Job Fair

I went to the first ever electronic job fair in the Philippines. I didn’t have to bring copies of my CV. Instead, I was asked to fill-up an electronic resume. After that I was given my first ever career card. All I have to do is to present my career card to the company where I would like to apply for a job. They would scan my card and voila! 

Many companies joined the fair, but most of them were call centers. I was only interested with three companies- Thomson Financial, Manila Times and McDonald’s. The first two didn’t have any person manning their booths so I wasn’t able to ask what I’ve been dying to ask- do you have a graduate program? With McDonald’s, I asked the silliest question “do we really have to wear the checkered shirt and blue pants?” The girl replied with a courteous smile “yes.” Then I asked again “do managers in your main office also wear this uniform (pointing to the picture)?” “No. They wear business attire” she answered, while it was noticeable that she was refraining herself from laughing.

There was also a job fair in the school. It was disappointing. The companies that joined the fair in 2006 were not in this year’s job fair. I was looking forward to submitting my resume to Unilab, Fujitsu and J&J, but they were not present. I wonder why… All my 19 resume ended in the hands of 19 different companies- from a directory firm to a hotel.

Speaking of the hotel, I submitted my resume to Discovery Suites. I’m hoping they consider my application, though I think I almost blew it off yesterday when I asked the HR person “do you require applicants to be really pretty and tall and slim?” Before answering, she looked at me for three seconds and said “it depends on the management.” I was not even contented and I asked again “if ever I get accepted can I be assigned in your Boracay office?” With the look on her face, I somehow felt that I was making her uncomfortable. She smiled and said “if there is a vacancy and it also depends on the management. Here, get an apple” she handed me a green apple. I thanked her, asked for their e-mail and, smiled and walked away.

I’d be tossed in the corporate jungle few months from now and I still have a vague idea of what to do with my “career.”  Should I be asking “how much?” “Where is it located?” or “Will it make me happy?”

Based on my experiences, I usually ask the last question first and forget about the amount.

People would probably wonder if I tell them that in the long run I see myself working in a farm. It’s no different to my friend who’s more interested to study gift wrapping than to pursue her CPA dream.

P.S. I really wanted to be an artista when I was in my teens, but now that I’m a bit older, I couldn’t pursue that dream. I can’t sing, I can’t dance, I don’t even know if I can act in front of a camera and most importantly, I can never pose for FHM, Maxim, Manual and even Uno.

Happy Birthday Jill

I think about death a lot. It’s not that I’m sick of anything and would die very soon… I almost died several times already- from surviving hemorrhagic to avoiding an accident. It’s just that at a very young age, I somehow forced myself to know about mortality. My lola Pat died years before I was born. I never saw my other sister because she dies few ours after she was born. Though I never really met them, I feel like I know them very well because my aunt would always say “our mommy likes to do this and that…” About my other sister, however, I keep on believing that she was killed by a barnacle. Do you know what a barnacle is? Funny, isn’t it? But the truth is she died because of a complication that “might” have occurred during my mother’s pregnancy. I just push myself to believe in what I always believed in when I was a kid.

This whole week, death was the center of my mood. I just don’t know why. I kept on seeing posters of “If Death were a Playwright.”  Meredith of Grey’s anatomy felt like she was going to die in this particular episode. I read an article in the newspaper entitled “Fading Memories” where the author tried to remember the memories of his brother.

…Just this morning while I was talking to myself, as always, I said “I’m excited to go to Cadena de Amor to eat my favorite foods.” I was talking about the menudo and piniñahan manok my “inang” always prepared during the thanksgiving celebration in February. Insensitively… I forgot that she passed away 2 years ago. Yes. It’s only two years ago and I could not even tell clearly if she’s still living or already six feet under the ground. I was quiet for a while and felt so dense when I finally came into a conclusion that she’s not with us anymore.

Inang is dead. She really is- just like Lola Pat, Jill and my beloved Lola Paj. Unlike the other three people I mentioned who are buried in private memorial parks in Manila and Zambales, Inang was buried in a public cemetery. Dirty, smelly and what can be classified as disgusting. I never visited her since her burial walk.

…What’s making me think about death? It’s not inang. It’s Jill. When I looked at the calendar I immediately saw 25. It’s already that 27^th and it’s just now that I looked at the calendar. January 25 was her birthday. We used to cook pancit every January 25, but it suddenly stopped. We also stopped visiting the cemetery every October 31. Nobody in the house seemed to remember that it was her birthday… the same day when she died. Maybe making me think about death these days is her way of reminding her family to remember her in these special days.

“Happy birthday, Jill. I’m sorry that we don’t cook pancit and visit the cemetery anymore. I made-up the barnacle story for myself, though I know the truth… What’s the truth anyway? Maybe it’s just another lie covering the real truth…”

Bangus

I woke up early this morning- considering that I have no class, I didn’t wet my pillow with saliva and the noisy machines of the construction workers are not functioning on Saturdays. I heard my mom said “god morning” and I just replied with a long and rasping “aaaaah…”

I was pretty excited to have my breakfast because I was expecting and been planning the whole week to eat hot padesal, strawberry jam and butter this particular morning. Uhm… Delicious… Almost. I was disappointed and so I spent more time talking and talking and talking.

“I don’t get it why he liked her so much in high school. Her lips aren’t pouting.  She has immensely thick lips and she has lice all over her hair.”

“Is she a member of the Bangus?” my sister asked.

“Yeah. Kapal nguso. I don’t know the name of the girl with long baba.”

“Also, although she’s friends with Farah, who’s considerably smart, she’s a little dense though not to the point of being an oaf. Promise.”

“You’re bad” my aunt interrupted.

“Ate” said my sister “according to the stoics, beauty attracts love.” I just can’t remember the exact words she said, but it’s something like that. “So you have to fix yourself…Make yourself beautiful.”

I could feel where the conversation was going. I was just waiting for her to say her eternal lines “I’m already beautiful. I don’t need to exert any effort- unlike you.” Great.

Inbox

Geralyn: Hi! This is Geralyn. I’m just trying to check if this is Jerico Severa’s number.

Jerico: Ger! Kamusta ka na? Ako pumayat pero mataba pa rin. May baby ka na ba?

Shocked. At this point I didn’t know what to tell him. Think…Think…Think…

Geralyn: Ako naman fluctuating pa rin ang katawan. Depende sa season. Wala pa kong baby. Bakit?

Jerico: Kasi yung iba natin classmate may pamilya na.

Geralyn: Weh? Sinu-sino?

Excited…

Jerico: Ayoko nga. Baka sabihin nila na chini-chismis ko.

Geralyn: Ah…Ok. Si Honeylyn nagwo-work sa BDO.

Fishing…

Jerico: Talaga! Pareho kami ng course. Tinuloy ba niya? Busy ako sa review ngayon eh.

Geralyn: Hindi siya nag-board. Financial Accounting siya. Uy, labas naman tayo minsan. Watch lang ng movie or eat out.

Jerico: Sige! Bye na muna ha. Nag-aaral kasi ako. Nalilito nanga ako eh.

Vacation

While I keep on thinking of spending more than a thousand pesos for a box of Xenical to burn all unnecessary baggage and cholesterol I gained during the holidays, people are saying “you lost weight.” Seriously? All I know is that I gained 2 kilos last December and another 3 just this month. Wow… That’s a whopping 5 kilos in just two months. Now, I must say goodbye to my dream of having a good Whopper food trip in Burger king.

Really… I think I must lose weight before summer. I was talking to my high school classmate, Fruitcake, yesterday about taking a particular exam while I suddenly mentioned “Gel wants to Mt. Apo. Would you like to go on a vacation this summer?” I was thinking of a good reason why…Then suddenly I remembered Remedios. “I think we really should, because this would be the last time we’d be having a long time together. After graduation, we’d all be busy with our work.” Silly… I was just referring to myself… All my high school friends graduated last year and are working already (except for Fruitcake who made it clear to us that she’s a bum) and I’m the only one who’s still studying.

I called Gel. Gel suggested Malaysia. “Hello?! Are you serious? I don’t have the money to fund a Malaysian tour” I told her. “I’d like to go to Camiguin” she added. Wow… Then while she was giving more suggestions I thought that we should invite our other close friends. I’d definitely invite Honeylyn. The last time we invited her to go swimming we sneaked her out of their house because her parents won’t allow her to get near a swimming pool. Glojilyn should and would definitely go. Oh… we should also inform Rachelle, Ate K (the Streetboys Fan), the beautiful yet very frail Francine a.k.a Low-Batt Woman.

Hmmmm… Just to annoy Gel and Fruitcake maybe I should tell them to invite Jerico. Yes… Jerico- the guy who was so into Honeylyn back in high school. But whenever they start talking about that, I would butt-in “Hey! He had a crush on me first… I guess.” Sometimes, I just have to say that. He also criticized Gel for her coconut husk hairdo and Fruitcake for no apparent reasons.

Sleepy Head

Whatever your religion there’s this particular day you have to look your best and be the best person you are. For me it’s every Sunday. Unlike before when there were five of us who go to the mass at 9 am, now it’s just me and my sister. We don’t attend the morning mass, we make it sure to be on time for the children’s mass at 3pm.

The children’s mass is supposed to be lively and jolly. It should be like making a child listen to Kuya Cesar’s AM radio show.

Yesterday, I was convinced that this particular priest (can’t remember his name) shouldn’t be assigned to lead the mass at 3pm. People… I mean adults and children alike were really sleeping while he was conducting the sermon. I couldn’t count how many times I yawned. The lady beside me was doing the same. Kids were having tantrums. And there’s this guy who was literally snoring aloud. If an average person has an attention span of 20 minutes, listening to him would cut it down to ah…. 5 minutes.

If priests were to be rated like what they do in Starstruck the Next Level, I’m pretty sure he’ll be in the bottom three next week and might be the one to be voted out and be an avenger.

Trip to the New Store

I just got into my room. I accidentally locked myself outside while I was cooking some instant noodles I just bought from a newly opened store near the church.

There, speaking of the store, it sells all kinds of goods from different Asian countries, particularly China. And the prices are really cheap… My real intention of going there was to look for a hamper I can use to stash the food I got from our very own kitchen. Yeah… I’m like than… I guess we’re all like than in the house- we have our own for-emergency-use-only basket of food under our beds.

When I realized that I brought some money with me, I started to look for some nibbling goodies. Wow… There were huge packs of noodles that come in many varieties (not just plain beef or chicken), different sizes of sandwich cookies, and of course junk foods! Our mother did not raise us eating junk foods, but as we grow older we could totally feel that we’re deprived of these human inventions for such a long time. I ended buying a pack of “hand-pulled spicy beef noodles”, Baked Shrimp Bar (Chinese version of Oishi) and a pack of twisted egg cracker that says “Fresh.” Although I hardly understand what’s written on the packs, I made sure that they’re not yet expired. I only paid P28.

When I got home I immediately prepared a pan so I could cook the noodles. I had one problem- I didn’t know if I should drain the water or not. “Should it be like a pancit canton or a mami?” I asked myself. My question was loud enough that my auntie heard me talking to myself. “Look at the picture” she said. It looked like a pancit canton… I didn’t like the taste. I even added some melted butter and fruit cocktail juice so I could finish eating it.

Brand New

Besides listening to the good news I also have another (but can be a little sinful) motivation to go to church every Sunday- that’s people watching. I hardly see lots of people nowadays because I only spend 8 hours outside every week (I only have 1 subject left). Most people in the church do this unknowingly- I’m sure of that (even Jose Rizal knew this)… All we do is sit there and look, describe and scrutinize the other churchgoers. Of course, I don’t do this aloud. I say all those things to myself alone and sometimes whisper it to my sister.

Yesterday was quite a laugh-trip for us (myself, my sister and some people, too). A family with four kids arrived late for the mass. So our tendency was to look at the- they’re right in front of us. Fresh for the holiday, we instantly found out that two of the kids were wearing brand new clothes. How? The tags were still there. It’s not just a sticker or something… The tags were like miniature booklets with 5 pages (maybe it’s a how-to wash booklet). It’s that noticeable that people were distracted from singing and listening to the gospel.

It’s obvious they didn’t wash the clothes after buying them. I can say it’s not a gift because the sticker indicating the price was still there.

I guess we were all sharing the same dilemma that time- how to tell them about the tags without making them feel embarrassed and how to take it off if nobody has a pair of scissors.

Few seconds before we saying “peace be with you” I told my sister that “the problem would be fix when people start to greet each other”. I was right! There was a nice lady who put the tags under the shirts.

The mother of the kids was totally clueless about what happened.

Scuttle-BUTT

I suddenly remembered an incident and couldn’t help to write it down.

Few days before Christmas my mother agreed to bring us to the nearest and cheapest salon we could find to get our hairs trimmed. The haircutter kept on telling me “you have thin hair.” So I, on the other hand, kept on replying “that’s one of my biggest problems.” In just thirty minutes or so my sister and I were already done. Our mother, on the other hand was still getting her hair treated.

I didn’t want to stay there while customers kept on coming in. The new customers were already standing and giving us you-better-get-your-asses-off-these-chairs-or-I’ll-kick-you-out. I asked my sister if she could ask “mommy to give us some money so we can eat in Jollibee. We’ll just go back for her later.”

We walked from that parlor to Jollibee. We only had P50 pesos to spend so we have to be as frugal as possible. While thinking of what combo meal to order with that amount of cash I went to the restroom to pee. 

“Am I dreaming? Why am I seeing an old woman’s butt” I said to myself. I stared at the cellulite-infested butt for such a long while as if I was being hypnotized. Then suddenly a scream woke me up “What! I left the door open!” said the old lady. I immediately went in the other cubicle.

That night, after dinner I shared what I saw that afternoon with my sister, mother and aunt. “Yeah! There was an old lady who kept on saying that she left the door open while she was taking a leak. I didn’t know that it was you looking at her oldie butt” my sister told me. And we all laughed.

Head Banging Neighbors

I could sleep easily even when it’s noisy around me. I just got used to it… After all, my room is just some few steps away from a house of praise where people sing and dance all night and day. Sometimes, I sing along with them when I’m really bored.

Right outside my room is a badminton court which has grown very popular around town. I hear people scream and laugh all night and I can’t even complain. My only consolation is that few weeks from now a “Goma Cup Badminton Tournament” would be held there. I should be expecting celebrities to join the competition and I have the best view in town.

Beside the badminton court is a hollow block factory. Machines and delivery trucks bug me all day, while drinking workers sing lullabies for me during the night. You just have to imagine that… No matter how hard I try (or imagine) to clean my room, dust from the factory would always find a way in my room. 

Old Stuffs

 As promised here are some old stuffs I have at home.

There’s a 1951 Webster’s New (now it’s old) vest-pocket (now it’s simply called compact) dictionary. A female doctor used to own this book. It was then given to my mother and then my mother gave it to me 6 years ago.

Then there are the old songbooks which are popularly known nowadays as songhits. The red one is my most prized songbook. It’s the Jingle Beatles Special. They compiled all Beatles songs in this one songbook. The others I only keep for the feature articles of Joey de Leon- his somewhat naughty jokes that can at least make me laugh when I need to.

That one is a bronze figure of the Virgin Mary carrying baby Jesus. I remember during our house blessing few years ago, the priest immediately noticed this figure when he entered one of the rooms in our house.

You could also see a Seth Thomas bronze clock. It’s made from Germany. I just wish there’s a shop that can fix some parts of this clock, it’s still working though. I think it’s from my great grandmother.

The last one is a lamp which really reminds me of a scene in El Filibusterismo. I wasn’t able to put the tall glass cover on because I’m afraid I might break it. We only used it once when our emergency light didn’t work during a blackout in the 1990’s. Once lighted, you’d just be drawn to it. As if you’re the moth being portrayed in one a popular story.

Oh…And before I forget! I also included a picture of my antique surgical scissors and forceps. I got these from my grandfather’s house. After Japanese soldiers left the house when the war ended the second floor was used as a clinic. That’s how I got these items. It’s just sad that my aunt threw away the squeaky hospital bed which she slept on for several years.

The Cluttered Room

  My mother would always scold me whenever she enters my room. “Can you call yourself a lady?! How can you be so organized with school/office stuffs when you can’t even tidy up your room?!” she would tell me.

I admit it- I can be pretty obsessive-compulsive when it comes to my things when I’m out of the house, but it’s because I’m afraid of the hideous bacteria/germs/virus that can infect me. I’m so immune with the ones in my room so I don’t have to bother as much.

We don’t have any house helper so we are somehow obliged to clean our own rooms. My sister is lucky. When she was booted out of her used-to-be room she went to stay with our aunt. No wonder she don’t talk about cleaning the room. I, on the other hand, am very busy with lots of things- like what to sell online, looking at the profiles of those people who viewed my Friendster, reading and irritating my sister. I’m that busy that I could hardly find time to clean my room regularly.

During normal days my room is such a mess (see pictures). I prefer darker shades of bed sheets so dirt won’t be that obvious. My dresser is hardly used so most of the time the mirror is covered with dust. The study table doesn’t look like one. You can find all sorts of things on it such as candy wrappers, bags, newspaper articles, map of the world, 50-year-old dictionary, etc… My walk-in closet doesn’t serve its purpose because it’s more like a storage room where you can find empty perfume bottles, rocks, dust bunnies, golf balls and chardonnay bottles with tiny stars in it.

No matter how my room looks like, I love it and wouldn’t want to transfer rooms.

My New Camera

Wow! I just got my first digital camera. It’s not high-end though. It’s a Kyocera-Yashica EZ Digital 3011. It takes nice pictures. That’s all I know now. I’m not that techie so I don’t know much about the specifications of the camera. As long as it can take pictures and can be used as easy as 1-2-3 then I’m fine with that.

After all these years I’m glad I’ve finally decided to buy a camera. I didn’t buy it from any physical store. I bought it through the Internet. I got the money I used to purchase this camera through an online raffle draw. Supposedly it’s going to be delivered to my house. I’ve waited for almost two weeks and it didn’t arrive. I was starting to be nervous then I found out that it was sent to the wrong address. So, this morning I called our local LBC branch to follow-up my package. I’m not usually irritatingly persistent about things, but I have to get that camera. After few “could you please check it again” the LBC guys finally found my package.

Instead of waiting until the following day I decided to go to their office to get the package myself.

I’m so glad. Now I can include pictures in my future entries.

The Soulmate Calculator

When I was in high school most girls tried calculating the probability of ending up with their crushes using the Love Calculator. Now, I'm surprised to see what is apparently called the Soulmate Calculator while surfing the world wide web.

What do you expect from a loveless hopeless romantic to do with it than to try if it really works. So there. I was asked to select my gender, give my first name, zodiac sign and mobile number. I’m not that gullible. Why would I type my mobile number? Receiving dozens of “unsolicited” quotations from different people already annoy me and I don’t want to add another one. I just gave another person’s number which I got from my phonebook. A message appeared telling me that I should try some other time.

I didn’t find out who might be my soulmate, but I’m very sure that if I use Soulmate Calculator he would definitely be a foreigner. Come one. What’s the possibility of a Filipino name to be in their list? I guess it would be more convincing if they also include Chinese, Japanese, Nepalese, Thai and Filipino names. What can they do is to add another option, something like “Choose the nationality of your soulmate.”

Visit http://www.thesoulmatecalculator.com/

Subic Rape Case

It was a fest for the media when Nicole went public last 2005. It also started endless debates in classroom, offices and even street corners. There she was, Nicole, filing a rape case against several American soldiers. For sure, it also tested the effectiveness of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and United States of America.

Moving forward to this day, Smith was already found guilty. He was detained in Makati City Jail for several days and was secretly transferred to American Embassy. Nicole, her lawyers and supporters are now steaming angry for what happened.

What ifs:

1. What if Nicole didn’t go to Subic and just went to a local club in her hometown?

2. What if Nicole didn’t know how to drink and dance?

3. What if Smith wasn’t that good-looking?

4. What if Smith were gay?

5. What if Nicole went to Ocean Adventure on a sunny morning instead of going to Neptune on a steamy evening?

6. What if Smith was surrounded by prostitutes?

7. What if Smith stayed on the ship and got himself some other ways to satisfy the calling of his flesh?

8. What if Smith was just an ordinary American visiting the Philippines?

9. What if the congress didn’t pass the VFA and the Senate didn’t sign this agreement?

10. What if the Philippines didn’t rely that much on American support?

I’d like to see an American guilty of a crime behind the rusty bars of a Philippine jail. For Nicole, prayers, discretion and patience are your greatest weapons.

Metro Manila Film Festival 2006

Movie is an art form. It’s like putting the different art forms all together and showing it to the general public at a cheaper price and easier way to understand. I always wait for the showing of the Metro Manila Film Festival movie entries in theaters nationwide simply because I want to see on national television how the market would react. Of course, there’s the long queue, madness at the cinema, inappropriate shouting whenever the movie characters kiss or just about to be caught by the villains and the hysteria to put themselves in front of the camera to scream “this is the movie of the year”- which would be shown during TV commercials.

The awards night is another thing. It’s the time for celebrities to flaunt what they got- any part of the body that protrudes, flashy gowns, gigantic mass of hair and they’re celebrity dates. It’s also the time and an excuse for the press people to scrutinize the so-called stars.

I haven’t seen any of the movies. I would just wait for the VCD release and rent the movies during my free time. How do I choose a movie to watch? It all depends on the storyline, trailer and poster. I could be that shallow.

If I were one of the lucky press people who were given movie passes, my first five choices would be (according to order) Ligalig, Gua Ai Di, KKK, Shake, Rattle and Roll 8 and Enteng Kabisote 3.

I would watch Ligalig not only because there’s a steamy scene between Buboy and Gwen Garci (hello, it was deleted, I’ll just wait for the director’s cut to be released few months from now) but because I believe it’s a really good movie-so good that a Hollywood director would like to re-make the movie. Well, I’ve always liked Cesar Montano movies. He’s one of those people who strive to make the movie industry rise again. I felt bad that it didn’t bag the Best Picture award.

Gua Ai Di would be the only Mano Po movie that I’d ever watch. Seriously. I’m so tired of the plot of the previous Mano Po movies- very heavy and dramatic. At least this one brings the lighter side of a Sino-Filipino love affair.

Of course Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo should be in my list because my idol Judy Ann Santos won best actress for that movie. It’s the first time I’ve heard a comedy get the best actress award.

I’m a Shake, Rattle and Roll fan since I was a kid. I’ve seen the earlier installations that featured our beloved Aiza Seguerra and Manilyn Reynes. That’s the kind of Pinoy movie I don’t miss the most- corny and predictable. However, things change and movie making evolves. Now they’re trying to imitate how other Asian countries scare the heck out of the audience.

Would you believe that Enteng Kabisote 3 won the Best Picture award? I protest. Seriously. How did it happen? It’s because of one criterion worth 40%, the movie should be commercially viable.  Enteng Kabisote is the top grosser, while Ligalig is placed second to the last. Come on! Money over artistry? Now, it’s Enteng Kabisote who’s being placed in an awkward position instead of the judges, panels and board members of the MMFF. I have nothing against this movie. You should know that I watched Okay Ka Fairy Ko when I was a kid; I also saw parts 1 and 2 of the OKFK movie and the previous Enteng Kabisote movies.

P.S. Before I say goodbye, Pops and Zsa Zsa don’t look cool in their costumes. The whole movie looks like a latex/fetish/voyeur/homosexual party. Of course, it’s just my opinion. The kids look at them as superheroes. So be it.

The House

The Upper House

I was assigned in the Human Resources Department and so most people I know are from the HR department.

1. Ms. Gigi is the HR Manager. By simply looking at her one could tell that she has a high position in the company. I stayed there for two months, but I’m pretty sure that she doesn’t know my name. She only talked to me once when she asked me a little favor, that is, to contact the Department of Labor and Employment.

2. Ms. Tricia is the Senior HR Specialist. I heard a lot of good and not so good things about her, but these things don’t matter. If there’s one person in the office who was able to beat me as an early bird, it’s Ms. Tricia. She’s quiet, but I often see her on the phone. She’s also one of those people who calls me “Gen” instead of “Jing.” She often wears high healed shoes, but she finds it difficult to walk. Ms. Tricia and Tita Rica were classmates in college. I like her because when I was invited to help in the job fair, she taught me how to analyze people by looking at their CV’s and application forms.

3. Ms. Deejay is, as we all know, my immediate supervisor. She’s my go-to person when I need something or when I have important questions. She never gets tired lending me her scissors, stapler and staple wire remover. She’s always willing to answer my never ending questions. She can be really wicked, but she’s super nice. She’s always funny even when she’s hysterical, stressed out and complaining. Besides having this “simple yet pretty” feature, there are two things I noticed about her during those two months, she’s intelligent and wise.

4. Ms. Lady is the ultimate fashionista. She has the stuff that makes a lady beautiful and she knows how to strut it. Her bronze complexion and short and slick hair make her stand out. Honestly, she’s the office’s own Queen Latifah.

5. Ms. Gaye as I’ve mentioned in my previous post hast this long shiny hair. If she’s not born with it, maybe it’s hair spa treatment and the likes. She’s covered by mystery… I don’t know, I guess it’s her silence that would keep a person asking for more.

6. Ms. Anna, I suppose, is older than the other girls, but younger than Ms. Tricia. She plays the best music in the HR office. I also like the way she smile at people- so genuine and no pretenses.

7. Ms. Inah is the loudest and jolliest person in the HR office. If you’re not used to her loud voice and wide eyes you’d probably think she’s mad at you. She’s also the funniest. Her side comments simply make me burst into laughter.

8. Ms. Andrea is the newbie. She’s the newly hired HR Specialist who often forgets to use her ID to open the door. She’s also known for conducting the longest interviews. Besides Ms. Deejay, she’s the only HR specialist whom I can talk to. One day she asked me “can you guess my age?” I eagerly said “28!” Oops, she’s only 24.

9. Ms. Kace is the shorter and fairer version of Ms. Lady. She’s called by the male interns as “Ms. Beautiful” because she is- a product of an exclusive school for girls. I’m always embarrassed whenever she hears me commit mistakes while on the phone because her laughter can invite other people to laugh as well. She loves saying “I’m happy for you.”

10. Ms. Nadia is called by Ivy as “cousin” because they share the same surname, but they’re not really related. If Ms. Kace is very lenient, Ms. Nadia is rather strict. If the agents are noisy she would raise her voice and tell them “Could you please lower your voices!” She also doesn’t like to have no one in the front desk even during lunch time.

The Lower House

1. Ivy is often called “Bossing” by Tita Rica because she is the only RA who can go in and out of the HR office effortlessly and she is the closes among the other RA’s to the manager and specialists. She has this strong personality that you would never want to make her your enemy. She is more willing to teach you if you don’t know something, but never ever say “ok” if you don’t really understand what she’s saying. 2. Tita Rica is the oldest RA- that’s why she’s called “Tita.” She’s the hungriest of all the RA’s and she definitely loves to eat. She brings junk food with her all the time- whether she’s in the front desk or in interview room 2. She’s finds it difficult to enter the HR office, as if she’s afraid of someone, that’s why she asks me to sharpen her pencil (the sharpener is in the HR office). She has a very loud voice and distinct way of talking. This is the reason why one would know if she’s doing phone screening or merely doing personal calls.

3. Achie is the only RA I can ask questions like “what would you do if you saw a bag with P1 million?” She’s nice, but she’s also absent-minded at times. Whenever she commits mistake, it’s with the senior HR specialist. What I like about her is that she couldn’t hide her mistakes; she’s the first one who would literally “brag” about it. Don’t dare ask her (except if it’s about the location of the washrooms) because more likely she’d just give you a blank stare. Her favorite word, as I notice it, is “shame.”

The Constituents

The Constituents are the other interns, like me. All in all there are seven interns in the office. Two of us are girls and, three I’m certain are males while the other two interns are still questionable. After three days of encoding I was asked to do phone screening of applicants- no wonder why I’m closer to the RA’s than the interns. The interns are stationed in the testing room doing encoding, filing and shredding. Any unexpected noise would probably be coming from the testing room. I listen to their stories while I’m in the interview room, and sometimes I laugh with them.

…Continuation

After few more minutes another employee arrived. She was all smiles at me- as if we already know each other. I felt at ease seeing her. She looked older than Ms. Deejay, though Ms. Deejay still appeared superior. The lady went inside the cubicle beside where I was interviewed.

When she went out she said “Have you taken your breakfast? Come on, get some.” She was offering me Clover Chips- junk food for breakfast. Healthy? She noticed that I kept on calling her Miss because I didn’t know her name yet so she told me to simply call her Rica. Eventually, I would hear other people call her Tita Rica so I would call her as such.

I looked at my watch, few more minutes and it would be 9 am. “Am I supposed to look for my supervisor to ask what am I supposed to do?” I told myself. Alas! Another girl, someone in her 20’s approached me with a bundle of papers. “Gen, come with me, I’ll tell you what to do.” Her name was Achie to the employees and Ms. Cherry to the applicants. She’s tall, has long hair and has several pimples on her face. I spent my first three days beside her encoding some information of rejected applicants. For three days I also kept on asking her question, but she gave me vague answers or nothing at all.

From time to time there’s another girl who would enter the encoding area, which is really the testing room. It’s just that the computers used for encoding are also placed in the testing room. This girl looked pretty snobbish, superior and snooty with her old-maid hair style and stiff eyeglasses. Her name’s Ivy- the sickly, physically sensitive and prone to papercut recruitment assistant who needs to bring her own first aid kit because of her condition.

Tintin, my friend, was late. I was told by the other recruitment assistants (RA), Ivy and Tita Rica, that it’s her first time to come in late. She got stuck in C5 for an hour and a half.

I felt at ease when Tintin arrived. At least there’s someone I really know. Deep inside I felt like it shouldn’t be like that; that I have to stand by myself and shouldn’t be under her shadow. 

Day 1 and Beyond

Is this luck or what!? My first day was welcomed by a typhoon. I couldn’t hide my excitement that’s why I was in RCBC Plaza at 6:30 am- to think that office hours start at 8:30 am. That’s what we all call thrill. I was there with my trusty messenger bag, lucky white shirt, boots and a baby blue coat- the complete picture of an intern.

Of course I couldn’t bear the embarrassment of being the one who will open the office that Monday, October 30, so I stayed at the ground floor where most people, I noticed, were carrying brown envelopes. I found out that they’re going to the different embassies located in Tower 2.  Uhm… Migration.

More than the huge building that reminded me of Men in Black, the different people were simply amazing. I saw a stewardess in her blue uniform pulling her big luggage bag, there’s this European that caught my attention with her own deadly weapon- stilettos, the call center agents who tries to warm themselves by smoking and a lot more.

By 8 am I’ve decided to go to the 29^th floor, the IHG office. There I was greeted by the guard. “I’m looking for Ms. Djoanna. Is she here already?” I asked. He smiled and answered “applicant? She’s not yet in. You can stay in the waiting area. What’s your name?” “I’m Geralyn. I was here last Friday. I’m an intern and today is my first day.”

Again… I was asked to stay in the waiting area. It was raining so I expect people to be late. Before 8:30 I noticed a silhouette grew bigger. Someone’s approaching… Suddenly her head popped out. “Jing… You’re early.” It was her, Ms. Deejay. All I could say was a short “yeah” though I really wanted to tell her “I was anticipating traffic jam in our area.” She left and went to the washroom.

To be continued…

Day 0 – Patience is a Virtue

After a night of doing research on today’s major industries and the company background, I somehow woke up late. I only have 2 hours to prepare for my interview this afternoon at 2 pm. Still, I can feel the hesitation of pursuing my application for internship because of my frustration to be selected as one of the interns for Citibank.

For business students like be, being an intern at Citibank is synonymous to being bankable in the future. Everyone knows Citibank. Everyone wants to be there, but not everyone is chosen.

I wonder why misfortunes strike me in just a day. My lucky crisp white shirt is in the hamper, I don’t have a shampoo to use and I can’t fix my hair the way I want it to be fixed. Bad day. Bad mood.

When everything’s finally polished, I looked for a tricycle to take me to the loading area for commuters. It suddenly rained so hard that the folder protecting my freshly printed resume was almost tearing apart. No! My resume! My internship! Good thing the funny-smelling driver noticed my reaction and he offered to cover the tricycle with thick plastic to not further damage my day.

My appointment, according to Tintin, was at 2pm. I was in their office before 2.

It’s October 27, Friday, I wonder why they’re wearing all the same shirt. Is this their Friday uniform? Minutes passed… Hours passed and yet no one’s calling my name. I’m getting frustrated. I peed more than 10 times already because of the low temperature in the waiting area, I already interviewed the other applicants before they were interviewed by the girl with long hair and pseudo-intelligent eyeglasses and I’m still waiting for my turn. More than three hours have passed. I thought it’s better to go home. Then I noticed a petit girl enter the room in front of me. I also heard someone from the front desk whisper “goodluck.” Then my name was called.

I was nervous- So nervous that when she asked me “how are you in the family?” I literally forgot to mention my sister- that I have to say “I’m sorry; I forgot to count my sister. Can I repeat that?” It was one of the longest days of my life. In the end, she accepted me to work for the company as an intern. “Who’s going to be my supervisor?” I asked. “Me. I’m Djoanna” she replied with a smile.

I left the office minutes before 5:30pm.

That same night I received a call from Tintin.

Besides learning that patience is a virtue, they also taught me the first choices maybe wrong and the last choices maybe the best. And money (in this case, an allowance) is not important. What's more important is the learning and experience I acquired from the internship.