BACKTRACK

Oct 11 is Sir RP's birthday. The whole office went to Ma'am Annie's place by lunch time. As usual, lamon galore. Then, all new comers for the year 2004 are required to sing karaoke.

Here are some pics of the event.

The tallest guy you see there is Sir RP. According to Mia, he looks like the mayor in Spin City. The one in pink is our very fashionable down-to-earth boss, Ma'am Annie. The one in red is our receptionist, Ate Cherry. Of course you know Mia and Patt. That flower in my head is NOT my idea.

SEM BREAK!!!

Yeah, I call this a sem break! It's a two-day weekend without take home work. Two days, coz I went to work on a saturday.

I'm taking this opportunity to reminisce those good old days of college. Actually, those college remnants are gradually disappearing as the months go by. Let me start with car talk. I have 2 cars filled with college memories - site visits, gimik with friends, etc. The blue car is long gone after what Panny did to my car. Now, my gold car Dimple was replaced by another one. Although I can still have Dimple, I have to practice using the new Rav that was assigned to me. Next thing I lost is my ever loyal printer, who had been with me since school required printing singnificant amount of A3-sized submissions. One day, it just died... I mean, it won't turn on, and that's the end of it. My desktop, on the other hand, is now with Panny in Malabon. Of course she also took my well-loved Altec Lansing speakers. Those good old thesis days with my pc are done. To all notebook borrowers... I also hate to announce that I also lost my prized Arch 72 and 73 notesbook.

Though I lost some, I added to my things a UP shirt which I bought from SC the last time I was there with Mumty. Within the four corners of the office, the Maaliwalas Project under Prof. Dytoc still hunts me. Mia printed some office related stuff at her house using the other side of Maaliwalas research paper. That thing really hunts me,... imagine seeing a hell-related schoolwork in the office!!! And of course, since Mia and Patt are with me, we still retained the tradition in UP to Tambay. We've laready established our Tambayan known as the Playhouse. (Actually, it's the drivers' tambayan, but we're claiming it to be ours.)

Tomorrow is the last day of my sembreak. The following day, I have to go back to work abandoning my college jeans, shirts and tsinelas sandals for skirts, blouses, blazers/cardigans and high-heeled shoes. And of course, I have to bring a grown-up attitude with me.

finally... nakapag blog ako ulit

About 2 weeks ago, i was on my way to st. luke's, when i suddenly felt dizzy. for 4 days i was like that,... super hilo every afternoon. bad trip pa, coz one of our supplier/ contractor, kept on coming to the office after 6pm. those are the most pathetic days,... attending meetings without the right mind. then my dad found out and blamed my work for my physical conditions. twice kaming nagsisigawan over the phone coz he wants me to quit job. bad trip pa when he caught me staying in the office beyond 10pm. but those were weeks ago. we're at peace now and my stay in the office is not threatened anymore. sabi kasi ni Dra. Panny, i was food poisoned, as usual. this time, it was probably an overdose of MSG, since i ate KFC for 3 consecutive meals.

last saturday, on my way home to malabon, someone bumped my car from the back. that guy, who happens to be almost-neighbor, wasn't able to step on the break on time. imagine a clean looking guy almost our age. medjo cute. (rish, maybe you know this guy. he's carlo from fordham st.) he's panicking, kept on asking if we're ok. ( i was w/ panny in the car). he was not asked to pay for the damages, coz according to my dad, it's an old car anyway and we can have it repaired in our own backyard. the monday after, when i went back to white plains, a relatively huge chocolate mousse cake was there from carlo. sobra syang nahiya for what he did. anyway, i already shared the cake with my bosses and officemates and also to the yayas at home. until now, there were still some in the ref.

kung si rish may hong kong boy, ako din meron,... authentic pa. kaya lang for rish, it's something positive, for me, bad trip, ang kulit. medjo nauubos lang naman yung load ko sa dami nya mag text,... pati yung non-work related stuff. di ko alam kung bakit nya ko kelangan i-text kung asang panig ng mundo na sya pag on the way na sya ng office, or tanungin kung kumain na ko kung di naman sya magdadala ng pagkain if ever sabihin kong hindi. basta, INUUBOS NYA LOAD KO!!! contractor /supplier sya na masyadong masigasig na nagtatrabaho para makuha ang project sa st. luke's. kahit 2log pako nag tetext na sya. he's the same guy i mentioned kanina na kelangan kong i-meet after 6pm kahit may sakit ako. it finally came to a point na my bosses confronted me. asa mini-conference kami at parang meron akong daddy (si sir rp) and mommy (si ma'am annie) na nagbibigay ng pangaral sa buhay. ma'am annie was actually thinking of switching project assignments if that guy is really bothering me. buti nalang medjo stable na ngayon. i filter messages that i should respond to. makulit parin, but i think he got the point.

finally, nakagimik ako ulit with college people! miss ko na yung good old days of college.

kelangan ba talaga ng title?!

My week started with a surprise when Ma’am Annie gave us moo-ing cows. They’re cute little stuffed animals from Lindt. But one of them is not moo-ing properly when pressed at its tummy. We called it the Broken Ox / Asthma. I can’t seem to remember when it was the same day when Ma’am Annie also shared with us mooncakes from Hong Kong courtesy of our supplier/contractor KY. The following day is another girls food trip. Ma’am Annie, Kuya Arnel and I came from a meeting while Mia and Patt came from the office. All of us met at Osteria and had a spectacular pasta / pizza meal. Food is really good. We all enjoyed our meal even though we knew that we will be late for our 1pm meeting. Later that week, my other boss, Sir RP finally came home from Xiamen. He really wants to pursue a project there. But that’s not what keeps him enthusiastic all day. He’s so proud of his new set of golf clubs he bought from Xiamen at a very cheap price. I though he was just kidding, but he really wants to pursue a project there. He asked me about my passport and visa several times. So came weekend and I bought a lonely planet mandarin phrase book so I can start my crash course asap.

Finally I was able to go home to malabon… after 3 months. I went to my uncle’s place just beside our house and played with his Persian cats. At night, I watched 2 movies. Yeah, I felt so deprived in White Plains. I woke up late on Sunday morning and hurried to get dressed for my dad’s high school reunion / mooncake festival game. After the event, we went to Ongpin St. to buy our favorite fried siopao. I brought a few to the office today,… and Sir RP complained to me that it’s so bitin. For them, it’s “the” siopao. I thought it’s only a siopao.

Anyway, gotta go. I still have a long long week to accomplish piles of work on my table.