We didn’t go out. Not really. The only time I went out was when Dad showed us where we can buy stuff in case of emergencies. It’s a 5-minute walk to the nearest gas station convenience store. For a gas station store, it’s pretty well-stocked up. They even sell meat there. It’s almost like a minimart there. Then we went home. After that, it’s just a whole day devoted to watching TV, playing Magic the Gathering, and eating.
Singapore: Day 3 (March 29)
Dad went to work today. We woke up earlier than we did yesterday and left the condo at around 11:35. We went to Tampines Mall by bus, as usual, and boarded the train to City Hall station. Once there, we went to the tech mall for lunch. (There’s a food court there.) Then we went to the Philatelic Museum to explore its insides. It was quite a small building. The museum’s theme this season was all about stamps from around the world. We got to see how it was made. Next, there was a small exhibit regarding Singaporean history. Just a snippet of it, mostly dealing with trade. Then we went to the Tintin exhibit. It was quite small. The best thing about it was seeing Herge’s sketches of his Tintin comics. The rest were just tiny models of the Tintin characters, the whole collection of books and other Tintin stuff. On the whole, it wasn’t much of an exhibit, though there’s the usual info about the books and the author and some bit of trivia.
After that, we went out and headed to Bishan where we helped Peter buy a Magic the Gathering deck for himself. It was quite a walk. And quite the train ride. We rode the red line from City Hall to Bishan, stayed at the mall for a bit, then switched trains to the circle line (the orange line) then went to Paya Lebar then switched trains to the green line there, and headed straight home to Tampines station. We waited there for a bus that was supposed to take us back to Ballota Park. It was supposed to arrive at 5:30 according to dad and arrive it did, right on the dot. We thought it was amazing and the whole trip home, we were comparing the Singapore transportation system with the Philippine transportation system, which was no system at all.
Singapore: Day 2 (March 28)
We just went out to have lunch in the mall, at a place that’s a bit like toast box. I ate a laksa, those spicy noodle soup things, with toast and sweetened milk tea. Most of the meals were spicy so my family had difficulty with them. All in all, only Dad, Patrick and I enjoyed them. Tricia and Mom didn’t, Tricia getting snotty and Mom turning red because of the spicyness. Peter ordered a hotdog sandwich and fries. He doesn’t like spicy things. That set him back S$10 though.
We then went to the National Museum. We didn’t explore much. We just strolled around, admired the stunning architecture, visited the fashion exhibit which was open at the time. We took a walk around the area and we saw their Art School. It looks amazing.
We went to the Philatelic Museum to take a look at the Tintin Exhibit but it was 6:30, 30 minutes from closing time. We decided to postpone the tour for tomorrow and so we left. The Philatelic Museunm Building looks like it came out of The Cat Returns. I was half-expecting Baron to show up any minute.
We went to the tech store/mall and looked for some accessories for our devices. I got myself a laptop fan. Then we went home.
Singapore: Arrival and Day 1 (March 26 – 27)
I know I haven’t updated this blog in a while. It has always been my problem anyway. But I’m writing because I got myself a new laptop (a netbook, though a laptop with a decent dvd drive would’ve been useful). So I guess I’d blog again starting now. It’s been ages.
Anyway.
This is my first time to fly to another country and actually walk on foreign soil.
The flight was pretty much like my first flight. Exhilirating, a bit uncomfy in the ears. A little cramped. Going through payments and immigrations was much more different and difficult though, but that’s just inexperience talking. It was also the first time I peed 6000 feet above the ground. Haha. It was funny because the plane experienced turbulence while I was in the loo.
Anyway, we landed after 3 hours or so of reading, uncomfortable sleeping, and trying to look out the window (I was on the aisle seat). Immigrations was smooth. They gave us candy. Then we met dad who was waiting for us there. We took two cabs and talking to the drivers was difficult. They didn’t seem to understand most of what we said except the address nor do they seem to recognize the address we gave them. But we got here anyway despite cab 2 getting separated with cab 1 (I was in cab 2) at the traffic light. Dad got a nice place. Really clean. And there’s beer and nutella in the fridge.
We stayed up late, unpacking and watching and TV and playing a few games of Magic: The Gathering. And settling with our devices; we needed the wifi to talk to people back home. I fell into an uneasy sleep, cold and uncomforted by the comforter that has nothing to do with temperature.
We woke up a little before 9 and had a nice breakfast. We watched a lot of National Geographic Channel. Dad just gave me the netbook this morning and it felt great. Relieved. I’d probably get a lot of things done with a laptop on. Probably. haha. And then Dad gave Tricia her Macbook. Then we just watched more TV. Dad briefed us on how to travel around Singapore and gave us our passes for trains and buses and SG sim cards. We left at around midafternoon.
We rode a bus to Tampines mall, ate a late lunch, and went to Tampines MRT station. We switched trains at City Hall station and then got off at Orchard station. We went around the place, checking out the malls. We went to this sort of compound composed mostly of Filipino stores. (We bought Mang Tomas sarsa. A blessing.) Then we walked and walked while the parents bought some stuff along the way. We want to Marina Bay by train and saw the sights (most of it are the insides of malls). [Pictures in the morning.] We saw the Art Science Museum, a hulking structure shaped like a sort of robotic stone flower and then the Singapore skyline, filled with skyscrapers. We walked the length of the Helix Bridge, perhaps the prettiest bridge I’ve seen with my eyes. It rained today so everything was gray and wet and a little gloomy. We walked some more and saw an Indian woman playing the sitar, accompanied by a man with…a sort of bongo. It was a delightful sight, it was a shame we were hurrying to the nearest MRT station since we were tired and hungry. We went back to Tampines mall and ate our dinner, then took two cabs back to Dad’s condominium. It was a long tiring day. There’s so much hope on the next two weeks. We’re starting to know our way around, at least.
Sabotage
Right now, I don’t trust myself with anything that involves me, my heart, and another person. I really don’t.
Also, this isn’t supposed to be something like a tweet, but that’s all I want to say for now.
Be at the right place and wait for the right time
I came home yesterday from an exam and initial interview at InterServe, a subsidiary of GMA. It’s sort of like an agency/HR. The pay was admittedly bad and non-negotiable and the work offered looks a bit easy. After the interview, I met Ramon Bautista when I got out of the elevator. I shook his hand and introduced myself. I think he sorta remembered me from the interview we had at 99.5 RT’s booth when their program was on (good times). He asked me if I know this guy he works with, a guy from DLSU-D, Frank. I said yes, he was my classmate, then he told me I should go tag along in their shoot/gig/happening/shindig. Honored, I said yes (one day, hehe).
Walking away from the GMA annex building, I figured, if I hang around there long enough, who knows who I might meet next? Somebody said, opportunities come along when you’re at the right place at the right time. He figured that you can just go to the right place and hang around, waiting for the right time. I think he’s right.
Tomorrow, I’ll have an interview at the same place. I hope I get it so I could earn something while looking for other opportunities. And that means living in Quezon City, too. Which also means seeing my best friends a lot, but not Nine. You win some, you lose some. T_T
***
I finally have a copy of Palad XIII. It looks fantastic. I’m not allowed to say much about it though, or even post a photo of it, so you won’t see a thing from it until around July. Office and Circulations Manager’s orders.
First exam in weeks
I just got home from Makati again; I took an application exam at Diwa Publishing this morning. They really battered me with tests, and I battered my answer sheets with erasures (accidentally). Can’t help it. I then spent the rest of the day (in this order) looking at Rene Matisse’s paintings on a book, sleeping in the book store, writing random stuff on my notebook, reading Post Secrets: Confessions on Life, Death and God, writing on bits of paper and slipping them inside books, walking around the Greenbelt area and then settling down on one of the benches and writing out my thoughts and troubles. Here’s one of the entries:
“It irritates me that I’m still afraid of getting lost, of going to places (without money) I knew nothing about and instead, I stay in familiar places. They bore me, without companions. I’m too embarrassed of myself to even talk to strangers because I’m too dull and boring. I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks this way.
***
Thoughts in the GB square:
I think there should be more kids here. They enjoy the fountains and the fishes and turtle and ducks a lot. It’s just a lot of people seem to use this place to have a date or pick up chicks or guys as a sort of foreplay before they go back to their hotels and have sex. A foreplay place for people with money. Or maybe I’m just being dark and cynical…
Why am I here? Well, I feel like a townie here since I used to live here so hanging out is pretty…natural. I’m telling you though, this is a good place to just look at strangers.
***
I gotta admit, it’s hard to write fictional things in public places. But I’m still trying.
***
I wonder how my lungs look like right now. I’m not a chain smoker but I used to smoke from time to time. Then I stopped because it stopped feeling good. There’s a guy smoking near me and I sort of miss the act of smoking. But last time I did, it kept catching in my throat.
***
I like girls who wear funky socks. And girls who keep said socks on while having sex. (There’s actually a series of sex videos devoted to chicks wearing socks while they’re doing it, in a website somewhere. True story.) *End of Barney moment*
***
What if I’m two people at the same time? Or in one body, I mean. Two points of view. It’s like that one dream I had where I am two souls, a man and a woman, like Doctor Occult, ‘the double-souled one.’”
******
Tomorrow, I’m going to have another job application exam at one of GMA 7′s departments (I’m not really sure what they do) this time. I hope it’s alright.
Back-to-school thoughts from four years ago
There aren’t a lot of interesting things happening down my road lately, as you can see from my somewhat empty blog. (Well except that little thing the other day. I just needed to get that out.) I’m still jobless, if you’re wondering. I hope I get another interview this week.
About the only interesting things that have happened lately involves the old publication I used to work in when I was a college student, Heraldo Filipino. May is usually that time of the year where they hold their yearend workshop/seminar/turn-over ceremony. Naturally, I tagged along, having nothing else to do at home. It was fun, and it was then that I got a little chummy/friendly with a girl I call Nine. Neat name, really.
And then there was HF’s recruitment period as June began. This time though, I went because of Nine. So yeah, we were more than chummy nowadays. She’s an interesting character living an interesting life, I sort of wish I could have the same opportunities she had. She’s also well-traveled, outgoing and can hold her liquor well. I’m going to stop right there before I start gushing like Ted Mosby.
***
So I’ve been looking around for my two missing notebooks (some of my notes and unfinished stories are in there, fuck, just please show up) and I found this old little notepad. It has an entry dated June 16, 2007. This is the entry (I edited some bits and added and taken out some parts so it all flows properly):
“It’s irritating when [most] teachers don’t really teach you anything useful. Like how to deal with family problems. How to deal with liking somebody. How to fix a relationship. How to forget someone. How to deal with threats. Multiple responsibilities. Work.
Instead, we were taught History, Trigonometry, Physics and a whole bunch of other subjects that will, in 10 or 20 years time, lay in the very cold [recesses] of our memory. We can’t learn the things we want [and the things we need]. Well, most of them anyway. Why? Because the world simply isn’t like that. Inevitably, we”ll always be in the dark. We’ll learn the things we want when it’s too late. What’s worse, we’ll learn the things we don’t want at the time when we’re hopelessly in the dark, when we want to know something else.
What do we want to learn anyway? Well it depends on a lot of things, really. Like
Who.
What.
When.
Where.
How.
[And most troublesome of all,] Why.
Isn’t it frustrating that being human—a living, breathing one—is so fucking complicated? But then, our life is what we make it. It’s complicated because we make it complicated enough. It’s simple because we make it simple.
*This is the part where even I was scratching my head.*
But what about complexity and simplicity? If we’re happy about it, then so be it. It all [boils] down to contentment, which has its roots [in] expectations. Those two are very powerful things. If only people expected less and be contented more. I wish I am.”
Damn, where did all that angst come from? Geez, kid, you’re not the only one with issues.
I also read another entry from around the same time (about a few weeks later), complaining about the deterioration of my skills, which is weird because I found myself complaining about it year after year and forgetting that I’ve complained about it the year before. So I guess that was just an illusion. Maybe what’s deteriorating is my motivation…I guess.
Oh yeah!
That reminds me. There’s one other interesting thing that happened over the summer. I managed to finish a short story and it’s going to be published on Palad, HF’s literary digest. It will be my first foray into published fiction so I hope my, er, momentum doesn’t stall.
And oh, another thing. My siblings and I have been going to the gym every other day or week. I can lift heavier things now. But my belly’s still there. And school just started so we won’t be going to the gym as a group anymore. That sucks. I guess I’ll have the chance if I have money for gas. It’ll be lonely though.
***
I suck at blogging.
Under my breath
I am tired of always being the second option. So let these complications be straightened out so I won’t have to deal with the repercussions later.
Period.
Routine
There’s not a lot of things to say regarding my work and daily life. Thinking about it, I realized I haven’t talked about them in writing. I’ve mentioned a paycheck a few posts ago, but that was in November.
My routine doesn’t vary that much, but it’s more like this. I wake up at around 9 to 11 am, having slept late the night before and the absence of natural light in my dorm room messing with my ability to naturally wake up, even though I’m getting enough sleep. So I tend to oversleep.
If I’m still too sleepy and nobody’s watching TV in the dorm common room (it’s not much of a room but a bench, two chairs and a TV in the entrance of the floor we’re in), I’ll go and turn on the TV and tune in to National Geographic Channel, or Discovery Channel and if I’m desperate, Animal Planet. I watch nothing else. Unless there’s a movie I like in one of the movie channels. If I don’t have the time to watch TV (and there’s nothing to watch anyway), I just go take a bath. I go back to the dark room where I can’t open the lights if anybody’s still sleeping—I hope some of them are nice enough to notice that I’m asleep and stop being total dicks by watching something on their laptops/portable dvd players on loud speaker or talking loudly on the phone—and change. Pack my stuff. And go.
Down the steep stairs, turn the two locks, open door, get out, close door, lock the two locks. Wear shades if it’s too sunny out. Put on headphones, play music. Walk.
Every morning.
That’s how my day begins on Thursday to Monday. From the dorm, there are various routes/destinations I walk to depending on the day/situation. On Fridays and Mondays, I walk to my dad’s office to haul my laundry in the car. (So they can take it home and I wouldn’t have to pay for laundry.) I’ll walk along Kamagong street up to the Ayala Avenue extension, cross Buendia Ave., walk some more until I reach the Stock Exchange building. And once a week, one of the WWF (World Wildlife Fund, not World Wrestling Federation) girls would come up to me, ask me to take some time to listen to them and maybe ask me to accept an offer. Or something. Almost always, I’m too much on a hurry to take the time. If it was an attractive woman though, maybe I might take the time. I don’t know. But mostly the weight of the laundry and the lack of time just gets to me so I seldom stop. I think I just stopped once before, long ago. After I take the laundry, either I go to DBP (See ‘On Mondays…’) or go to the Greenbelt (See ‘On Saturday…’).
On Mondays, Wednesdays to Fridays, if my mom brought some food, I’ll walk to her office and eat my breakfast there. I walk all the way to Buendia Ave. then ride a jeep to DBP. That’s how I save up on lunches.
On Saturday and Sunday, and on weekdays without free lunches (grumble), I just stop by one of the fastfood joints or eateries along the way and eat the first meal of the day. Then I walk to Greenbelt and go to either National Bookstore (for the open comic books) or to PowerBooks (for the ambiance and writing on my coverless notebooks).
On Monday nights, I commute back home to Cavite after work.
Tuesday is my day off. Mostly I go out (to the mall, a coffee house, or the university). If I’m not outside, I just stay at home. Play games on the PC, dick around in the internet, watch a movie. Read a book.
On Wednesdays, it’s either I wake up at 4 (I’m in Cavite), pack my things, take a ride with my parents to work, go to my dorm, sleep some more, then do the usual morning routine.
Or I wake up late, eat breakfast, dick around in the internet again, do the usual ritual before leaving the house, then commuting to Makati, either just in time for lunch or for work.
Another regular thing I’ve been doing since I started work was going to Saguijo for the Terno Inferno gig. I still haven’t met a stranger there that became my friend after. Maybe I’m still just a little too introverted. And awkward.
The dorm where I’m staying frustrates me. I can go out and come back whenever I like but I still feel that I’m not free there because I don’t own a room to myself. And because I don’t like my roommates. The room is too small. It’s always dark because somebody else is sleeping. (On weekends, I’m almost always lucky to have the room on my own, until I wake up the next morning.) So when I wake up, it’s hard to get off the bed because I missed daylight on a window right by the bed where I’m in.
The dorm is located right beside a bar. On weekends, there are session bands playing covers of some popular songs. They’re too loud (obviously), and it isn’t an enclosed space. The singing is always bad.
There’s a Japanese place just several paces from the dorm. The food is absolutely amazing but the prices are pretty hefty. Maybe I’ll go back there next payday.
***
I’m relieved when on some days my routine is broken by a party, by a meeting with a friend, by an event, by a scene that is amazing and out of the ordinary. Sometimes it’s elation that I feel, depending on what happened that broke off from the norm.
***
I don’t remember much of my dreams lately. I can almost say I don’t dreams as much, but that’s just poor recall of course. Although sometimes, images or a scene comes to my mind unbidden. Perhaps my dreams are spilling over to my waking mind. Perhaps.
***
My contract ends on February 10. This was the second time they extended my contract. When will they talk to me about giving me probationary status? Thus putting me closer to regularization? Do I really want that?
If it happens that I will continue with PDI, then I should find another dorm/boarding house soon. The place I’m in sucks.
***
I think I’m getting used to being alone.
