Pare, Manong, Tsong, Kapatid, Bro...

It’s April 1, 2006 all over again. I said I won’t get emotional.

**Choke**As always, au contraire, my dear self. It was inevitable but somehow I never really took it seriously. Being the strong person I am, goodbyes and last days are but ordinary moments for me. Just like what Captain Jack Sparrow’s line, “I love those moments; I like to wave at them as they pass by.” How true. But in this case, that wave was meant for farewell.

I have written countless entries about our company’s crisis and losing friends for some quite time now, and frankly, I’m getting sick of it. My teammates used to look forward for news and gossips about the latest in our account, but now, it’s just too tiresome to be updated knowing that the latest news will just be all negative. So I’m stopping right there.

Today’s officially the last day of my friend, Erik, from work. If hadn’t gotten this news that he’s going to be terminated today if he still doesn’t show up, I’m pretty damn sure he wouldn’t care at all. But of course, exiting with good record is better than termination. So, he did made an appearance today, and the management finally signed his resignation letter. Successful. He’s finally free from the clutches of our account’s obscurity. Very much happy for him.

I won’t go so much into detail as it’ll take time to write all things that matter about everything. Does that make sense? Anyway, after all the farewell e-mails sent, personal goodbyes from colleagues (some we didn’t even know…news that he’s departing sure flies really fast), and some picture taking inside and outside the building, we decided to bid goodbye to each other in a manner that was used by kings and lords in the old times: drinking and merriment. Reminiscing and snippets from work were our topic which is fitting for a season ender-like scenario. The walk towards the terminal where they would ride home seemed like forever and he gave me useful advices as I will be standing for my own the moment he surrendered his ID to HR. “Wag ka magpapagamit,” that’s one. As we were about to part ways, after the very “manly” hugs and fist shakes, his last words were not your usual farewell phrases, “God bless dun. Wag ka masyado magpakabibbo, ha? Ingat.”

The drive home was silent and so is everything, except for the knocking tone from my phone when SMS messages comes in. Here’s what it says:

Pare, let’s stay positive and keep believing that we’ll still hangout whenever possible. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have lasted this much on this roller coaster ride that is work. Ironic because we’re both terrified of roller coasters. You served as my brother in my very first whip of the corporate world. God bless and catch you later. **Choke**

Before Sunrise...

Ah, the sunlight shining as I drive home from what seemed to be nine hours of pure work bliss. No, I’m not really happy; it’s just that it’s been a while since sunlight accompanied me on my journey home. Not really a deep reflection entry, I just wanted to share that I find it weird and somewhat relaxing going home with the light of day covering everything in our village.

For almost half a year now, I’ve been enjoying normal working hours, which is 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, just like regular office schedules. Just this week, due to lots of depressing factors that we need not mention, I was transferred to an earlier shift, 6:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Not really a problem for me as I’m comfortable with this time and my original shift when I started working was actually in the morning. Only downside is not being able to stay up late as I am accustomed to and feeling the tiresome effect of waking up 4:00 in the morning when the clock hits the afternoon. Oh, and gimiks and nightouts are also a no-no with this current schedule of mine because it results into some sleepy and embarrassing moments the day after. But the sunshine takes that all away for some unknown reason. Maybe it’s the clear skies and clearer roads without any traffic, or the school buses that brings the kids home after a long day from their schools, or the afternoon cartoons that I used to watch when I was younger than usual. One thing’s for sure, morning doesn’t bum me at all. It’s kinda rejuvenating in some weird way. Oh, anyway, just wanted to waste your time with some ridiculous sentiment that I’m experiencing. Good morning!

Is She For Real?

After a hearty and sleep-inducing dinner, I dropped a friend off and was driving home when I decided to check my fone to see if I’m in trouble for coming home later than usual. To my surprise, this is what I got:

What the hell does this mean? Is she for real? After everything. The coming days should be generally interesting.

And Then There Were Two

Back when I was still in college, my kada and I promised our professors, and ourselves, that we won’t sell out and work in call centers. I ate that principle. So I said to myself that I won’t attach myself that much to people when I work. This will be easy, I thought, since in the world of outsourcing, there’s no such thing as permanent and stable, thus, there’s no sense forming relationships with people who’ll just be a memory after a few weeks or couple of months. Again, I chowed down that principle. After a year and four months, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I connected with my colleagues.

The first months of my stay in my company, I was feeling normal and fine. I was distant with the team and I prefer it that way. I hated my work, I hated my shift, but surprisingly, I felt very warm with my teammates. It’s like college all over again. Form new barkadas, meet new people, and pass grades (QA scores). The transition from college to professional was hard for me, but through the efforts of my teammates and colleagues, I blended in. I started going out with them on sessions and found that they’re really decent and fun to be with. It was then that I started enjoying going to work everyday.

Months passed by and I got to know my teammates better and formed good relationships with them. But of course, I belonged into a group, a “kada” of all sorts. These bunch of guys, they served as my brothers in the office as I was the youngest, I think, in our account. It’s natural that they look after and take care of me. Hehehe. I found wisdom in the person that is E, true caring in M, intelligence in K, paternal instincts in A, and sisterly love with C. Of course I’ve learned so much more in them but that’s besides the point. Humor probably describes our lil’ group the best, and it’s probably our best asset to boot. Now, I cannot exactly narrate every adventures that we had in the course of our friendship but it consists mostly of sessions, lunchouts, TimeZone, road trips, coffee, and the likes. And they were all, Good Times.

In the professional world, certain factors will definitely come and get in the way of friendships and groups. Shift changes, LOB transfers, termination scares, sickness; hah! We survived through that. We were still solid. But this time, it’s really graduation time. With the great FTE purge, M, A, and C became casualties of the account transfer scare. And for the longest time, E’s been contemplating if what he’s doing is really worth it. Verdict: it wasn’t.

And then there were two: me and K. I can’t help but feel sad for the demise of our once very animated circle. And K has his own shift in the afternoon until God-knows-when. So in a sense, I’m left to eat lunch and take breaks by myself. No more basketball shootouts after shifts, no more nightly window shopping, no more earth-shattering news, and no one will look after me the way C does. Sigh. Enough melodrama. It’s ruining my style. It’s not like I ain’t going to see them anymore. The shootouts and breaks may be over but the sessions will never die. At least I hope it wouldn’t. Yeah, I’m confident that it will continue. After all, M and A’s just two floors down and E and C’s just somewhere in Alabang. Hehehe. I’ll miss them much. Hmm…like I said, I think this was harder to take than my break up.

The question is: when will K and I follow their suit?

Till Next Time...

After what seemed to be the most memorable day after the New Year so far, I got these two SMS messages from two of the most important persons in my professional life, Erik and Monette. You see, they served as my brother and sister in the office and have always taken care of me like family. Together with Kads, Mackoie, and Archee, we were close. Now, it’s graduation time for both of them as they’ve submitted their resignation letters this afternoon (to the dismay of the management…mwahahaha) and completely left me somewhat alone in the morning. I will write a separate entry for my being “alone.” Anyway, these two messages really says it all. No goodbyes, as I’ve said. But you can’t help feeling blue.

Here’s to your future, guys! Like you said, “Till next time.” May it not be ages for that “next time” to happen. I still need caring and looking after. Hahaha.

"T"

T is the twentieth letter in the modern Latin alphabet. Its name in English is spelt tee or occasionally te (pronounced /ti/). It is the most commonly used consonant, and the second most common letter, in the English language. –Wikipedia

A start of the year tag by Tim, err…Keem. Cool one. Wasted lots of time thinking for answers for some. Hehehe. I like it. Here you go:

Instructions: Use the first letter of your name to answer each question. They must be places or names, nothing made up. You can't use own name for boy/girl's name question. If can't answer, skip to next one.

Famous singer: Tony Bennet, Tom Jones, Tupac Shakur
Four-letter word: Tara, Toma, Teka, Thus, Test, Tick
Street: Tandang Sora
Colour: Tan
Gift/Present: Tuwalya and T-Shirts
Vehicle: Toyota Corona (woohoo)
Things in a souvenir shop: T-shirts
Boy name: Travis, Troy, Tikboy, Toto…
Girl name: Trish, Tracy, Tatia…
Movie title: That Thing You Do! (all-time fave)
Drink: Tea (iced), Tequila…
Occupation: Transcriptionist (bleh)
Celebrity: Tado! (Strangebrew..hah!)
Magazine: Tiktik, err…“Teen Vogue”
City: Torrance
Sports: Taekwondo, Tennis, Track and Field
Fruit: Tomato, Tangerine
Reason for coming late to work: (so hard) TRAFFIC!!!
Something you throw away: Trash
Something you shout: “Tim is awesome! I love you, Tim!”

Grrr…Keem and Carl tagged everyone in the office. So, Bes, Hannah, and Jai, you guys are “it.”

Mean Survey...(--,)

I know I’m over these survey-type bulletin board posts from Friendster. But I found this one from a friend really, really interesting. Hehehe. It showcases how awesome I think I am. But some answers are just to make readers smile and please don’t take it that seriously. I may mean it, but I’m decent. Really! Hahaha.

BASTUSAN SURVEY: How will you seriously answer someone in the following situations given?

^^What if someone (STRANGER) insults you or tells you this...

01. ang arte mo!
-- and you are?

02. mas matalino naman ako sayo?
-- yeah…but I’m sure you don’t like looking in mirrors

03. crush ako ng crush mo?
-- really? I’ll ask her tonight then.

04. ang bobo mo pala sa math!
-- yeah because I partied and hung out in college while you’re in your all-boys barkada playing dungeons & dragons

05. bilisan mo naman!
-- (won’t say anything but lalo ko babagalan)

06. ang sungit mo!
-- give me two seconds to pretend I care…

07 . gusto mo ng away?
-- (kung malaki at kalbo..tatakbo ako!)

08 . takot ka ata sakin eh?
-- tssss…(sabay takbo!)

09 . mas mahal niya ko!
-- that was not she was screaming last night!

10 . ang bababa naman ng mga grades mo!
-- mataas na yan! hehehe

^^What if sinabi ito sa'yo ng CRUSH mo?

01. crush kita.
-- are you okay? Nauntog ka ba or something?

02. hindi kita mahal.
-- for now, but we’ll see about that…

03. mahal na kita.
-- I know…but it took you long enough…

04 . pakopya naman ng assignment.
-- wait...let’s wait for him/her to finish para tuloy tuloy na

05. crush ko un friend mo.
-- oh, he’s happily married with 3 kids

06. pwedeng patabi sa upuan?
-- tatabi ka lang? di ka uupo? Well, okay.

07. pwede mo ba akong isayaw?
-- yes, you may

08. feeling ko may gusto ka sakin.
-- oh, then don't ever trust your instincts, especially when if it’s a life and death sitch

09. ang cute mong mag-smile.
-- I know!

10 . bakit ang bait mo sakin?
-- because I’m God-sent

^^Eh kapag parents mo nagsabi sa'yo nito?

01 . umuwi ka ng maaga.
-- yeah, tomorrow

02 . magaling ka palang sumayaw.
-- I learned from the best

03 . hindi ka na pwedeng pumasok sa klase.
-- who are you and what did you do to my real mom?

04. bawal ka pang mag boyfriend/girlfriend.
-- but she has a ranch in Tagaytay, resthouse in Baguio, beachhouse in Boracay…

^^Eh kapag teacher mo nagsabi sa'yo nito?

01 . kailangan kong makausap ang magulang mo.
-- oh, they’re out of the country…

02 .ang makita kong mangopya mamatay na!
-- (**chokes** and gets a seizure)

***END***

Welcome 2008

Hmm…first entries of the year should be special, and thought-through. But knowing me, I’d get all lazy and contented with a two to three paragraph blog. That’s okay. I just want a welcome-type of blog for 2008. As I’ve said from Questions Before 2007 Goes, I love the number eight and I’ll take it as a sign that this year would be a better one, if not, a great one. But something tells me that 2008 will just be a continuation of 2007. Let me tell you why.

I cannot recall any milestone I’ve achieved in 2007. In 2006, I graduated from college and got a degree. That’s a feat. It will take a long while to top that kind of achievement. My most memorable moment of 2007, as far as I can remember, was winning friends in the persona of my teammates and my beloved San Beda Red Lions winning its second NCAA championship trophy in succession. If it’s not that visual to your memory, maybe it’s not that important, right? I refuse to believe though that those small matters were not significant to me.

I need to set my priorities this year. One year of running around without real directions was fun, but when you think about it, that’s one year of your life you’re never getting back. I’m not saying that it was a complete waste of time as I did have some great times and good moments to boot. But those moments could’ve been creating the latest KC ad, or co-hosting my low-budget talk show, celebrating Thanksgiving with my Ninang in Torrance, or having a ultra relaxing spa in Bali. You know, those kinds of things. But alas, captioning subtitles, planning dinner events, having 9 people present in my debut, and Zambales trip summed up the best moments of 2007. No complaints there, whatsoever. Gots to start small anyway.

At the start of 2007, my ultimate goal was to visit another country, be it in the same continent or far away. One heartless American crushed that goal. For 2008, I still want to visit my Ninang in California but it won’t be my top priority anymore. I want my own place. Some place I can call mine. Where I could be alone and no one tells me what to do, when to eat, where to go, and the likes. Lately, I’ve been browsing at condo magazines and they’re really, really cool to leaf through. Gives me idea on what I want and gets my imagination running. Wow! But this would probably be another New Year’s wish as the price of what I’m hoping for doesn’t come cheap. In fact, it’s ridiculously expensive. So looking for a BETTER job should be my top priority this year. Enough jumpstarting my career, I don’t think it’s working anyway.

So there you go, five paragraphs of random thoughts that I would like to share at the start of this promising year. May everyone that I care for find what they’re looking for, achieve their goals, and just be really happy. Here’s hoping to an awesome year for us and our love ones. God bless us this 2008!!!