ANG PAGBABALIK
Posted at 08:09 PM

MISHAPS…

I’m still feeling the effects of our Banaue adventure… our trip was beset with mishaps. First, our pianist became sick and had to back out at the last minute. Then the usual 8 hour trip stretched to a horrendous 16 hour journey. Our bus broke down in Nueva Ecija, barely halfway to our destination. We were stranded there according to my choirmates for around 3 hours; around 6am we managed to hire two jeeps to take us the rest of the way. The poor vehicles couldn’t handle the incline and the distance, so we stopped every hour or so to pour water on the overheated engine. We arrived at the Green View Lodge at 2pm, only to find out that the other jeep took a wrong turn and ended up in Isabela; they arrived three hours later. That night, our conductor lost his temper because we all seemed to have lost our ability to sing in tune. Hay.

…AND BLESSINGS.

Still, it wasn’t an unmitigated disaster. I hardly noticed the long trip because, as usual, I was unconscious for most of it… my seatmates patiently became my pillows. Whenever we stopped, we ate; the watermelons near Solano were particularly sweet .it was a delight looking at the mountains and the amazing Banaue Rice Terraces. We also enjoyed free food and accommodations since the bride’s family owned the inn. All the single ladies, around 10 of us, squeezed into a single room with 3 beds. We took a lot of pictures, and it was amusing to see the choir members gussied up in formal attire…especially the female members who protest at the idea of wearing skirts, much less long gowns and make-up. We also had a drinking spree… rice wine helped ward off the chill. The wedding itself was beautiful; the bridal march was my favorite song, “Panunumpa.” Haay, kilig. We also went to View Point (or should I say Point of View? hehe) and went bankrupt buying pasalubong and souveneirs. Every now and then someone would suddenly sing, praise and worship songs mostly, or the LSS of the moment, “Lean on Me.” Finally, the trip back home was mercifully short, around 8hours only.

PRACTICUM JOURNAL

Day 23 June 1, 2004 Tuesday

After a two-week break to finish my baby thesis, I was welcomed back with open arms at the department. I wasn’t exactly sure if it was because of the peanut brittle from Banaue that I brought as pasalubong, or because of the research project waiting for me. I had to research on the taxes paid by telecommunication companies, as well as information about prepaid electricity. I quietly froze that day because I forgot to bring my jacket.

pasukan countdown: 6 days
where did my vacation go?
i could sing of your love forever

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SERIAL JOURNAL (matapos na kaya ito?)
Posted at 01:33 AM

SERYOSONG USAPAN

For the first time (in my four-year stay) nakapag-overnyt ng seryoso ang svcf manila. More than the plans, the vision-mission statements and the activities, I was blessed …
… by an IVCF kuya and ate who shared their time, experience, knowledge and prayers with us… just because we asked
… by the presence of nine present and future esbi pipol who were called in different ways and heeded that call... Abi, Caroline, Che, Dian, Minnie, Sheng, EJ, and Erwin.
… by the honest and tearful prayers of everyone there
… by the spiritual warfare card games and a mushy love story movie from korea and insomnia sessions and people who sleep on chairs and expired muesli bars and crayons and manila paper and metacards and lengua and noodles and chewie-chewie and shark songs and 5 bottles of coke and a lot of hugs…
Thank you Lord.

Just goes to show how God can use our weakness to show His strength. All he requires is the desire and the committment to do his will… and he does the rest. Galing Niya talaga!

"Seek first the kingdom of God..."


CALLUSES

I’m getting lots of calluses (kalyo) nowadays… on a variety of body parts…hehe. I can feel them on my fingers coz I’m attempting to learn to play the guitar again. I can feel them on my posterior after a summer spent sitting in front of a computer. I can feel them on my earlobes because of the earphones perpetually plugged there. I can feel them on my nose because of my dilapidated eyeglasses. Oh well… at least I haven’t got calluses where it would really hurt. ala na akong makwento...


PRACTICUM JOURNAL

Day 24 June 2, 2004 Wednesday
It was the last few days of summer “vacation” so I took the opportunity to log more practicum hours. I went directly to the Philippine General Hospital at 10am to witness the donation of SMART to the Cancer Institute. Specifically, the money was given for the benefit of indigent cervical cancer patients. Mr. Napoleon Nazareno handed the P1 million check and emphasized in his speech that the donation was from employee-initiative; they raised half of the funds voluntarily and the company matched their contribution. Ms. Mar, Ms. Nova, Sir Darwin and Sir Mon were also present. The afternoon was spent in front of a computer, as I continued the research about prepaid electricity and taxes.

Day 25 June 8, 2004 Tuesday

I arrived after lunch since I came from school. I spent an hour researching and then I went with Sir Wo and Ms. Aileen to the PLDT stockholder’s meeting at the Dusit Hotel. Around 200 stockholders gathered in a huge ballroom, with the company’s board of directors seated at a presidential table in front. There was even a live video conference with a Japanese company official in Tokyo. The proceedings reminded me of our class discussions about parliamentary procedure and group dynamics. We arrived in the middle of the speech of Mr. Manuel Pangilinan, the current PLDT chairperson. He gave a brief overview of the financial status of PLDT in the year 2003, emphasizing the large part SMART played in the company’s success. He also lauded the CSR program of PLDT and SMART at the end of his speech. Afterwards, an open forum was held for the stockholders, who seemed to come from all walks of life. We were amused by one “professional” (read: nuisance) stockholder who kept asking weird questions until he was almost thrown out of the meeting. For example, he actually asked the chairperson to give a complete account of his travel expenses and demanded to know his salary. Comic relief. Afterwards, I watched with bemusement as the ravening hordes, I mean, the press, surrounded Mr. Pangilinan and bombarded him with questions. Some even half-clambered onto the table to get closer to him. Eventually, he was able to escape. I went back to the office, where Sir Darwin asked Danee and me to formulate a questionnaire to evaluate the volunteerism programs of SMART. It was somewhat rushed, since we were supposed to administer it the next day during the awards ceremonies for the volunteers, but we managed to finish the questions before going home.

Day 26 June 9, 2004

Technically it was my last day at SMART the previous day, since I had already finished the required number of hours. But I came that day for a merienda cena in honor of the SMART volunteers at the Mondragon Tower in Makati. Ms. Sheryl and I manned the registration booth. The program started with a trivia game, and then an audio-visual presentation of the various CSR projects was shown. Each volunteer was then awarded a certificate of appreciation by Sir Mon and other SMART executives. It was a pleasant surprise for me when the emcee also called my name near the end of the list of volunteers. Thus ended my several weeks stay at SMART. However, I would still visit the office in my free time in the coming semester. I still had some unfinished projects (e.g. Ms Nova’s gigantic database and Sir Darwin’s case study). Also, my real boss, Ms Reena, would work on the second issue of the company newsletter. Above all, I had grown addicted to the workaholic yet fun atmosphere at the “icebox” aka the Public Affairs Department.

Nagpasukan na pala..siiigh. and no prof yet. Wehehe.
… and I’m off to see the dentist … waaah….
Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan Somewhere over the rainbow

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SLEEPLESSNESS
Posted at 09:20 AM

Written Tuesday 8 am
On a leaky stair step in UP
I am a night person. Incoherent in the morning, revving up in the afternoon and in full gear by 10pm. Bedtime for me coincides with the chirping of birds and the insistent beeping of my dorm mates’ alarms as they greet a “new” day. But God must be telling me to mend my ways; despite all my efforts I always end up with a class before noon. This semester, one of my electives start at 8:30 am… sheer torture. Then again, I’m still fortunate; a 7 am class would be… I don’t want to say bad words, hay.
So here I am, groggily sweating as I wait for a tardy professor. I’m miraculously awake because I haven’t slept yet. Sleeping before such an early class is a invitation to disaster – ask my poor alarm clocks/dorm mates. What kept me up aside from an out-of-whack body clock?

… 4 cups of coffee

… 3 servings of wheat-banana-milk cerelac

… a drawer with a year’s accumulation of junk, gunk, flora and fauna

… lotsa texts

… a one-meter distance from my bed

… thank you for the wonderful recorded music (my victims, hehe)

… a wonderful sunrise (is there any other kind?)

… a huge Chowking breakfast

… a younger kuya; my favorite coffee-mixer, cerelac-eater, hot-water-fetcher, mushiness-repeller, book-plastic-coverer, e-load customer, all-night-chattebox, and a literal gift from above (tinapon ba?). “The name on everybody’s lips is gonna be…”

AND at last the prof is here.
Crossroads of Twilight Morning Has Broken

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