Yesterday, we celebrated the 28th death anniversary of a certain Joe. My first memory of him was when I’d tag along with my mom and go to Manila Memorial. Every time we visit, I get to see my grandmother praying the rosary while sitting on the bench in front of the grave of a certain Jose Garcia. All I know is Jose Garcia was the husband of my lola, the father to my mama and her sisters. As years go by, little by little do I realize who Joe is.

In the Philippines, it’s common to see jeeps that stop in the middle of the street. And if you’re the car behind the jeep, you’d instantly lose your patience, the slurs start to fly like bees, and the horns start making noises. My mama would always say: “you know what, papa (joe) would not use the horn, its not the fault of the passengers that the jeepney driver stopped in the middle of the street.”

When I’d bring my jacket to school/work, I have the habit of hanging it at the back of the car. My mama would say: “Don’t hang it. Just lay it on the back seat so that no one would notice it.”

When we pass by Chinatown in manila, my mama would also say that: “Moby, this is where my father used to work. He was a lawyer back then.”

Lunchtime or tea time in San Juan is where the my cousins, mama and her sisters would come together to chit chat about what happened, make fun of absolutely anything from hanky panky, no to early marriages, heartbreaks, hardships, anything. There are times when Joe would be the topic of the conversation. My aunties along with my mom would say that, my father is a very kind person, always looks at things from a perspective, hardly gets mad, loved to travel with Ma, offered help to those in need, a submissive husband to his wife, a generous and benevolent father to his daughters,  and the list goes on. Joe, being married to the strictest lola in the San Juan, you can really see that they were the opposite. And indeed, opposites attract. I know for sure that Ma(lola) misses her husband, she speaks of him with the highest regard. I think they’re the perfect balance to any equation.  Hot and Cold, Sensitive and insensitive, etc. when the word Joe comes up, I know he is talked about with the utmost respect, and “wala kang masasabing masama tungkol kay Joe, puro ka-baitan lang”

Come to think of it, his daughters are all we need to realize who Joe is. Jojie, Viva & Leah carry the qualities of Joe. His patience & kindness overflowed thru his children. If he was still alive, he’d be proud to say that he raised three fine women. And we the grandchildren can definitely attest to that.

In the working industry, it can never be said that work is an extension of college. Why?

 

1. Pulling an all-nighter for a school paper is hassle free. Pulling an all-nighter for work creates creases on your face, increases your chances of going bezerk, and you still have to work the next day
2. In school, if its end of the class, you can courteously tell your teacher that its time! In work, if you are given a task at hand that is due beyond your work hours, you do it. Try courtesy to leave early, and you just gave yourself the pink slip.
3. in college and work, smoking does kill but gives you more friends
4. in college, you drink alcohol because of the stress that school gives, and since you have a late class, you can afford to snooze longer. In work, nobody stops you to sip some ml of booze, try getting drunk, and all I can say is good luck the following day.
5. In college, if you’re drunk, just sit at the back and pretend to listen. In work, if you’re drunk, staring at your desk makes you look like a zombie.
6. In college, you use projects as a reason to sneak on a weekday gimik. In work, you can always use OT(just be sure not to file it)
7. In college, lunch out is a no brainer, it’s just a matter of finding what food or restaurant fits your budget. In work, lunch out happens when its pay day, the rest of the day, it’s the canteen
8. In college, packed sandwiches make perfect sense. In work, packed lunches, saves a lot of money.
9. Students sleep during classes. Workers sleep during lunch breaks. Try sleeping outside of lunch hours and consider yourself dead.
10. Bringing a car in college makes a lot of sense, parking fees can be paid annually. In work, bringing a car is equal to eating an executive lunch because of the high parking fee. (if only, car parking stickers are sold or companies would accommodate parking to those who carpool to work)
11. In school, you need not to look presentable, just a shirt, a pair of jeans, and a decent pair of sneakers would do the trick. In work, corporate clothes are a thing of the past, you have to go beyond corporate clothes, that is being stylish (not too stylish or brandish) and still look like you are hip. Because clients look at what you wear, then they see how well versed you are in English. Its true what AXE markets, first impressions last.
12. Wrong grammar in papers leads to deductions in your paper, and only you and your teacher will know of those mistakes. Wrong grammar in email conversations, you end up being talked about the entire day, being known as Mr. Wrong grammar, with the email trail as proof of your negligence.
13. a student can ask an increase in his/her allowance if food prices go up in school, oil hikes, increases in public transportation. In work, you ask for an increase, you prove that you are worthy of such increase, not because inflation is high, etc.
14. Allowances as they increase remain tax free. As wages increase, the higher tax bracket you enter, the more you give to the government. (It’s a given fact that roughly ¼ of your salary goes to the government)
15. In school, you can afford to slack in the first leg of the race and work hard in the final stages. In work, do that and you won’t even make it halfway.
16. OJT is not WORK. Its  like make you  feel  work but actually its not!
17. I don’t know what else to write…care to add more?

* IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS, my english is poor. Bow.

Retrospect to Tuesday, July 25
Location: PLDT WYSE BLDG. AYALA AVE.
Time: 5:++

Last Tuesday was payday. Walang pasok ata nung day na yun. So back to my mission at hand: to withdraw money. The pay directly goes to our Metrobank accounts.
Within the vicinity of Smart, there are 3 Metro bank atms. Knowing that people are hungry to withdraw and splurge on hard earned money, those three atms would be
offline or at the VERY least, you can withdraw only in 100 Peso bills.

I thought of a different strategy that night/afternoon, to withdraw in GT Tower(GT means George Ty, he owns Metrobank). GT Tower is on the end of the
block, Smart is on the other. in short magkabilangdulo. I wore my hoodless corporate looking jacket, weather proof(thats whats printed on the tag). When i reached the
ground floor, it was drizzling, so i decided to take the road(atm) less taken. As i was walking, i noticed that i was the only one not using an umbrella. the rain wasnt in
drizzling mode, it was in the middle of drizzling and raining hard...in short. it was starting to rain hard?

i walked my usual pace, not minding if my head gets wet. Then i had this daydream while walking, wait can people day dream while walking, i wasnt dreaming, i was
looking back at the time, 6 years back, when i was playing soccer for southridge. rain or shine, lightning or not, practice was still practice. I missed the training under the
rain. its relaxing to play while its drizzling. Now, its a no-no to get sick. Since i am still a unleaded(not regular)BADUY, i cant avail of sick leaves. But i didnt mind the rain
falling on me. It felt wierd but it was nice. How one could remember things in unusual ways.

Going back to my mission: when i reached the end of the block, i was in GT Tower already. With my jacket wet, my hair wet, my pants semiwet and my
daddy brown shoes semi wet(thank God for daddy shoes, at least my feet dont get wet)

The guard said: Ser, Oplayn po.

I couldnt help but say: Putang ina naman!

*segway, PUTANG INA NAMAN. BUILDING NA NGA YUN NG MAYARI NG METRO BANK. OFFLINE PA! WHAT THE PAK DUDE! puede mo ba sabihin un kay George Ty,
SER OPLAYN PO.

then i walked back, the rain was harder than(lumakas pa lalo ung ulan). but its all good, it made me feel good, made me think of happy thoughts. haha. When i went back
to the office, my jacket was soaking wet. My hair looked like i came out of the shower(naks). End of Part 1.

Part 2.

my parents and i go to work together and go home together. the family that stays together, saves gas. Our rendezvous/meeting place is gerrys that is in between
parksquare 2 and parksquare 1. its a good 20-30 minute walk from smart. so i wore my nonweather jacket, something like a varsity jacket, the jacket that you
wear when you watch a movie type. As i was taking my usual route, which was to take the underpass, cross ayala ave, then go up the other side. it was still drizzling at that
time, so i didnt mind, getting wet. as i was nearing the superOVERpass that sort of connects Makati(smart side) to Greenbelt, a huge splash of water fell on me.
and i was so fucking putanginang sure that the splash didnt come from the skies. Putang ina, so much for happy thoughts. now, my shirt was wet, my movie jacket
was wet, my pants were wet, my  under++++ were wet as well. i was wet from bottom to top. So so much for glenda. Thanks glenda for making me remember good old
memories. Fuck glenda for giving me an untimely dirty shower.

**glenda is the name of the bagyo(my co-worker read this, said...whos glenda?)

**regarding my mission: i failed, because i wasnt able to withdraw that night.

Time Frame: One month to several days before val’s birthday)

Around one month ago, I had to wear my thinking cap once more to create one of the greatest events in a person’s life, well its not THE greatest…its one of those things that you just want to do to a friend so that happiness can be attained in front of her friends. Simply put, a surpise party for Val(hahah, what a long intro)

I was hesitant to think of a surprise party because knowing that her day was on a Friday, it would be hard to bring her to the surprise place. So I sought the help of Nikki. Nikki was supportive of my cause and very willing to help. Except that there was a problem, my confidante Nikki was leaving the country on the 22^nd of May. So I had to look for other people, next on my list was Rach. At first, I was hesitant once more to ask help from Rach because I would be asking her two things, to go to the party and if we can hold it there. She agreed to come and let her/their pad be the punk’d scene.

So next that I was thinking was contacting Ish. Ish was crucial in my endeavor to my previous surprise to Val, the board shorts. Now, I wanted to ask Ish if she can bring val to Pacific, where the dinner would be held. Hooray, she agreed. (as payment Ish for your endless gratitude, you will get a surprise party next year. Remember that ok? Ill put that in my calendar!) I couldn’t bring val to Pacific because I was doing most of the legwork for her party. That meant getting the food, etc.

I also remember going to a party in Greenhills with SR boys of the younger generation along with Mon and Rosella. It was funny because I asked them behind Val’s back pa. and val was just drinking and talking the night away. Hehe!

Now that I had people coming to the simple but elegant yet extravagant nevertheless under tight budget, next on my list was food. Of course, what would be a party if there was no food? I looked for places as to where I can purchase food and have it delivered. (it ended up that I went to the food shops and had them for take-out. First thing on my mind was value for money. Hell, if I was going to spend for food, id spend it wisely because that’s important (DUH!) So I planned on ordering from Contis for their chicken pastel and Mango Bravo, Pizza from Yellow Cab(that ended up being Sicillian) and Pasta from Alex(good thing Alex had a party that night as well in the roof deck of Pacific)…which reminds me I haven’t paid him yet hahaha! The simple things as well I had to buy so I don’t have to burden the residents of the house and their help! So I went to Tropical Hut the day before Val’s Birthday and bought spoon, fork, plastic cups, and soft drinks.

 

May 26, the day of reckoning

On that morning, I went to val’s place because I had to borrow their tables and chairs. Luckily Val was sound as sleep as Val’s mom was assisting me load up the tables and chairs in the Vios. Then, off I went to work.

By lunch time I was asking val, dude what’s your plan. She would reply, may be me and ish would have inuman in drews nalang. I was fishing pa, no dinner? She replied by texting: ill treat you to the food of drews. Little did she know that there was something brewing that was bound to be served by dinner time.

I immediately left the office at EXACTLY 5:30. Ran to my car, and drove off to my tita’s house in Araullo so I can borrow some table cloth. After the short trip in Araullo I sped off to Conti’s in San Juan. I was scared because I had 2 ½ hours to prepare for everything and what if it was traffic since it was a Friday(with payday the previous day) But alas, there was no traffic!!! By past 6 I was already in Greenhills, I stopped by Red Ribbon first to buy a cake. Well my intention was just to buy chocolate mousse, then they had this promo of the strawberry chocolate mousse (limited offer). Then, I was thinking, what if I bought candles as well.

So I asked the lady if I could buy tow candles, a TWO and a ZERO.

Then the lady laughed,

I said, bakit miss bawal na ba mag candle ang 20 year old.

I laughed as well.

Then off I went to Conti’s to pick up the chicken pastel and mango bravo. By that time, it was already past 7. While driving in EDSA, I called Sicilian(thanks rach for the great suggestion) to buy a pizza and have them deliver it. My plan was slowly being made to effect! As I parked my car beside Pacific Place, I was already carrying the monobloc tables.

Then here comes the guard saying,

SIR, bawal po idaan sa lobby ang mga ganyan. Kung gusto nyo, sa basement nalang kayo dumaan.

I agreed so as to keep my temper from flaring. So I walked to the basement and found my way to the service elevator. Then when I reached the pad of Rach, Rosella was there already, and it was only 730 pm. (and the early bird award goes to ROSELLA!!)

Time out: val texted me, saying that go to drews, me and ish are treating you and the girls to alcohol. Hehe. I replied, val sorry I had to work overtime. Sorry talaga. Deadline eh. Val replied: its ok. Habol ka nalang.

It took me around 4 trips to bring the chairs tables, food, ice and drinks in the condo. It was all good, it was a good exercise. Then, when the food was prepared already, I was thinking, parang kulang ata…(the pasta arrived later na) so I decided to look for some appetizers..i was hungry at that time. So I walked to pearl drive and look for some sushi. “CHEDENG” I found a sushi joint, and bought 2 orders of cali maki and salmon sashimi! Then I went back to the Condo to prepare.

Then Mon came along with Coach and Cars and the cast was complete.

After thirty minutes or an hour later, val and ish was going to the condo. Still, val didn’t have a clue. Then we closed the lights and ish was knocking the door. I didn’t open the door immediately, trying to delay the two celebrants. Then I opened the door and hid behind it. The girls with coach greeted val happy birthday! Then it took her several seconds to realized that WTF it’s a surprise party for me! Then the friends of val were saying tingin ka sa likod, si moby oh! Then when val saw me, she slapped me numerous times on the right arm.

And the pictures defined everything that happened after.

 

In the end, I served:

Val’s Birthday Menu

Appetizer:

California Maki

Salmon Sushi

Pasta:

Carbonara in white sauce

Pizza:

Pepperoni Pizza of Sicillians

Main Course:

Chicken Pastel

Dessert:

Mango Bravo

Strawberry Chocolate Mousse

Drinks:

Coke, Sprite and Royal.

 

Extras: May 25^th

Something extra, the day before her birthday, I was looking around for her birthday gift, I walked around G4 and Greenbelt to look for an i-trip. I recall asking Mariel, my cousin, where I could buy it. But first off, I went first to Flip Flops to get her some havianas, the ORIGINAL ONE and not the HAVANAS. Haha.

After buying the Havianas, I went to apple center, music one, apple certified distributors. And I saw the price of the I-trip. It was too expensive for my budget. Instead I bought the YES I-TRIP. Its 1/3 the price of the itrip. I also bought a dozen flowers as well to cap of her birthday gift.

After the inuman of me val and bacani that ended at around 1am. We decided to go home. It was a good thing that she didn’t recognize the smell of roses behind her. Hehe! Then before we left for tahanan, I gave her the gifts and said Happy Birthday!

Extra Number 2: why a surprise party?

Val never had a birthday party that she celebrated on her own. Usually, she had her birthday cocelebrated with his brother Eduard. Plus, she was saying before that she would like to treat her girl friends on her special day. So I thought of doing that with one blow…ok ba?

Extra Number 3: SHOUT OUT TO THOSE…

Who helped in the endeavor..(in order of appearance) Nikki, RAch, Ish, Mon, Rosella(the early bird), Tin, Cars and Paul(sorry talaga coach!)

To those who missed it, sorry, strict budget, next time, lets ask val to have a birthday blast! J Most probably, nalibre na kayo ni val J

In entering a company where you want to work for, establish a mark, and create a career that is needed to reach contentment. I realize that being content is not a like a fruit basket that is given to you. Rather it is sought for. I guess i can speak for my batch mates and to those who want to look for a job, that no matter how high the pay is, employees will always think of other ways to get what they want, to those who have been working for less than a year, its a higher pay.

 

I thought that when i went to where I am right now where pay is better than where I was, I thought that my officemates were content, albeit the work load (work kills, but you can work your way through it) some...and I myself think of jumping ship.

 

Not until, we realized that, it depends on the person on whether he or she wants to stay. I want to stay because its simply tiring to change work, miss friends, change environment, look for lunch mates, look for value meals for lunch, search for ways to beat the loop of work.

 

Note that even if I jumped shipped, or we(to the rest who want to jump ship), there will be officemates telling you of greenerER pastures, betterER benefits, greaterER compensation, etc. Live within the means…or survive at least.

 

I think that being young, we are still searching for the ground that we WANT to settle in. It could be the company, location, salary, environment, etc. Whatever it is, we should find it soon. If not, we will not find contentment and be restless till we grow old.

 

I have friends from both college and high school who complain about work. I myself have given my share of the pie. That at some point, I grew tried of complaining, why? Complaining will never create solutions, instead create more problems. My point is: Learn  to complain and move on, learn to (pakumbaba) be humble, not to be jealous of people who are happy. Im sure, they have things to rant about as well. Work your butt off because you need to. Be happy that you are in a better position than others. To finish off, theres the pay that will keep your dreams and aspirations fueled one payslip at a time.

 

We will never have things going our way. It doesn’t mean that if we drive on a one-way street, every thing is one-way as well, accept that there will be nitwits, dingbats, and nuisances that will come our way. Life is not easy or fair, DUH.

 

IF there’s two things that are certain…its alcohol and happiness, happiness can be attained by getting drunk. Haha!

 

Henry L Me once wrote:

every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands
hoist the black fag and begin to slit their throats

you cannot run away from weakness you must fight it out or perish and if that be so why not now and where you stand

most of our lives is a series of images
they pass us by like towns on a highway
but sometimes the moment stuns us as it happens
and we know that this instant is more that a fleeting image
we know that this moment every part of it we will live on forever