The Monastery on the Marian Hills

After two and a half months of waiting, the results of the 2007 nursing licensure examination were released last Sunday. My family was happy to have another registered nurse in the house. Ellen’s name was on the list of new nurses. Mom and Dad are proud and happy once more.

And so we troop down to this southern town and drove up to the hills where a popular monastery was located. The Monastery of the Holy Eucharist is found at the Marian Hills of Lindogon Simala, Sibonga, Cebu. Sibonga is about 70 km south of Cebu, about 2 hours drive from Cebu City.

It was Ellen who requested to visit the monastery because she and her boyfriend had promised to return to that hill if ever they passed the nursing exam. Both of them did and now, they planned to visit the monastery and donate the name plate to the sacred home of the Blessed Virgin.

We decided to meet at McDonald’s Jones because mom and Grandma had to drop by a physician at Chong Hua Hospital to set up a schedule for Lola’s overall check-up. We also waited for my sister Christine and her family to arrive. The little rockstar Diva would be coming along too.

At about 1.30 pm, we fetched Felma and Monica at the hospital and proceeded to the south reclamation project and drove down via the coastal diversion road. It was my first long drive with the family and it was memorable. I led the way, my brother-in-law’s car was trailing behind. Ellen, Felma and grandma sat at the back while dad was on the passenger seat.

Ellen had requested for us to hurry up because her boyfriend went ahead and was patiently waiting for us at the hills. And so my speedometer flashed an 80km/hr, more than enough for my mom’s eyes to widen and my dad to hang on to the side handle and his seat belt. But I was driving okay. Except for one incident that happened at the corner leading up to the hills when my side mirror was nudged by a passing car.

We reached the place at 3pm. At the gates of the monastery, we saw Ellen’s boyfriend waiting at the side of their SUV. Dad and Ellen decided to go down and greet Stephen and his dad. I went inside and looked for a slot for ZeeWee. The monastery hills were very distant from the national highway but then I was quite surprised that there were a lot of people who came. The parking lot was even filled up completely.

The Monastery of the Holy Eucharist is a pilgrimage site and it sits on a vast tract of land. I looked around and saw a lot of wonderful spots. Foremost of which is the huge image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which stood about 20 feet from the ground. The statue was facing the wonderful church of light blue and gray. The church, a stunning structure which I associate with the Baguio Cathedral, was not yet completely made. It was build from the donations that people give to the monastery.

The church sits upon a hill, hundreds of feet away from the main gate. The imposing church houses the miraculous image of the Blessed Virgin. It felt like it was Holy Week when we got there. The place was filled with people. People walking in and out of the church, people lighting candles, people queuing up to visit the miraculous image in her pedestal and people kneeling down in prayer.

We entered the church and lined up to visit the Blessed Virgin. We were made to take off our shoes while the guard handed out a floral sheet to my sister to cover her cleavage. Yes, the monastery had guards to check on your clothes. Women who wear shorts, sleeveless shirts, low neckline and short skirts were given the said blue floral sheets to cover their legs, arms and neck. It didn’t bother me at all. I was just surprised that there were system installed in the monastery and I appreciated the fact that things were very organized.

We were almost at the small enclosure where the miraculous image was housed. Ellen handed me a pen and a sheet of stationery and told me to write down my intentions. I remembered that my sister told me earlier that the Blessed Virgin of the Hills is known to grant the wishes of the pilgrims. So I wrote my intentions in red ink and pink paper.

I had a lot of intentions and I was hoping that she would grant me my requests. Of course I wrote my thanks and my appreciation for the blessings and the good things that happened to me and my family. I said my prayers and my intention in front of the image. I may not be that religious but I somehow remember the importance of prayer. I dropped the paper inside the intention box and left the room.

I looked around the sacred home and noticed that the church was not yet finished. The ceiling was non-existent and the floor was not yet tiled. What struck me most is that people flock to the place not because of the physical structure but because of their faith and in their belief that some entity from the heavens could help them with their needs. It was quite fascinating to see how FAITH could build a pilgrimage site of this magnitude.

The Marian Monks of the Eucharistic Adoration may have been so blessed. I saw a lot of people bring food to the monastery. Some brought along sacks of rice and donated it to the monks. I roamed around and saw a couple of construction works going on. The site had a grotto with a man-made waterfalls and pool. It had a vast paved parking space, a separate chapel for the monks and some religious figures adorning the grounds.

We had taken some time after saying our prayers to ‘cam-whore’ outside of the church. My grandma was very glad to have come along. My mom was even happy to have visited the place. Even the little rockstar Diva had a wonderful time, walking and shouting in the monastery.

This was a fine day for the family. We thanked the heavens for Ellen’s success in the nursing board examination.

Tastes Like HEAVEN, Smells like SH!i!iT

My dad and I fetched my mom and grandma at the airport yesterday morning. Grandma was flown in from Bacolod because she’s scheduled for a complete check up next week. She’s been suffering from hypertension lately and so it was decided that she should take a breather from Negros and spend some time with us here in Cebu.

Mommy Felma and Granny Monica came out of the airport with only two traveling bags in tow. I hugged them both and led them to ZeeWee. Dad asked me to open up my trunk so he could place their bags there. I opened ZeeWee’s behind and took their bags from daddy’s shaking hands.

I heard mom uttered something. “Ay te ano man na nga baho man? Durian ba sina?” (Oh what’s that smell? Is that Durian?). Mom was right, the trunk smelled a little funky. Some traces of the odd fruit scent still lingered in my trunk.

Well a day before, I arrived from Davao with 30 kilos of fruits which include pomelos, rambutan, mangosteen and durian. It was my dad who requested for the thorny fruit. He said it had been a very long time since he tasted Durian and he wanted to eat one this time. I bought about 7 kilos of the arancillo variety and my golly, it was a potent olfactory threat.

Those 7 kilos of durian went directly inside ZeeWee’s trunk. And even though it was placed there for 15 minutes (equivalent to the travel time from airport to my homebase), its smell was absorbed by the carpet and the rugs of my car. The trunk was stinking so bad that I had to put a bunch of charcoal to absorb the odor. I let the charcoal stay for about a day. I realized that it wasn’t enough to take the odor out of my poor ZeeWee.

For the past four days, I had been exposed to this smelly fruit. In Davao, the city was filled with the scent of Durian. For the Davaoeños, this fruit is the king of them all. It’s the fruit that has been associated with Davao. Durian is also the star of the Kadayawan Festival that was celebrated in the city 2 weeks ago. And even though the merrymaking is over, people still continue to celebrate and enjoy the unique taste of this seasonal fruit. The season of Durian is from the months of June to August.

I was in Davao last week for a joint meeting with my dealers and my boss, the vice-president of the chemicals division. That time, she bought about 20 kilos of durian and brought them with her to Manila. We held our meeting at my dealer’s house and there, we discussed matters and concerns on sales while the native and arancillo varieties of the durian were placed at the sides of our meeting table.

I knew beforehand that my boss is an avid eater of the fruit. Minutes after the meeting, she had emptied 3 cells of the native variety, devoured the pulp and spit out 3 huge seeds. And she ate the durian with her bare hands.

I told her that I had already tried durian a couple of months ago and that I was already familiar of its smell and taste. I explained to her that at first, I was really hesitant to eat it because I thought the smell was really offensive. But then I was forced to try it. I clipped my nostrils and licked the pulp to test if the taste was okay. It was soft on the tongue and creamy but I could not decipher its taste. It smelled like old world medicine or something beyond the usual.

Then I tried eating a few more of the pulp. I finished one cell of the fruit in split minutes because I wanted to escape its odor. Every time I munch on a bit of the pulp, the smell grew less and less offensive. The tastes became even better. And soon, it made me want to eat more of the fruit.

“It’s an acquired taste,” my bossed said. “It’s the usual experience for first-timers. All it takes is a brave and courageous drive to try something new. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll most likely to crave for more.”

I held back and remembered a slogan of a local bakeshop in Cebu: “Once tasted, always wanted!” And I nearly choked when I realized that sex, smoke and drugs could also fall in the same category. They all are capable of elevating the person to a state of Nirvana or heaven in various degrees. Hmmm.

But durian is believed to be an aphrodisiac. A lot of people with hypertension were advised not to eat the fruit. Durian is said to contain high amounts of sugar, vitamin C and potassium but also it’s a good source of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Durian is a high-fat, high-glycemic food, a lot of people were told to minimize its consumption.

People say that the fruit has “erotic properties” perhaps from the high sugar and fat content. Of course the said “properties” may have to be proven and may not be true to all those who enjoyed eating it. It’s not even a valid point to explain why the population of Davao is huge.

Durian, the king of the fruits, revered by many can be misconstrued as a symbol of revulsion. With its formidable look and thorny husk with that overpowering smell, it is a possible choice for any second round of the fear factor episode.

Its smell could reduce encounters or attacks because not all people could fathom the unique odor of the fruit. Try bringing it in one of your corporate meetings or in an air-conditioned room and you would most likely see people scurrying about and heading out through the nearest door. Try bringing along a durian and you would most like to experience refusal from a taxi driver. You may not be able to ride the MRT or the bus. Airport personnel even advise you to have them checked in and placed in properly sealed boxes.

And so it has been 3 days since I brought 4 durian fruits home. The kitchen still greet me with its sh**ty smell. Dad opened one durian yesterday and it was only me, my brother and law and my dad who partook of the bounty from the sky.

My mom and grandma just stared at us as we licked clean the seeds and emptied the fruit cells. My brother-in-law took one fruit home and I planned on sharing the two remaining durians with my dealers.

 

Any takers???

Fully Booked for the Day

I checked my things. Clothes, a pair of shoes, toiletries, brochures and papers, phones, etc. I’m almost done packing. Here in this single hotel room of Phela Grande, I checked all the things I brought for this business trip. And now I’m almost ready to check out and catch my midday flight to Cebu.

I spent the night here at General Santos City. From my hotel room, I could see the fast food giant Jollibee across a corner. This joint was said to be franchised by the Pambansang Kamao Manny Pacquiao. Looking at the spot I remember that I ate a 2-pc chicken meal for dinner last night. I got a few hour of sleep. I did some last-minute changes to my power point presentation for my afternoon lecture at Science High.

It’s already 9.30am, still an hour before I’d leave. I closed my luggage and waited for the front desk to call. The TV was on. “Ever After” starring Drew Barrymore and Dougray Scott was being shown. It’s such a non-cheesy film. I sat on the bed and glued my eyes on Dougray’s bulge. I was startled. Drew Barrymore looked so pretty in the film but Sir Scott’s bulge stole the scene in almost all the time that he’s wearing white tights.

I arranged my airport transport with the front desk. She informed me that the shuttle will leave at 10:15am. I checked on the time and I got a few minutes more. I told myself that I’ll check out after the scene where Drew made a grand entrance at the grand ball at a courtyard in a light lilac and blue gown with a pair of white wings and glitters on her face. In the movie, the fairy godmother was Leonardo da Vinci. Need I say more?

Then the phone rang. The front desk clerk reminded me of the shuttle service. I gathered my things and hurriedly went down and checked out. It was 10.30am when the shuttle left for the airport.

General Santos City Airport was located far from the city proper and it’s a good decision on my part to book myself in Phela Grande because the shuttle trip is free. By so, I didn’t have to take a cab and spend hundreds of pesos. It was a fifteen minute ride to the airport and the shuttle van was running 80 km/hr tops.

The GSC Airport was located on a vast tract of flat land near the mountain ranges of West Sarangani. It’s a grassland of sorts, scorched-dry and hot. The airport complex was poorly maintained.  A few sets of blue banners on bamboo posts were erected at the sides of the airport road. These banners indicate the TUNA FESTIVAL that the city would be having.

Having seen the banners, I remember that my officemates and friends headed back to Davao City the previous night so that they could celebrate KADAYAWAN and the Indak-Indak. I had yet to experience the said festival but then I needed to stay in General Santos so that I could reach my next appointment in time.

We boarded at 11:15 am. The General Santos City – Cebu flight was being operated by Air Philippines and aircraft was fully-loaded. I slept during the flight. I woke up when the aircraft began its descent for a final approach to the Mactan International Airport. I then remembered why I needed to take this flight. Students are waiting for me.

Dad fetched me at the airport. We went home to drop my things. I changed my pants and shoes and then got the keys for ZeeWee. I said hello to Mom and pulled ZeeWee from the driveway. In about 15 minutes, I was back in the streets of Cebu.

I arrived at the school 30minutes before my scheduled talk. The hobbit welcomed me at the Academic Library Building. I glanced upon the workshop venue and I saw Atty. Don Rabanes lecturing about human relationship and effective communication.

I had a brief conversation with the hobbit and two other DEPED officials. These school officials were around to observe how the school conducted the leadership seminar. The hobbit was so proud that he get to invite sci-hi graduates to come and give lectures to the student leaders.  I explained to the hobbit that I just arrived from General Santos City and I thanked him for swapping my schedule with the previous speaker. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to make it. The hobbit explained that he was able to convince Atty. Rabanes to take 1-3pm time. The speaker arrived in school from the airport and he was just in time for his lecture.

Talk about being fully booked. I had no time for lunch. I told myself that I’d eat after my lecture. Minutes before my scheduled talk, I devoured one big Goldilocks ‘mamon’ and told the hobbit that I need to set up my things for the lecture.

At 3.15pm, I was introduced by the student government president. And then my lecture on DECISION MAKING and TAKING RISKS began. There were about 62 participants for the said seminar. They were a mix of leaders from first year to fourth year in various organizations and groups.

I knew that my topic was very new and technical for high school students and I expected that one or two participants would be having a terrible time fighting boredom and sleepiness. To counter such unnecessary event, I inserted some sleep busters and ice breakers in my lecture.

To get their full attention, I told them in the middle of my talk that there will be a check-up test. Their eyes became wide and large.

I was done 15 minutes ahead of time. I had the evaluation test sheets distributed and every one was busy answering the sheets. I took the opportunity to say something about giving something back to the school and encouraged everyone to think about helping the school by conducting lectures or seminars and some other ways.

Having said it, the bride of chuckie arrived in her blue shirt and denims and took part in the awarding of the certificate of appreciation. The hobbit on his end presented a gift to me – a book on leadership by John Maxwell.

The best moment of the day was when the students gave me a standing ovation. The hobbit gave me a pat on the back and said that of all the invited speakers for the seminar, I was the most prepared. He’s planning to invite me again for future speaking engagement.

With the lecture-seminar already done, I said my goodbyes to the bride of chuckie and to the hobbit. I told them that I have to leave because I would be picking my sister up in a mall.

It has been a busy day. The lecture may have used a portion of my time but then the feeling after was overwhelming. I hope the scholars learned something from the lecture.      

Emergency Room Situation

I terribly lacked sleep today. Dad woke me up early in the morning and took pictures of him and mom in their Sunday Church attire. They just came from an early Sunday morning mass. I took pictures of the couple at the living room, at the patio and of course at the driveway with ZeeWee. After taking photos of my parents, I had breakfast with Felma and after which I retreated to my room and went back to sleep.

I slept at early dawn because my sister Ken is in town and I was with her and her friends and we spent the previous night at the Arcenas Estates. My brother Lester was also with us. We stayed out because we were disappointed that mom would not go with us to a beach in Moalboal. We cancelled the beach thingy and left the house to breathe some air and to cool ourselves off. When we went home at 1am, our heads were already cooled.

After an hour of sleeping, I was awakened by the screams of my very good father. Dad had gone ballistic and was calling my sister Ellen’s name. I didn’t know why he’s shouting but I realized that somebody may have been hurt and needed an immediate cure.

I was still groggy when I went down to the dining room and there I saw my mom sitting with a bloodied cotton ball pressed against her left ankle. She looked like she was in shock. She could not believe what has happened. My Dad, being an officer for safety, health, environment and training (SHET), has already administered the cleaning and the disinfection of the wound area. But mom was still bleeding like hell and so Dad applied pressure on the foot to stop the flow. He shouted for gauze bandage and plaster and has asked to make ZeeWee ready. Dad decided to bring my mom to the hospital. I decided to come along.

Dad was a bit frantic about the entire situation while mom was still calm and in a state of ‘shock’. He drove ZeeWee like a madman, without his safety belt on. The drive to a hospital in Mandaue took us only 15 minutes.

When we entered the emergency room, we saw only one nurse on duty. The nurse informed us that the doctor was still making her rounds in the hospital and may be available after a few hours. We decided to stay and wait for the physician to come.

The nurse asked some questions. Mom told her about what happened. She said she was buying a bottle of Sprite from a nearby store. It was intended to be mixed into the marinade for the pork barbecue. The 1 liter glass bottle was too cold to hold and so she decided to put it down on a step and waited for her change.

She was surprised to hear the bottle break up and shatter. The frozen soft drink bottle exploded a few inches from her feet. When she looked down, she saw her foot bleeding. She left the store and went back home. In her shock, she forgot to get her change.

The nurse proceeded to check on Felma’s wounded foot. She took off the plaster and the bandage and saw the 1 inch cut across the ankle. The nurse declared that stitching is needed to stop the bleeding. We decided to wait because the nurse informed us that only the doctor in duty is allowed to do the sewing.

I looked at the clock. It was just 8.15am. Only a few people were in the emergency room. There was a group of people who came before us. One man was lying on a stretcher at the hallway. A woman was carrying a young child with a bandage placed at the back of his head. The boy’s shirt was stained with blood from the wound on his head. Another middle-aged woman was sitting at the side of the table, holding a jacket and patiently waiting for somebody. Several people were sitting in the hallway. They were not related to each other what-so-ever.

I asked the woman with the injured child. “What happened to your son?”

“His head was hit by something when our jeepney was bumped by a speeding REVO. His father was driving the jeepney and my son and I were seated in front because my son wanted to be with his dad. Our jeepney was parked at the side of the road at about 5 in the morning. We were waiting for more passengers until we were hit with something from behind.”

“Where is the man responsible for the accident?“

“Did you notice the guy in shorts and a backpack? He was the one who drove the REVO. Now he’s busy with the hospital bills because the accident was his fault and that he has to settle the bills and have all of us treated. The people you saw in the hallway were our passengers and they were hurt by the accident. The man looked a bit drunk, he smelled alcohol actually.”

“Has the accident been reported to the police?”

“It was already recorded in the blotter. The guy was asking us not to say anything about him being intoxicated because he may not be able to claim anything from the insurance company. I said that it would be okay for as long as he would take care of the hospital fee.”

“What help has he already extended to you and your son?”

“Right now, he has already paid the bill for the xray and the anti-tetanus shots. We are waiting for the results of the test. Dextrose has been attached to my son’s hand and he’s been crying out loud because of the pain from his wound in the head. I wanted to have my son’s head checked by a brain scan. I’m worried. He’s been dizzy and sleepy after the accident. I just don’t know what it could mean.”

“Well let’s just pray that nothing worse would happen to your son.”

I saw Dad approach the nurse and he asked if the doctor would be coming any time soon. Of course the nurse could not give a definite answer. An hour had past and no doctor was in sight. We waited for a few minutes more.

We noticed another mother and child rushing towards the nurse. The woman was holding a young girl who was crying like hell. The mother was hysterical and was asking the nurse to give immediate help to her child. I saw the young girl’s face. She had a wound between her eyebrows and her forehead had been splashed with blood.

The child was crying from the pain. I wanted to ask her how the child got the wound. But then a man followed her and was trying to talk to her but she would not. The man looked so guilt-stricken that he fell on his knees and broke down to tears. The woman began to cry too but her tears were nothing compared to the wails of the child. I smell domestic violence nevertheless.

The man was in his 30s. So was the woman. It looked like they came from a catfight. The nurse asked them how the wound was inflicted on the child. The man, who was the father, explained that he and his wife were having a fight and that the child was just sitting near the stairs of their house. Their argument heated up to the point that objects were hurled at each other. He said he was able to get hold of a plastic food container and threw it to his wife face. But the wife saw what was coming and was able to dodge away from the flying plastic object. The plastic container flew past her but it hit their daughter’s head before it broke down into pieces.

A lot of people in the emergency room heard the man’s story and they felt sorry for the child. The drama was very interesting. The man was on his knees, asking for forgiveness. He said he never thought that their fight has led to this and he said he’s sorry. He said he’s willing to be arrested and detained.

I just assume that it was such a terrible case of irresponsible parenting. They were fighting in front of the child and the child was hurt in the process. The child was scarred for life. It amazed me that the wound on her forehead resembled that of Harry Potter’s. Her parents could be mistaken as sorcerers but they just lack the power to fight the evil in themselves.

At 9.30am, the nurse informed us that the doctor on duty was still making the rounds but there’s another physician who’s on her way to the hospital. And she arrived 30 minutes after. When the doctor came, mom was already lying in a bed with her left foot cleaned and placed on a surgical sheet. The nurse has already prepared the syringe for the anesthesia, scissors, and things needed to stitch the cut.

Mom placed her hand over her eyes because she didn’t want to see how the ‘sewing’ was being done’. Dad and I were behind the doctor and we observed how the simple operation was carried out. Only 2 stitches were made. The operation lasted for just 10 minutes. Mom was then instructed to come back after a week so that the doctor could remove the stitches from her feet. The doctor asked the nurse to put bandage and plaster on the wound and moved on to the sorcerer’s daughter.

I accompanied dad to the pharmacy and the accounting office to settle the bill. Then we went back to the emergency room and picked up mom. We headed home.

Inside ZeeWee, mom asked how much was settled in the hospital. Dad told her that the bill was 2.2K. Wow. A bottle of Sprite costs about 22 pesos only. What a costly endeavor. The 2,200 pesos could have been spent on the fuel for ZeeWee and dad’s car. We could have used it to finance our trip to Moalboal.

Having realized these, I managed to tease mom about the Moalboal plan. I said, “All these could not have happened had you agreed to push through with the Moalboal plan and come with us.”

Mom just kept silent.          

Waiting for Ellen

30 minutes from now, my sister Ellen will be dismissed from her CGFNS review class in uptown Cebu. I’m patiently waiting for her to drop by a local coffee shop here at the F. Ramos Street. With iced coffee mocha at my side and a cute semi-charming guy clad in yellow shirt and white sneakers (oh hell no! It’s just an illusion), I’m pouring my thoughts on my laptop, hoping that I could somehow sneak in a simple blog entry in my wordpress account.

It’s just 7:30 pm. Not a good time to drive home. I hate rush hours. Driving would be stressful. I might as well wait for my sister here and try to analyze the people sitting inside the coffee shop. I have nothing else to do. I’ve been working hard for the past few hours. It’s time to use my visual sense and have some fun.

Besides me, there are ten other people inside Bo’s Coffee Club. Four people are sitting outside, puffing smoke while drinking their preferred coffee blends. But I’m staring at these two guys across me, who seem to be in deep conversation about something I could not even hear.  The charming guy in yellow shirt with ‘juicy fruit’ print is crossing his arms and putting his hands on his pits. He leaned forward and examined the papers that were laid on the table.  I took a glimpse of his face, he seemed a bit familiar but like I said before, I think it’s just an illusion.

The guy he’s talking to has his back against my sight and I could only see the outline of his head on top of an olive shirt and black slacks with ribbon belt and a pair of black safety shoes. I’m about 9 feet away so their voices are like muffled and drowned by the churning sound of the coffee grinder. Conversations are barely audible. I’m aware that I have no business to eavesdrop on them. But at this time, these two guys were the only two people talking.

All the rest are deeply focused with what they are doing. A guy in white tees and denim shorts sits on a nearby table, unfazed by the conversations from another table. Bespectacled, and in simple flip flops, his half-empty plastic cup of iced cappuccino lay in front of him as he perused his photocopied notes. Flipping through the pages, he began to memorize some important items from his notes.

He had his earphones on, and he’s staring at the coffee counter, and began talking. I saw his right hand up, then his fingers began to unroll. He’s trying to enumerate something. I took a glance and saw him talking and counting and staring blankly at the coffee counter. He looks amusingly stupid.

There’s another guy in another table, just a step away from the guy doing monologues. He sat by the window with a red bag and a copy of the local newspaper on his table. He has pulled out his medical book and opened it midway. Now his head is bent down but his nose is flaring like crazy. Once in a while, he would bob his head up and look beyond the glass wall. He’s holding a pen with an orange tip and he taps it on the table while his legs shake in wild abandon. Leg’s still shaking, he would shift position every now and then. The head is still fixed on his book.

Two middle-aged and heavy-set guys sat on another table. They looked like businessmen. Only one of them ordered a coffee. The other one had tea. Well brewed coffee costs only 50 pesos. They sit across each other and talked. One guy covered his mouth with his hand while the other was talking. The listener’s eyebrows connected while his forehead produced some lines.

It’s 8:15pm now and no Ellen is in sight. I noticed 5 Korean girls enter the coffee shop and they swarm the counter, all undecided on what to order. They suddenly produce noise while trying to choose from the list of coffee blends. They drown all conversions with their Korean tongues.

Hmmm.  The guy in yellow shirt stood up and went out of the coffee shop. He stood outside, talking to someone on his mobile phone. The med student is still shaking his legs while the bespectacled guy continues to do monologues.

What’s in it for me anyway? I’m sitting here, letting time pass by while avoiding traffic on a rush hour. Productivity is put on hold. Sitting in a coffee shop and observing people is a bit productive. It relaxes my mind. It lets me veer away from the hassles of my job. It’s a form of entertainment.

Finally, I got a text message from my sister. She said she’s almost done with the review class. She asked me to wait a little bit. I just smiled. I’m not going anywhere.

Busy Busy Busy Breathe Busy

August seem to be the busiest month yet. I’m up for evaluation next week. I’ll be turning 6 months at Merck and the prospect of regularization must have to be made certain. There are so many things to prepare, so many documents to be filed.

My boss will be coming on the third week of August to review my performance. And I’m more than thrilled to have her here in Cebu so that she could tell me about her observations and that she could give me advices on what to improve in myself and in my work.

Some other officemates would be coming over for the next 2 weeks. A member of the product management group would be coming in to meet with my dealers and discuss concerns on the existing market for the products. For the next couple of days, she would be meeting my dealers in Davao, Cebu and Negros. This would mean that I have to make ready all the pertinent papers and to prepare my dealers for their engagement with the product specialist.

A week after her, the head of the chemicals division will be coming over and would be working with me for 2 days. It’s going to be a tough call because this head would be observing my moves and words, she would be checking on my selling techniques and my skills in relationship selling. Basically, she would want to understand how I function as a dealer management officer.

I also need to prepare ZeeWee for these occasions. I have been driving ZeeWee around so that I would be confident enough to drive my boss and my officemate in and out of the client’s offices. ZeeWee has not reached the 1000^th kilometer mark yet. She’s just half-way. ZeeWee and I have been together for 2 weeks already and I felt that she’s beginning to trust me.

Just the other day, I met up with my officemate who’s based in Cebu and I asked her to teach me the basics of CRM. CRM is an important tool for us to report the progress of our client visits. My company began using CRM this year and I need to report my calls in a retroactive way. I already felt the need to put entries to the CRM, now that I’m up for evaluation.

My dealers in Mindanao are preparing for training and seminars to be conducted in the area of their clients. A safety seminar is scheduled to be conducted at Notre Dame of Marbel University at Koronadal City, South Cotabato on the 3^rd week of the month while an on-site seminar for the operation of a clinical instrument is also scheduled after. News of the recent bombings in Koronadal City sent me in frenzy. I want to analyze this situation further before I decide to push through with the visit. Right now, it’s not advisable to take a Yellow Bus to Marbel.

Adding to the heaps of things to do, my teacher in high school (the hobbit of Katipunan) contacted me and requested me to be the speaker in a leadership seminar. I was tasked to conduct lecture on decision-making and on how to take risks. I am aware that it’s a wonderful opportunity for me to give back something to Cebu City National High School. And so I decided to set aside one Saturday for the said speaking engagement. Right now, I’m still halfway in the preparation of my powerpoint presentation.

I also made another commitment to my high school principal, the bride of Chuckie, through the recommendation of my dealer who’s the PTA president. Since the junior students have no teacher yet for biotechnology and statistics, I along with the dealer volunteered to conduct lectures about biotechnology. We really felt bad that the school is experiencing a shortage of teachers and we were worried about the quality of education that these students have been getting. The Bride of Chuckie was delighted of the volunteer work. She said we could start as soon as possible.

Aside from the Hobbit and the Bride of Chuckie, I also met my Filipino teacher. I got the shock of my life when she asked me to be a judge for the Lakambini ng Sci-High, a local beauty contest to celebrate the Buwan ng Wika. Though I was asked by my neighbor to be a judge for a beauty contest in our barangay (and everytime I refuse) , well this time, I could not quite contain my amusement when this Filipino teacher asked me to make me a hukom ng isang tagisan ng kagandahan. Hay!

And now, I’m fighting this terrible attack of procrastination.

It has been a personal issue and I do want to go way pass it so that I could finish all my homework and beat report deadlines. I have been making reports since the last week of July and I’m not through yet. Now, the assignments have rolled over to August. And so my face is literally facing the monitor of my laptop and my PC and I barely have the time to surf the net. No more time for multiply, for wordpress, for youtube. Not even a minute to spare for starrfucker.com or waybig blog or friendster. This would explain why I haven’t blogged so often.

But in spite of the tight schedule and the looming busy days, I’m quite grateful of several accomplishments for the past week. With ZeeWee in my realm, I was able to fetch Bro Bear’s mom, Tita Ching and got the chance to talk to her about almost anything. We visited the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rule in Lapu-lapu City and we had a nice lunch at a restaurant in Ayala Center.

I also had the opportunity to spend time with my siblings, Lester and Ellen. My younger sister has enrolled now in a CGFNS review school and I made it a point to send and fetch her from her review school along Mango Ave.  Now mom doesn’t need to worry about Ellen coming home late at night.

Lester on the other hand is rendering time at the hospitals and health centers as requirement for Nursing. He would call the house and ask that he’d be picked up from the city every time he’s off from duty at midnight. While driving, we would talk about our plans, our concern for mom and dad, and some other personal stuff.

I get to spend some wonderful time with my parents too. Just today, I drove my parents to a mall. It was mom’s first time to ride on ZeeWee and I was happy that she’s comfortable with my driving. Of course it really helped that she’s comfortable riding in a brand new car. Maybe in the near future, I would schedule a long drive with dad and mom to our hometown in Negros Occidental.

So the week that was…. well it was busy but I was able to get through with it.

And now, more busy weeks to come.