Anyway it’s the same trail race I joined in 2024. I placed 3rd in that race, despite suffering from cramps during the last two kilometers, and as a result got free entry to the 2025 edition. Unfortunately they cancelled the race last year due to some issue with the venue. Thankfully the race is back this year.

Almost two and a half years in and boy am I fucking tired and drained and burnt out. I’ve been bottling these feelings of frustration and demotivation for a long time because I’m aware what a privelege it is to be able to find work in another country, but lately it’s just become too much.

A quick background about my job. I’m working in a BPO company here in KL. Our account is predominantly composed of Filipinos, so you can imagine how toxic it is. The environment is just like working back home, except the salary is better.

Expat employees in our company sign a one year contract. On their first year, they are subject to confirmation after 6 months. If they get confirmed, they can finish the one year contract. If not, they get sent home.

At the end of their first year, they will be evaluated if they’ll be renewed for another year. Once they get renewed, they’ll be subject to yearly renewal depending on their performance.

The whole setup is already stressful as it is, but I have my personal gripes on top of that:

1. After I got confirmed on my first year, I was supposed to be upskilled. And yet my team lead withdrew my upskilling as punishment for a markdown I had. I watched my teammates get upskilled over time while I remained stagnant for a whole year. I watched agents from other teams get pushed for upskilling despite them not performing any better than me.

2. Despite my team lead’s lack of faith in me, trainers actually approached me for support in their classes. This eventually started to take a toll on my productivity, since they would ask me to provide support during productive hours. When I explained why my numbers were falling, my team lead told me “Then you have to say no.” As if.

3. I requested multiple times to be upskilled. I specifically mentioned where I preferred to be upskilled. And yet when they finally upskilled me, they upskilled me to a dead end skill with no remaining path forward. Once you get upskilled there, you stayed there. You don’t get upskilled to other verticals anymore. The first two agents who got offered the upskilling refused. When it was finally offered to me, they didn’t give me the option to refuse. I only got out because when they announced that they will be transferring agents to another department in our account, I volunteered.

4. I applied for the vacant QA post (at the encouragement of the QA I supported when he was on training) but it required TL recommendation. I didn’t get shortlisted for the interview.

5. I applied for the vacant trainer post (it didn’t require TL recommendation) and got shortlisted for the teaching demo and interview. I know I aced that teaching demo and interview not because I’m an overconfident prick but because I worked so fucking hard to prepare for it. My topic was outside my expertise, so I asked someone who specialized in that topic to help me prepare for the demo. I ran my teaching demo over and over and over again until I can recite it by heart, even without the slides. I anticipated all the possible questions they would ask. I received glowing feedback during the demo and the interview. When they asked what would be the reason they wouldn’t select me, I said it’s because someone is simply better. And I meant it. I wouldn’t be bitter if they chose someone outstanding. But their choice left everyone raising their eyebrow.

I still have more but I gotta go for a run to blow off some steam. Hopefully I’ll feel much better that I wouldn’t need to continue my rant but these are my bigger issues. The smaller ones are operational- inevitable parts of working in the BPO industry. Of course the smaller ones are the ones wearing me down and making me feel all the more tired, I just feel like I wouldn’t be dealing with the smaller issues now if I didn’t have to suffer through the bigger issues lol.

Pope Leo XIV

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani

Project Hail Mary specifically Rocky

The Artemis II mission

Hungary election results

Wout Van Aert outsprinting Tadej Pogacar to win Paris-Roubaix 2026 (still a big fan of Tadej, but that was a well deserved win by Wout, after all the mishaps for the past 2 years)

March 10 - The Fellowship of the Ring

March 17 - The Two Towers

March 24 - The Return of the King

I wanted to watch the one-time marathon screening of all 3 movies but the date happened to fall on a Saturday (but of course!) and I have work during weekends so I’m forced to settle for the per week screening of each installment.

The thing is, I never really felt the same after running at the UTMB Malaysia last year. It was just 26 kilometers, but it was brutal. I worked to build my level for that race, but after that race, it just felt so hard building to that level again. I felt pain whenever I tried to increase volume. I felt pain whenever I tried to increase speed. All I can do was keep running in zone 2 but I never really reaped the benefits because I still can’t run longer or faster. My body won’t allow it.

Pag nag-respond ka kasi sa ad they will send a form to be filled up asking for the prospective renter’s profile, where they ask for info like nationality, race (yes hiwalay ang nationality sa race since Malaysians are divided into three major ethnic groups: Malay, Chinese, and Indian) and gender (syempre ilalagay ko female but I guess I don’t look too feminine in my Whatsapp photo). Di lang isang beses ko na-experience na once I send in the form, biglang tataasan nila yung rent and admin fee compared sa kung anong nasa ad.

Andami ding ads na ang reply sakin eh “Malay only,” “Chinese only,” “Indian only.” Pero wala pa ding tatalo dun sa ad na ang reply sakin ng agent eh may nakakuha na kahit hanggang ngayon visible pa din yung ad sa marketplace.

Meron ding instances na sa ad for a female only unit ako magrereply pero oofferan ako ng mixed gender unit.

May time na sa pagkakaalam ko female only unit yung iviview ko pero pagdating namin ng agent sa unit may lalaking tenant na nagluluto sa common kitchen (to be fair pwede ko naman kunin yun kahit mixed gender basta malinis, pero inayawan ko dahil makalat). Nung nagtanong ako sa agent if may iba pa syang available na room, inofferan nya ako ng mas malaking room in another mixed gender unit pero OA sa mahal, mas mahal pa sa current studio unit ko na solo ko. So nag-decline na ako.

Meron din akong viniew na unit na sabi sakin during viewing available pa yung room, pero nung irereserve ko na biglang hindi available at may iba na raw nag-reserve, tapos ang gustong ibigay sakin eh yung smaller room at the same price. Only to find an ad for the same unit na mas mababa naman talaga yung price ng smaller room.

Kaka-bother lang because I always do my best not to be a problem tenant: I pay my rent on time, I take good care of my place, I always report if anything needs fixing, I keep my place private and never bring people over for drinking or whatnot. But yeah maybe the owners and agents are just being cautious.

Sa wakas nakahanap na rin ng malilipatan. March 31 pa naman yung last day ng contract ko sa current place ko but knowing how hard it is to find a nice place for a reasonable price near the office, late January to early Feb pa lang nagstart na ako magtingin tingin. I was also transparent with saying na I’m looking to move April 1, but if preferred talaga ng owner na March 1 yung move in date then I have no problem with moving early.

I was eyeing this specific residence since it’s quite new, strategically located, and not as pricey as the other residences near the office. Ang hassle din talaga maghanap ng place na pasok sa requirements x budget mo lalo pag ang labo kausap ng agent like whuuut.

May viewing ako na na-cancel last minute kasi may iba na daw nag-reserve ng room.

May viewing ako na di ko bet kasi sobrang messy ng common area then mapanghi yung CR.

May viewing ako na nagustuhan ko kasi bago pa yung place, maganda yung view from the window pero nung ire-reserve ko na (literal within an hour of viewing nag-confirm ako na kukunin ko) biglang reserved na raw sa iba yung room.

Then biglang inalok sakin yung mas maliit na room with the window looking out the corridor for the same price dun sa unang inoffer sakin. Who in their right mind would pay the same price for that room knowing that the other room is nicer?

I was really disappointed so syempre nagtanong ako how come ang sabi sakin available pa yung magandang room during viewing then biglang sasabihin reserved na and yung mas maliit na room na lang yung available? Di naman nasagot nang ayos yung tanong ko, basta reserved na daw so sabi ko na lang pwede ko kunin yung mas maliit na room if they can reduce the price because it’s not as nice as the first room. Pero same price daw talaga so di ko na lang kinuha. And then later that day I found an ad by the same agent for the same unit na kaka-view ko lang, mas mababa yung price nung smaller room than what she told me. And I was like what the fuck. I don’t want to deal with this agent anymore.

May nahanap din akong room, December pa lang nakikita ko na yung ad and I guess walang pumapansin kasi it’s pricier than what’s on the market. So nag-inquire ako but since mas mahal sya sabi ko April 1 yung preferred move in date ko. Tapos ang reply ng agent mas preferred daw ng owner na move in immediately. Kahit magtatatlong buwan nang walang pumapansin sa ad mo?!

May iba pa akong nahanap na rooms na di rin natuloy sa viewing since laging preferred ng owner na lokal yung tenant.

And then just when I was losing hope and unti-unti ko nang sine-set sa utak ko na maghanap na sa ibang condo or serviced apartment, I found an ad on a lesser-known property marketplace and responded to it. The agent told me that’s it’s no longer available but he had other rooms he could show me after Chinese New Year so we scheduled a viewing and he showed me two rooms in separate units. The first one looked pretty standard, it will be vacated on March 15 so it fits my April 1 target move in date.

For the second room, the owner literally just finished renovating the whole unit to start renting out the rooms. I really liked the room with its floor to ceiling custom wardrobe, the drawers on the side of the bed frame, the firm mattress, and the nice view from the window. The owner’s preferred move in date is March 1, and the agent told me may nauna nang mag-view before Chinese New Year and that person wanted to get the place but hasn’t paid the reservation yet. So I told the agent if they can give me the place then I’m willing to pay the reservation right away and move in on March 1. And that’s how I got a new place to stay.

Another holiday dito sa Malaysia na ang bongga din ng fireworks is Dipavali which is the Hindu festival of lights. I kinda miss my old place kasi yung bintana dun eh nakatapat sa part ng city na concentrated yung fireworks, samantalang yung current place ko eh di masyadong kita yung fireworks pag holiday. Here’s the view from my window during Dipavali dun sa dati kong place:

That said, I still appreciate my current place kasi maganda pa din naman ang view during normal days/nights:

Yellowface by RF Kuang

Roti Canai and Kopi

Just finished my rest day morning run so I headed to the mamak for breakfast.

A mamak is an eatery in Malaysia, much like a carinderia in the Philippines, serving Tamil Muslim food. Indians comprise about 7% of the Malaysian population and as such, have a significant influence to Malaysian cuisine and food culture.

I ordered roti canai and kopi macam biasa (as usual) which only costed me 5.10 RM (77 pesos in today’s conversion rate).

Roti canai is a type of Indian flatbread dipped in dal and curry. Dal is usually made from lentils and beans.

Fun fact: Malaysians pronounce the letter c as ch instead of k or s so instead of roti kanai, it’s pronounced as roti chanai. Cendol, a popular shaved ice dessert similar to halo-halo, bingsu, and kakigori, might look to a Filipino like it’s pronounced as sendol, but is actually chendol.

Kopi is strong black coffee sweetened with condensed milk. What makes it unique is its preparation, where robusta beans are roasted with sugar and margarine, giving it its distinct taste and aroma. The ground roasted beans are then strained through a sock-like cloth for brewing. Kopi is usually served in a traditional kopi cup called cawan (chawan!) kopitiam.