This blog entry isn't meant to dwell on how the sappy song by Eric Carmen that was revived by Celine Dion and used as background music in the opening scene of Bridget Jones' Diary should actually be what I am also singing right now. After all, I'm perfectly fine being single and I am very happy in the company of family and friends (excuses! hahaha).
Seriously speaking, I can't think of any more appropriate title, because for the past month, I've been the only one here in the office. Alone. Solo. See my superiors aka bosses are in London, still in connection with our project with the same company that sponsored my training in Jakarta. Though our lab technicians are also here, they're in another room, far far away from where i am staying.
So you might say, "Wow ang swerte mo, wala kang boss!". Hmm partly yes. Coz you can do silly things (but not too silly hah hehe) that you normally cannot do when there are other people around; you can play whatever music you want to play and how loud you want them to in your winamp (well, as long as it can't be heard in the Director's office which is a few doors away); and no one will reprimand you if you fall asleep for a few minutes while working in front of your computer, heeheehee. Well, I just hope they would not read this. =P
But believe me, I've been a very good employee. Here is where the challenging part enters the picture. Being the only one representing our section, I inherited the work load of my superiors (but sadly not the salary hehe) aside from my usual tasks of course. Meetings, deadlines, requests, you name it. That's why when I saw an officemate this morning she said "O, bakit parang di na kita nakikita? Balita ko stressed na stressed ka daw ah" to which i retorted, "Andun lang ako, nagkukulong sa dulong room" But there's zilch problem with me. Yakang yaka naman ang work eh (yabang).
You know what the real bad thing about being alone is? It gets scary sometimes. Especially when you're staying in a building that is said to be home to a number of spirits, the dead ones of course. Especially if you need to stay late on some days to finish your work. And most especially if you've experienced them yourself already. Like hearing the tinkling sounds of drinking glasses and of books being opened when there's no one around. Or feeling something very hot when it's not supposed to be that way.
I am not alone in the building, but the other employees stay in the rooms nearest to the entrance, while I, in the corner-most part of the room that is farthest from the entrance. And people saying "Mag-isa ka lang diyan ngayon? Buti walang nagpaparamdam sayo diyan. Kasi nung ako pumunta diyan na-feel ko ganito yada yada" certainly doesn't help.
So my solution to the problem? I stay busy. Sometimes I talk to myself. Or to the spirits themselves ("Wag ninyo ko tatakutin ha, please lang.") Or go to the secretary's office to chat. And I turn on some lights even when it's strictly instructed that all lights should be turned off during lunch break. Eh kung mamatay ako sa takot, ano gagawin nila? Then some naughty officemates tried turning off the lights without me knowing to see how I would react. Shempre huli ko sila.
But then, I need not worry and be afraid anymore, for my bosses will be going home this weekend, so i won't be alone by next week! There's a disadvantage however, I'd sure miss being able to do those silly things...heehee.
P.S. This entry might have been perfect for halloween. Who knows, I may have more stories to tell when that time comes *wink*.
for the two months that i've been on blog leave, so many things have happened that i would love to share. too many that they could fit in maybe even a hundred blog entries. but the bottomline of it all, i can say that for the past months God had been sooo good to me...
first, my training had been a really wonderful experience. i consider any opportunity to travel abroad a real blessing, 'coz travelling for me is a priceless source of education (well, priceless pala kung sagot ng sponsoring company ang gastos hehe). some may see it as a chance to just unwind, shop and make lakwatsa, but for me the best part of it is you get to experience new places and culture, and most especially you meet lots of new people. you learn the type of lessons you would not get while just watching tv or sitting inside the four corners of your room. also, i was able to save some moolah from that trip. money that of course i spent on shopping already heeheehee.
second, i got promoted at work just last month.*wink*
and third, my family just got through what i would say one of the biggest problems that we encountered. so it is true that whatever your troubles, you just stick together, and pray to Him and everything will be alright.
so for that i feel really, really blessed. and lucky. and happy. and so i am very thankful.
ok, i must admit i lost my mojo (as austin powers would put it) for you for a while. imagine, two and a half months of silence, and verrry large time gaps in between entries for the past months... i may be the most delinquent blogger there is. heehee. kinda embarrassing since when i look back, my blog just turned only a year old last august and i am soo lazy already! so punish me!
makes me think i MAY not really be a diary-writing, much more a blog-keeping kind of person. you see even when i was younger, i would always attempt to keep a diary, or even an organizer of things to do, but i always tend to stop just after a few pages. ningas-kugon kumbaga.
also, i may always be exaggeratedly using my "tons of work to do" excuse for not being able to blog. but hey, i'm telling you, it's true! actually i have very limited time in front of the pc nowadays that all i can do is check my e-mail. see i've been very busy meeting and taking care of new friends and pets in the laboratory. don't worry i will be introducing them to you later so you'll have an idea what i'm talking about...
but then, when you start missing your friends, and when they start knocking at your door, asking where you have been, and what you have been doing, you start to realize that you miss blogging after all. most especially when you visit their homes and you get updated with the happenings in their lives, you get to think that you also have so much to share and to talk about. in fact, ideas/topics to blog about suddenly start to come again, after months when you feel your mind (your blogging mind that is) had hit a dry spell.
so here i am, your prodigal daughter. i do not promise that i will always be able to write regularly, or that i will always be here or be able to visit my friends' houses always, but i promise to do my best.
signed, sealed, delivered and i'm yours, manila (in two weeks' time)!
this is for abby. i miss you too gurl! ;-)
on going home
two weeks to go and i'll be back in manila! yippeee! actually, i am torn between the excitement of going home and the sadness of leaving this place and the people here, who had been our family for the past two months. warm, helpful, happy, and sometimes silly people whom we had forged a bond with, a friendship we hope will last a lifetime. but then, as the song says, some good things never last. the important thing is, i've learned a lot about this trip, not only career-wise, but also in dealing with people, in surviving odds, and life as a whole.
on safety here
a day before a tsunami struck south java, we were actually in a beach resort in west java for the office's annual family gathering where we were also invited. that same area was included in their tsunami warning area a day after. talk about being lucky eh? meanwhile, during the 6.2 earthquake that hit jakarta just yesterday (july 19), we were still busy doing overtime in the office that we didn't even notice that an earthquake was actually going on. thank God also we survived that.
there are tons of pictures i would love to post and hundreds of stories i would like to tell, but unfortunately i still don't have the luxury of time right now. see it's 7 pm and i am still here in the office to rush things that we need to finish before we go back to manila. in panic mode, as usual. :-)
been here twenty seven days already since our arrival last june 4. to all who are asking, especially meigh, don't worry, i am not doing anything illegal in here (maybe later heehee). this two-month trip (we will be returning to our beloved homeland on aug 3) is part of a training for our one-year project with corelab. for the past weeks i have been analyzing samples that we have brought from the philippines for their fossil (calcareous nannoplankton) content. for two saturdays now we've been rendering overtime work since we still got plenty of samples to look at, thus the chance to sneak in (read:unofficial) a short update of what i have been up to lately. see i don't have my own computer here so i just make singit in this pc once in a while to check my e-mail. so you can just imagine how i miss blogging.*sob*
anyway, jakarta is much like manila, and indonesians just like filipinos, very warm and helpful. they even look like us ... very much that people here always mistake us for indonesians and speak to us in bahasa.
so there, i think i should be going back to work. more kuwento later. *wink*
