When I started 3 years ago (2011) in Ateneo, I made that fateful entry about being a student again that would become one of my most popular posts. Literally dozens of people would email me with questions and inquiries about the school. I even came up with a follow-up post to address the most common questions. Thank you all for checking out my blog, I hope I was able to address many of your inquiries. In hindsight, I should have billed Ateneo GSB a fee for making me their spokesperson. Hehe.
Truthfully, I chose Ateneo because I wanted to make friends. Academics were not a priority for me. I already have a solid undergraduate education which certainly made AGSB easier. So I was there, in all honesty, just to make friends. Heck, I even said it at the self-introduction at the beginning of every class. “Hello, my name is Julienne, I joined AGSB because I want to make friends.” I was not ashamed. This was my sole goal. Just to meet people, learn from them, make networks and in the process, have fun. I feel that classroom learning should be enriched by your peers. At the MBA level, it should no longer be about what it says in textbooks. It should be about real life and people in it.
People aside, school provided a deviation from the whole “home-office-home-office-home-office” routine. It filled my time with activities, bonding, social events, things to think about that weren’t just the stresses at work. School stress is very different, it is finite. There is an end. In the end, there is a grade. There is closure. Work does not offer you that kind of structure nor feedback. So despite the school stress, it was a nice change from work.
The one thing I must share, however, is that I wanted to stop so many times. I was disappointed in some of my classes. Some were great, others, not so much. They felt more like college classes in the way that professors treated the students, the material and way it was taught (or not taught at all). Though of course, everyone’s experience is different, many of my friends felt the same way. The word “Petix” or “petiks” (however that is spelled) comes to mind. Sometimes you will feel that your classes are pointless and at worst, a joke. I don’t know whether it’s worth paying money for that. If you ever find yourself in Ateneo, choose your classes wisely otherwise you will feel the same frustration I felt.
Though, after a year and a half of school, I found that it was too late to turn. Sayang naman, I already paid my way through half the program. So I just kept chugging on, reminding myself of the main reason I went to school – friends. Fast forward to three years later and I’m graduating on Sunday! I even managed to make it to the silver medal honor roll, with a 3.714 GPA! I can’t believe it. I’m so excited. Despite its flaws, I’m glad I finished the program.
Thank you Ateneo Graduate School of Business! While I don’t think I will ever understand your crazy die-hard culture, I enjoyed being witness to it. Thank you for a memorable three years. I will surely miss it.
Onto the next adventure!
This is a really late post but a memorable night so I have to share this on my blog.
Black Sheep is a restaurant located on the top of the W building that boasts an extensive whiskey selection and great food.
It’s a Prix-fixe menu so you everything is set except for your main course. They know how to make you feel special as the menus are personalized.
Very true.
Open Kitchen
The view
Amuse Bouche
Prawn Variations –
Seafood Galore
I have no idea what this is anymore but it was delicious. Delicious. Just eat it.
Kitayama Striploin, squid ink mashed potatoes = heaven. This was worth every penny.
My date’s food.
Obligatory Date photo
Dessert
I’m sorry I’m not as descriptive as I usually am. I just feel like words could not do justice to this exciting and terrific meal. It’s definitely a splurge experience – Php 1,900 per person + the supplement for the wagyu striploin which is another Php 1,500. I guess my date really wanted to impress me. Hehe.
Black Sheep
W Fifth Avenue. 32nd and 5th. The Penthouse. Bonifacio Global City,
www.blacksheepbgc.com
+632 478 4498
+63917 871 4388
My friend said there was a newly opened pastry place in the S&R Shaw Boulevard. He said it was called Scarsdale. The only Scarsdale I know is a city in New York State. I was intrigued, I HAVE to try anything New York so I agreed to check this place out. So after dinner at Project Pie, we risked our lives and crossed over to S&R to look for it.
After asking a security guard and walking around for a bit, we found it. It really does exist. It’s been open only two weeks so they’re still in soft opening phase. I was excited. I love discovering new places.
It has a really cool industrial, Hipster New York Coffee Shop vibe. It’s a really nice, low-key place to chill.
Here’s their menu. I took it from their Facebook Page.
They have a terrific selection of doughnuts.
Ladies and Gentlemen, there is a new kid on the croughnut block. They have a wide selection of flavors. They are huge and made to share.
I got a cheddar Jalapeno doughnut. Interesting. Very savory and has a kick to it. I enjoyed it. My companion didn’t. To each his own.
We also got a tahitian vanilla croughnut. Rich, creamy, flaky and delicious. It’s quite sweet so make sure you share this. Prepare for a massive sugar rush. It’s SO GOOD though. <3
A place this cool will not stay a secret for very long. So make sure you check them out before anyone else does!
Scarsdale Artisinal Delights
G/F S&R Shaw Boulevard
514 Shaw Blvd. Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Scarsdale_ph
So I’ve semi-successfully completed my detox.
Three days of no solid food, except one time when I had a bag of chips.But other than that, it was a successful cleanse. I lost 3lbs and I feel a lot less bloated.
What did the juices taste like? Well every juice cleanse has a “deadly” juice. By this I mean it’s the one that’s most difficult to drink. Usually it’s the juice that’s green in color because it has the most vegetables and tastes very “earthy” and “leafy” however for me in this set, I found the purple one the most difficult. Only because I don’t like beets.
#1 & #6 tasted like lemonade. For those familiar to cleansing, this blend is the “master cleanse” blend of lemon juice, a bit of honey and cayenne pepper.
The in-betweens are the true blends of various vegetable and fruit juices. One (yellow) was pineapple, celery and ginger. The orange one had carrot and pineapple in it. The green was definitely leafy vegetables. The purple one (which to me was the most difficult to drink) had beets in it. My friend (who took a sip) said that it tasted like the soil. I don’t know how he would know what soil tastes like but I kinda knew what he meant.
All in all though, it really isn’t all that bad, if you’re used to juicing. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve drank the Juju Cleanse drinks and the Pure Jus ones don’t taste very different.
Did I get headaches? Yes. It’s because did not drink as much water as I should have. This was rectified though when I drank water.
Did I go to the bathroom a lot? Yes.. to pee.
Did I feel weak? No.
Did I cheat the cleanse? Yes. I ate a bag of chips. I also did not drink the detox teas included in the package. I only had three tea bags when I was supposed to drink them all nightly.
Did I feel hungry? No. But I did crave that solid food sensation – chewing, taste, swallowing. Hence, the bag of chips. But hunger was not something I felt, in fact, towards the end of the day I couldn’t finish 6 bottles.
Would I do it again? Yes.
Other things to know
1) If you order from Pure Jus, these milk blends are really good. They make the best reward for after-juicing.
2) Go easy on your stomach after a cleanse. You don’t want to shock your system with too much food!
3) If you want to order from Pure Jus – Contact Kristal at 0917 5853033. She’s also on instagram – juicingwithkristal
Newspaper Blackmail Scam?
***UPDATE JULY 19 2015 – Looks like this is gaining popularity again as I am getting a lot of messages and comments about this. Please don’t panic. Most of the messages were asking for help and I am trying but I am not a lawyer and all my advise is just from my own experience and observation of the incident. If you are wondering what happened to us after this call? The answer is that nothing happened. The person never called again and I never bothered to call the numbers. Manila Bulletin themselves told me to just ignore it when I called their offices.
All I can tell you is not to panic and be smart. Please read my recent post which will give you some basic tips on what to do when you get a call like this – https://iamjulienne.com/blog/2015/07/melchor-flores-and-the-strange-phonecalls/
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We received a call yesterday (on our office landline) from a scammer details are below. Please read carefully so you know what to do when you receive a similar call. Also, read the comments below to see what other people experienced. Don’t forget to share your own experience!
The Philippine Star (or Newspaper) Scam
How it works: Someone called our land line claiming to be from Philippine Star (or it can be any media outlet). In our case, her name was Shiela. She said that a corporate lawyer (she cannot tell you who) will put an announcement in the paper regarding one of your employees (she gives the actual name of one of my employees!) She said that that employee violated some law (she will name the law) and her name will be published in the paper alongside with the company name. She says that our company’s reputation is at stake.
The catch: She will say, “Call this number ( 225-5999) so you can appeal to the editor in chief (Ray Espinosa) to stop the ad and save the reputation of your company from damage.”
Here are the things I asked her (and her corresponding answers):
1) Why are you doing this? – She said magandang loob lang. They are calling people just to let them know so they can save themselves. She talked like she was doing people a favor. To me it sounded like extortion and blackmail.
2) Who is Ray Espinosa? – He is the editor-in-chief. He can help you put a stop to the ad. (In reality, Ray Espinosa is the Chairman, according to Wikipedia, of PhilStar. I doubt he would care to speak to me or get involved in such trivial matters.)
3) When is the ad coming out? In what section? – She said Friday, Aug 8. She didn’t answer the second part.
4) What else can we do, the ad is already paid for? Does this mean we have to pay to stop it? – She said that we can definitely negotiate with the Editor in Chief. (Translation: Yes you have to pay.)
I said – okay I will call him. Thanked her and hung up.
I proceeded to Google and fact check everything she had said. The editor in chief of Philippine Star is not Ray Espinosa. Also, their phone number doesn’t match what she gave me. We took it a step further and called several of the numbers on the Philippine Star site trying to verify our mystery caller. No one could give us any answers. Many of them said that it was a scam and one that happens often. We even called the number she gave. No answer. I have some friends at PLDT and Globe, the number is not registered to them. Could be a super duo number. Who knows.
But how did they find out about us? Easy. Google. It’s so easy to Google the company and find one employee and then with that just make up a false story. In our case, our Employee was supposedly in trouble for Estafa.
But what if it’s true? There’s a possibility. IF it was true, then there’s not much I could do, right? Just wait to see what the accusations are and then talk to my employee. Take the internal steps to handle things. However, my logic is that if you can pay to stop the media from publishing something bad about you, then PNoy would pay to save his reputation. Criminals would pay to hide their wrongdoings. Celebrities would pay to stop circulation of their sex tapes. The newspaper would be empty. But no. Every day bad (though not necessarily true) things are published and the media loves that. They thrive on sensationalizing things. So this seemed like a scam to me.
Has this happened to you? Share your story in the comment box. The more who share, we can learn about the variations of this modus operandi. Awareness is key!