I have barely had enough sleep as I slept at 4:30am today and then woke up at 8:30am. Where did I come from? From our team building last night. Jessica asked yesterday, what exactly do we do at team buildings? Basically, we eat, drink (at least they do as I don't drink. Boo.) and bond over lots of stories. Sometimes we also do karaoke nights. Before, we used to go out of town or go swimming but because we now have different rest days, it is not practical to go somewhere far so these days we just resort to eating out or holding it at a team member's house.
Yesterday we held it at Sasha's house. We are given monthly team building funds by HSBC to spend for these events, what we do is save it until it accumulates so we can spend more. Plus, some of the best agents in our team received their Deferred Cash Incentive last week so they also chipped in. As expected, we had lots of food and drinks last night! We had grilled pork, grilled fish, shang hai, pork and chicken adobo, ensalada, spaghetti, roast chicken, ice cream and cake! They also had an endless supply of beer and vodka.
I wasn't able to take a photo of everything though, but here's the yummy choco mousse
I was feeling hormonal last night so this was perfect :D
Frank, Mich, Ali and Dane
some of my favorite people in HSBC :)
the quintessential Krissy and Dane pic nyahaha
Frank labeled us as the team's David and Victoria Beckham lol
I wore the same white eyelet dress and tie-up belt that I wore
in my Tagaytay trip last December plus my new gladiator sandals
Everyone, I'd like you to meet our line manager and immediate supervisor, TL Jimmy. Judging on first impressions alone, you can easily dismiss him as someone who is up to no good (especially now that he sports that hairstyle as well haha) but once you get to know him, he really knows how to manage a team. He cares for all of us and patterns his approach to each team member's distinct personality. When problems arise, he does not take sides and instead listens to each offended party. He can easily make you laugh with his antics and jokes, but he knows when it's time to be serious. He is a rockstar. :)
He is our team's biggest fan and staunchest supporter :)
We ate at the dining room on the 1st floor of the house, and they drank at the rooftop. After the nth drink my guy teammates removed their shirts because they said it was getting warm o.0 I will spare you their topless photos though, but I will show you this:
I seriously don't know what caption to put :D
(I can imagine you smirking and Ejann going "Krissy oh Krissy" again though :D)
You know how when everyone's drunk they get really talkative? My teammates are the same, it was a riot! TL Jimmy gave us a small lecture about life, and then asked all of us what we think of him. After we all said our piece he then proceeded to tell us what he thinks of us. (I was given the titles Ms. Fashionista and Ms. Opinionated :D) Sure, we've had lots of other team buildings before, but last night was different. It was a night full of food, drinks, realizations and revelations, one I will never forget for a long, long time. :)
All parties (and bonding moments) come to an end though. By 11PM, TL Jimmy and Watcher were too drunk to go home so they slept over at Sasha's. I also slept over at her house mainly because our two former teammates - Asther and Ruther - who already transfered to other departments are supposed to come after they end their shifts at 1am. I took a very short nap and was woken when they arrived where we again, bonded over food :D
Ruther and my housemate Asther
Ruther also used to share our previous apartment with us two
Ruther, Sasha's nephew Andrei and Sasha
Ruther went home at around 4am, and Ar, Sasha and I managed to sleep at around 4:30am. I woke up at 8:30am, and went straight home here to my parents' house. Tomorrow, I go to work again. :)
For my parting words, I'd like to tell you a little bit something more about my workmates. One thing that I can say about my team, we certainly know how to have fun. Even when faced at times with some impossible-to-please customers, our targets are constantly being changed, and we sometimes get a call with out-of-this-world concerns that is enough to single-handedly meet one's stress quota for the week, we still make it a point to laugh about it. Even when some egos clash and there are inevitable fights, everything is sorted out on the same day. If not, then it will be fixed on the same work-week. I admit though, there is someone in the team that I have never spoken to voluntarily because of an issue we had in the past but at least we are civil towards each other and respect each other's differences. And even when Dane and I had our big falling out where I did not speak to him for 5 months (September 2008 - February 2009), we were civil and prevented any dramatic scenes worthy of an Oscar nomination.
What TL Jimmy said is right: years from now, even when all of us have gone on to our separate paths, we will still carry the memories of our being together in one team. No one will be forgotten as each one has left his/ her own unique mark where he/ she can be remembered by. I read somewhere that you cannot stay long in a job where you do not like the people you work with. Let it be known that I really did not intend to stay here, but I did because I am happy with them and couldn't imagine working where they won't be there with me anymore. I have said before and I will never get tired of saying this: I am and will forever be grateful that they are the ones I shared my first job with.

Comments
hehe... what? wasn't that picture the main point? :P
anyway, having fun at work is so important! i'm so glad you have a really laid back supervisor who knows when to have fun and when to work... not always just work, work, work! happy to hear that you really enjoy what you do and who you work with! makes life easier! hehe! :P
*barking at krissy*
it's definitely important to have awesome senior colleagues. i miss my old senior colleagues. i thought they were the awesome-est bunch. now i miss my previous consultant. i think the current consultant i'm working is so.... serious. but work is totally fun when your colleagues are as awesome.
btw, yeah..... what's the point of the photo again? mind explaining?
hahaha.
it's time for you to profess your love to each other and be exclusive. so that we don't have to refer to dane as "dane" but as your boyfie.
i like that term better :)
You looked great at gathering!
xx,
betz
http://herarmoire.blogspot.com
n when i drink too much (which is very rare) I tend to be quiet hahaha
@ Pop Champagne: It was! Thank you :)
@ tinypaperheart: Thanks :)
@ Kym: Kymmy oh Kymmy! Nyahaha! Thanks, I don't think I would have stayed longer in this company if it weren't for them :D
@ Ejann: Methinks I like that too :)
@ Rick: Oh you should hear me talk, I have an opinion on everything! :D Btw, thanks! :D
@ Mich: Aww thanks! Love you much! :)
@ Betz: Thanks! :)
@ Nashe^: Okay, okay, lemme think of one! :D
@ acutelife: Thanks :) Well, I've been drunk only once in my life and that was last year. I remember being very talkative :D
And by the way, "Krissy oh Krissy!" Hahaha.
You look fab in that dress. Yay to Krissy :)
You're adorable!
@ dancinginchiffon: Thank you :)
@ Nino: Sweeeeet :)
@ Meream: And that will remain a secret nyahaha :D
@ Nikolett: Yup! That's why we're always together :D Thanks! :)
@ Andhari: Haha thanks Ndee! I can't wait to tell you guys a little something-something! :D
@ Anita: Aww thanks :)
@ Mel: He really is :)
@ Chelsea Talks Smack: It was really good! :)