Waiting in the office...

It's past 5 o'clock and I'm still at the office.

Alice and I normally go home at 4 o'clock. This is partly because the official working hours ends at 3pm, and extending another hour won't give us any harm and will build a "reputation" in the organization. :) Another thing is, since we don't have our own car, and we're using the transport service, we have to wait until 4 o'clock for the bus to arrive and for us to get back to the flat. Anyways, that's our normal routine and that's not what's happening today.

I'm still in the office because I'm still waiting for Alice to arrive. Just before lunch, she was called by her boss and asked to attend a meeting in the Ministry regarding a technical competition that I think is supposed to be held two weeks from now. It so happened Alice is one of the trainors on the technical skills required in said competition, and thus, she and another fellow trainor attended the activity. When they arrived there, Alice sent me a text message that said the meeting is not just a "meeting" but instead, they are called there to finalize the questions/tasks to be used in the competition. She said they might be there for much longer than she initially thought. I thought so too, that would happen.

And so, I'm still here, and the clock says it is already 5:24 pm. Alice had just sent another message that they might be back after 6pm. That means I still have another hour to spend blogging or surfing the Web. :)

By the way, if you would ask: at times like these (which happen every once in a while), we just take the taxi going home. We even drop by Pizza Hut before going back to the flat sometimes, which is quite good, if you'll ask me.

The waiting continues...

on blogging... again

I really planned on writing more blogs at the start of the year... well, I thought I could write an average of three articles a week, the kind of which summarizes what's happening in different aspects of my life as the week progresses. I really thought I could do it then... yet now, it is already the second week of February and I haven't added to the excerpt I posted during the New Year!

What can I say? I didn't expect the office work to be this overwhelming in the new year... I even thought I could make writing blogs a regular activity for me this year. I was totally wrong... when January came, I was deluged with so many tasks and functions that I wasn't able to keep up with my other routines, blgging included. When before I could rest and write a short blog after coming from work in most days of the week, right now all I could do is rest and recharge for another day of physically- and mentally-exhausting work ahead. (The work is really that big, you know.)

Anyways, as of this writing, I think most of the brunt of work I've been ranting about in the first two sections of this blog had been accomplished already, and I just need to polish them and continue working on them little by little from here onwards, and thus I'm back (I hope) to writing regularly again... I guess the real fun starts today :)

some excerpts...

i have many things to write, but really haven't found the time nowadays... too many deadlines to beat and too many works to be done... this one's related to the ongoing Lozada saga that is gripping the country right now...

(from Manuel L. Quezon III column in the Inquirer)

To illustrate. The whole country knows he said, “Thomas Aquinas said the worst form of corruption is the corruption of the best.” But he also shared this story: “Rizal asked his brother Paciano, ‘Did God make us poor and silent, or we were so misgoverned we ended up that way?’ Paciano couldn’t answer. Two years later, Rizal wrote to Paciano, and said, ‘In my travels abroad I have the answer: We didn’t get the right kind of government from our leaders.’”

And he said, with a voice beginning to tremble once more, “We must make it too expensive for someone to screw up the country. Only then will the next person will have second, third, fourth thoughts about trying to mess the country up.”

And to me and a nun fascinated by the conversation, he said, “If you want to understand my moral compass, there’s this book I read [‘Leadership: The Inner Side of Greatness, A Philosophy for Leaders,’ by Peter Koestenbaum], in which this question was tackled: ‘Why is it that billions have walked the earth while only a few have stood the test of time? And yet those few lived at a time when there were many who were more powerful or famous than them?’ When a group of thinkers examined these people, they identified four polarities. First, they had a Transformative Vision, for example, Christ’s concept of love. Second, they had Courage, even if it meant going against the trend, like Mohammed. Third, they had a Firm Grasp of Reality. Fourth, they had Unbending Ethics. The four things form a kind of diamond and with all sides present, you have a formidable leader. But if any side is lacking it’s enough to doom any leader.”

for us, filipino workers

while reading conrado de quiros' column this morning at the inquirer.net, i happen to pass by this part, which struck something within me, and i feel i need to repost here...

"...More than any other year, 2007 was the year of the OFW. Filipinos are now spread all over the world, working their asses off to put food on the table of the families they left behind. The impact of OFWs was dramatically felt late in the year when, alongside the free fall of the dollar OFWs brought in record remittances, pushing the exchange rate down. It's not without sublime irony that the very people who are keeping this country's head above water are half-drowning: The same flood of dollars they've brought in has shrunk their income."

"...I hope this year brings better things. But that has always lain in our hands."

happy new year again everyone!

New Year

Sydney celebrated the new year a few minutes ago. True to its tradition, which is quickly becoming the benchmark by which new year is celebrated everywhere, it celebrated the coming of 2008 with much funfare, along with colorful, spectacular fireworks. It reminded me somehow of the way our family celebrate new year back home. I remember then that on the afternoon of December 31st, the family usually go to the market, never minding the traffic jam and the throng of people rushing everywhere, to buy the traditional "turotot" for the kids, and the family's collection of fireworks and firecrackers for the coming of the new year. Alice also becomes frantic to complete her collection of round fruits, and the other preparations she had to make for the coming of another year which she usually gets from watching all those TV programs that prods you to buy their products which are supposed to bring you a better life in the year ahead. I remember me having a penchant of buying those Dragon brand fireworks, since they are more stable and provide better and more colorful effects, which made the neighbors just wait for our fireworks display to commence and just watch our show. Those were really good memories of the celebration of new year for me, and probably for Alice too... and those are the ones that make the cold we currently feel in this country much colder and bitter, and the blowing of the wind fiercer, as we celebrate another new year with only the memories with us.

Our despair is not absolute, anyway. We have new memories to cling to, and new ones to give us hope. I called the kids several hours ago and asked them about their preparation for the new year. The kids seem happy, and that's big deal for me. Alice had her own call just an hour ago, and the kids told her they're starting the celebration, and that it's also starting to be noisy there, thus, they decided to cut the call short. For us, we'll celebrate new year with friends. That's how it is in this region. There will be no firecrackers, no fireworks. We'll celebrate new year in the same way we celebrated Christmas a week ago - by congregating in one of our friends' house, eat the various food that we'll bring there, and probably have a song or two in the videoke. The important thing is we celebrate it with friends, and not alone.

This reminded me of the new year I spent in Japan several years ago. It was by far the saddest new year I had, I believe. While training in Japan sometimes in the late 90s, I happened to be the only Filipino living in that area where I'm having my training, and my friends happened to be in far away places. There, I was forced to just had a late dinner and then afterwards slept the coming of the new year. I just called my family the morning after to greet them.

Anyways, however the celebration of the coming year happen tonight, I could say that the family is still lucky and blessed. The kids are healthy and are protected by loving grandparents there, both Alice and I are doing well in all aspects of our lives, and the good Lord keeps on showering us with blessings. I guess with those in mind, however the celebration is, we'll still have another great year.

Happy New Year everyone!!!