient that everything interesting and worth going to is just a short walk and maybe then a short train ride away. Walking to work takes at most 20 minutes for me at a leisurely pace. I've grown to like the sounds of the city here and have felt comfortable walking the Pyrmont bridge to work on a daily basis. Tomorrow though will be the first night at our newly rented place half an hour away by bus and 15 minutes away by train. There have been a lot of "firsts" in the Somerset for me. First time I've ever lived in a place paid for by someone else longer than a week. First time to use an oven to cook meat. First time to use a dryer without having to put coins into the machine that's located in a private bathroom. First time feeling like it's all getting real. See, it's been almost exactly 90 days since we moved into this combo two-bedroom ...

Identity 2.0 by tychay The past couple of weeks have been abuzz about Google+ 's field trial. The past few days I've seen people come in (and out) and conversations that circled around content that people post or share. It's really great that there's an alternative to Facebook where I personally can put my data in and know that I can pull the data out anytime I like. It also feels better that I'm using tools that the company I work in is building. Loving your own is a value that I definitely give weight to. So I've decided to move my namesake blog out from Posterous which doesn't let you easily export your data out into other blogging services. It was cool to be able to post through email but even then writing is not usually about being easy -- it's about having something to say. It just so happens that Blogger is as good as -- if not better -- than Posterous for the kinds of pieces I want to write. Wordpress might be a good idea for a while beca...

It's not my first time to the US and I'm really not much into doing the tourist thing. Like the previous times I've been to the US, usually it's a business trip (except my first one, which was really a vacation). This business trip though doesn't feel like business -- and there's only one reason why: Google. If you've followed my postings recently you will know that I'm now working in Google Australia. Part of that work is going to the Googleplex for required training and the requisite meeting the team. This three-week trip was a chance for me to get assimilated to the larger Google and all I can really just say is: wow. Wow because the environment is so conducive to solving problems. Wow because it's so humbling to be around great minds solving great problems. Wow because I never thought finding my dream job would come true. One of the best things with seeing the world and finding out more about the different cultures you can get into cont...

It's mother's day and I had another fun day with Jeni and Julia this time on a lazy Sunday morning and a traveling Sunday afternoon. We went on a train ride to Ashfield and went right back because we got there really late -- it was already dark and they weren't feeling all to adventurous to ride a bus and back to see the surroundings. Before that we went to the Google Australia office to let them see the place without the people (and have some snacks at a micro-kitchen). But this is not what the post is about although that would be really light and fun to write. No, this post is about how fathers like me feel on a day that's supposed to celebrate how mothers are awesome. Tulips by Muffet There are five things that fathers feel I think when Mother's day comes along. Well that's a lie, there's a lot more feelings but here's a quick top five of what I felt this day just to give other non-fathers an insight into how us fathers feel on this day. Actuall...

This day was tons of fun! There were quite a number of firsts for the family since we've arrived here in Sydney. Exploring as a family is so much fun, I wonder why we didn't do much of this while we were in the Philippines! Today Jeni, Julia, and I went on our first train ride from Town Hall Station to Circular Quay. That wasn't a very eventful train ride and it's pretty much your standard fare going to Circular Quay but we did get some hiccups on getting the tickets and getting through the gates at pretty much all the stations. We still have to get used to the idiosyncrasies of the Australian train system. Once we got there, we just headed to the doctor's office for a quick visit -- he was pretty cool and very inviting. He explained things very well and Julia got comfortable really quick after a few minutes of silence from her as she does with strangers. Next thing we know she's exploring the doctor's office and playing with the cabinets and walking aro...