I Gained & I Lost

Gain. It’s been a long Saturday for me. I was invited by one of my professors in college, Mam Shie to go to Baste today for a hosting stint --an inter-university quiz bee, one of the highlight events lined up for the 4^th PIIE Student Congress. Wow, never thought how big was this thing I got myself into until I stepped into the gymnasium and saw it full as if there was a PBA game going on. And then Mam Shie told me that IE students from different universities and colleges in Cavite, Manila, Bulacan, Batangas and even Baguio were all gathered under one roof for this event. Luckily I was only to host the quiz competition and the venue would not be on the gym instead at the auditorium. Also, I was partnered with Rejie Mae, one of my co-officers in CGATES before so I guess the pressure is cut in half. I like joining quiz bee (The last time I joined was about a year ago and it was held in UP) but hosting quiz bee per se, was a totally different experience. However, I could say that I did ok for a first timer. That is despite of the logistics problems of the organizers(activity started around 3 hours after the actual time), lack of preparation time (we only knew the unconventional mechanics of the quiz bee like an our before we started the hosting), the inconsistency of my voice (due to stress) and my mistakes (I buckled several times and I got booed by the audience when I forgot to read the second part of a question during the moderate round, but it was an honest fault of the person guiding us in the questionnaires). It was almost 8pm when the winners were declared (Go La Salle!), I was super tired. Before parting ways with Mam Shie, she handed both Rej and I- a card, and enclosed is a paper bill— a stipend.

Lost. During a short break as a quizmaster, I read a sad text message sent by my cousin, Kring telling me that our uncle has already lost his battle with his sickness and passed away. Uncle Fredo is my mom’s brother and although he only lives a few houses away from ours, I never get to see him that often and the last time I saw him was on Christmas day when I handed my Christmas present for him. When I got home, right after taking some dinner, I immediately proceeded at his wake. Standing in front of a coffin, the reality hit me that I lost an uncle… a father figure I had growing up while dad’s working abroad for our living… the man I know would stand by our family in the absence of our father. I did not cry when I saw him peacefully lying in there, for I know by that moment, Uncle Fredo is making his journey to a life more superior to the one he has experienced here on earth.

Teach Me But Tax Me Not

Teach. Initially, I thought having an Indian national as a training instructor for 6 weeks would be a complete stress, but after the first week, I realized my impression was wrong. I actually find myself enjoying the Oracle Manufacturing training despite the serious topics, the freezing temperature inside room 1.17, the lack of free snacks and Praveen’s Indian accent (we thought he was saying ‘missionary’, when he meant ‘machinery’). I have the ‘privilege’ to work closely with Praveen since I was sort of his assistant like if he needs something and I don’t have a problem working for that since he’s a very humble, approachable and considerate person. It’s been my closest encounter with a foreigner, when in fact, as most of us, I find myself still uncomfortable around English speaking folks. I guess this training will help me overcome such insecurity and I’m sure by the end of this six-week training, I’ll learn a lot about Manufacturing, gain a new layer of respect for our Indian brothers and sisters, and improve my English conversational skills without adopting a different accent.

Tax. It’s the season of filing income tax returns to the government and honestly, I never cared about how much tax they deduct from my salary since it’s imposed by the law, until I got an email in my corporate inbox reminding that we need to accomplish a form with regards to substitute tax filing by Monday. Then another email came about Community Tax Certificate and instantly it reminded me why I never dreamed of becoming an accountant because the world of tax and money just hurts my head. Even so, tax, as much as we hate it but certain politicians love, is one of the many things we can’t avoid in this life.

The Secretary & The Guests

The Confession of a Secretary. Some people have this notion that since I work in an IT company, I do programming stuffs every day and that I can put up my own software development business soon. Ironically, that isn’t my case. I’ve been at bench for three weeks now, and lately, I’ve been noticing that I’m being assigned with lots of secretarial tasks by my lead. That includes sending about five emails each day, answering phone calls, providing updates to my lead and manager, and dealing with an Indian national with a hard accent—all in preparation for the training we will have starting Monday. Nonetheless, I have very little complaints working like a secretary because not long ago, the first high position I held in an org in college was to be the Assistant Secretary of CGATES before finally taking the Secretary post a year later.

The Bus Ride with Jess. A friend from college, Jess was with me on my way to work, Wednesday. This is not normal, because Jess is just one of my few friends who are still looking for their perfect jobs. Actually, we agreed to meet that morning so I can lead him better to his destination: a job interview for a company located at Dusit Hotel in Makati. We opted to take the Saulog bus even if we we’re already standing when we got in. At least in a rare chance, I was talking to someone inside the bus. I felt safer.

The Woman in the Elevator. A soft voice from a woman called out my name inside the elevator of Cybergate Tower 1 on a Thursday morning, and I was surprised to see it was Ricca Joy, a classmate from high school. She works for a different company and on a night shift job as she was just about to leave the building at around 10am. In two adjectives, I’d describe the moment as surreal (to unexpectedly see someone from the same town I live working on the same building I go to) and brief (since I needed to exit the elevator at 5th floor while she was going to the ground floor).

The Attack of Rapunzel. The person who remarked before about my thin physique has bounced back from nowhere to pick on my hairstyle this time. Rapunzel (because she thinks she has the longest and shiniest hair on earth) said my hair looks like ‘anime’ when for me, it looks so ‘Jansen’. Discontented with her first attack, she even asked what I put on my hair to make it rise then even suggested that I should consider coloring my hair. In response, I just sarcastically said “thanks for the suggestion” when I could have said “B*tch, get a life!” and darn, I hated myself for seemingly letting it pass once more. I know for a fact that I wasn’t born with the best hair genes but I just think her comment was so uncalled for and lacks the sense of humor Rapunzel think she has.

Another Beer Story

I finally reconnected with Jane & Jhayr, after them disappointing me for not coming during our December group date. It was nice to see them after about two months of nonappearance and I so much appreciate their efforts to show up this time at GST for an informal group meeting/beer session on a Friday night. Anne didn’t fail us this time too, she came with her long-time bf, Albert late and yes, the rumors were true she now has braces on her teeth. I haven’t seen her in a while though we chat online every now and then but seeing her that night with the braces for the first time, I thought she looked like Kim Chiu. My cousin Sheena came with us too who was as happy as I was to see the long-time-no-see friends and was surprisingly slow with her beer-- took two hours to finish her first bottle. Then of course, a beer session wouldn’t be complete without Rodel’s presence who introduced us to San Mig Red – beer with a drop of grenadine which taste reminds us of Lipps cherry candy we use to eat as kids. On with our agenda, we decided to make February 17, our next official group date in Island Cove again despite suggestions ranging from Splash Island, a nature hideaway in Quezon Province, falls in Laguna and bowling in MOA. The choice came up to keep things less complicated becasue for the longest time, I have been complaining to myself about how hard and disappointing it is to make a plan and communicate it to people. It is honestly very sad to think how some people can’t even bother to find way to make themselves heard by a simple text message reply or a phone call. It’s what we call courtesy and we learn this since grade school. While for this beer session, I learned about reconnection. It’s always nice to be people who have accepted you for years for who you are despite our imperfections.

The Ouch In February

Welcome February. Not my most favorite month I guess because when you’re single and love month comes in, you just feel like your heart is more vulnerable to feeling sadness, envy and even hurt at times. This Valentine’s I’m still officially single and my Friendster profile can attest to that but I’ll be feeling alone for the first time since this will be my first Valentine’s after college without my friends around. Good thing, I’ll be busy with a long training starting February 12 and on Valentine’s Day itself, I’ll be at work, coming home late since I’ll be stuck on EDSA traffic. For now, while still having plenty of idle time here at bench, I managed to get some instant inspiration and relief through Google, which I thought is worthy of sharing to fellow singles out there who are feeling the ouch this February:

“Love is a surprise, because it’s never what you thought it would be and it never comes when you wish it would. While we are waiting for the love, the universe provides us with family members, friends, and others with whom to evolve. When you are being love to these people in your life, you cannot feel lonely while waiting for your beloved. We have so much to practice, and many with whom to do so. Love is never exclusive.” (-excerpt from Break Up or Break Through: A Spiritual Guide to Richer Relationships by Dr. Dina Bachelor Evan)