Tuesday, July 27, 20042:41 PM
Second lunch with the intern... even my friend told me he's cute. Okay, at some point, I, and the rest of the hot-blooded female population, may have to get over that. But we had a fantabulous time talking about Filipinos. We were there at Eat soaking up each other's Filipino-ness. We talked about courtship, twinkies°, and oreos°.
It was a typical day. Certainly better than yesterday. I even got the long-term assignment that I've been harping on for months, which mean a bigger possibility for a permanent assimilation into the company. The lunches are great perks, but the new friendship's the best one so far.
°words with double meaning in the American colloquial language referring to people of color.
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Monday, July 26, 20044:36 PM to answer jill's question
I got my eyes checked today. My left eye was weirdly swollen and I was due for my check-up anyway. Lady luck wasn’t exactly with me at the doctor’s office... although it could’ve been worse.
I’m getting a second opinion for a “hole” they found. I don’t exactly have the medical term for it. When you’re near-sighted and you go to the ophthalmologist, the doctor usually puts some sort of highlighter fluid in your eye after they dilate the pupils to check if there are any holes because these cause retinal detachment. And you don’t want that to happen. It happened to my dad once and we’re all thankful that his vision’s fine now after a major operation.
Anyway, the hole looks like a black spot under the pupil. They have to perform laser surgery to seal it. This is a really, really bad day.
An American guy with a Filipino upbringing... who takes jeepney rides and loves, really loves Asian food. Good Lord, did he just take advantage of the bottomless rice for lunch? And said that bread was boring?
I hear that new Eagle Eye Cherry song in the back of my head. How does it go again?
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Tuesday, July 20, 20044:08 PM
If someone's too perfect, there's bound to be a flaw, right? Right?!
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9:54 AM
What exactly do they teach people in the Philippine Military Academy?
When someone calls you up in the middle of the night, when you really want to just doze off and die, and then debate about Ping Lacson's 10% involvement in drugs, how would you react? Believe me, if I could just reduce myself into electrons and fax myself to Baguio, the PMA would have probably lost one cadet last night.
But what really, immensely pissed me off was that he justified that ten per cent is okay. He argued that we are too idealistic in our strive for perfection. Us? Idealistic? Excuse me, mister, but wasn't the coup d'etat last year caused by some PMA idealists who think they can change the government as easy as that. It's delusional! Ten per cent is not okay. And yeah, I think my anger was and still is justified given that you picked an ungodly hour to debate about ethics and social responsibility.
It's not about perfection being impossible. It's not about being idealistic. It's about that ten per cent's value of human life. Ten per cent is less than a hundred, you say? But that's still ten per cent. Think about the relatives and friends affected by that ten per cent. What if I was one of the ten per cent?
Arrrrrggghh!! Like I said, what the hell do they teach in the PMA?
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Monday, July 19, 20045:46 PM
There’s a fil-am intern that took over my desk. Hopefully, I’ll still be around when I get it back. Right now, I’m squatting in the absent people’s desks. It won’t be long when I’ll have no pc to blog work in.
I got my “revenge” when he tried to eat tilapia for lunch. Poor guy, he couldn’t eat the damn thing. He practically attacked the fish to the point that flesh and bone are no longer decipherable. Sneaky Filipino officemates didn’t teach him how to properly eat it --- carefully go through one side then flip.
Offered him a ride but he’s learning how to take the FX. He’ll probably hitch on Wednesday. It’ll be like talking to my brother-in-law again. Only this time, we’re not arguing about anything.
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Friday, July 16, 20045:13 PM stop! or my boss will shoot!
For a first day on the job for a provisionary month, it's not so bad. I'm not entirely in love with the work but at least my research skills are sharpened back to university pol eco standards. It's not easy coming up with an organized system of working papers, training pamphlets and the like, I hereby salute all librarians, whose jobs are made easier by the existing computer programs that are designed to classify and weed through different subjects in lightning speed. My arsenal only consists of my trusty notebook, my Pilot pen, and this desk and pc which I will lose to an american intern for three weeks starting Monday. It's tough being the new kid on the block. Oh beloved generic-branded office pc... I will surely miss your company... alas! Whoever said that parting is sweet sorrow?
Going through my boss' stuff is (fill in adjective here). I am currently in pile number two of his reading materials. Given how incredibly messy everything is, I actually came through something classified---as in, I'd-tell-you-but-I-have-to-kill-you classified. I knew that he's a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy and that he now holds a suitable position in the Navy and a few years back he hid some kind of folder from unsuspecting students including me. I had to apologize for reading part of the document and placed it back on his desk.
One of these days, he's going to shoot me. Or so he says.
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Thursday, July 08, 20046:47 PM
Don't you just hate it when you're in front of the pc and you can't seem to remember the funny things you wanted to blog? It's been happening to me far too many times...
I have now come to a solution to this problem: I now have a handy-dandy notebook! (That was sooo Blue's Clues). Now I can write the funny blog-inspiring stories with ease without hurting myself trying to remember what they were.
Can you tell that I'm currently unemployed?
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Sunday, July 04, 200411:50 PM
Holy freakin' baloney! It's been a month since I sat in front of the computer and typed.
Okay, just so everyone knows:
I GRADUATED!
Yup, went to PICC Plenary hall, marched up the stage, kidded around with the CAS Dean and the UA&P President, and got my diploma! I even sang with the chorale in my own graduation! (Well, that's because if the member-graduates didn't, the group would be called a girl band with a few members of the opposite sex... like Steps, remember them?).
Anyhoo, hopefully I'll be blogging more often now. Thanks for the tags, guys. I miss blogging about everything.
To Waltzer, I lost my hotmail account because of my absence which means I lost your email add altogether. Email me.
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"There are things out there that I want to discover, that one day this will all make sense... I am searching for the meaning of this cosmic existence that we're in. And
probably when I find the answer, I'll go and look for the anti-thesis."
5 THINGS
1. I sing in the University Chorale of the University of Asia & the Pacific, and we swept four gold medals in Greece for our very first International Competition. I got to do my two absolute favorite things: singing and traveling.
2. Although I am an Alto Two, my range widens up to Soprano One when I am drunk. Think Charlotte Church's Flower Duet. (I think it has something to do with swallowing the diaper pin when I was a baby). Dancing barefoot in debut parties may also be expected.
3. I work in an non-government organization focused on private sector development. It involves sleepless nights in the office and the constant worry of displeasing a former Secretary of Finance. My other two bosses are harmless.
4. I like my men in uniform. The Military has always been a fascination of mine even before when I was finishing a BA degree in Political Economy.
5. I no longer watch The Bold and the Beautiful much to the joy of friends and family.
