may nakakatawang nangyari sa akin kaninang umaga pag-pasok ko sa opisina…yung security door ng floor namin, pilit kong binuksan gamit ang electronic ticket sa MRT train ng singapore. nagtataka ako kung bakit ayaw bumukas ng pinto sa office – kaya pala. hehehe… tawa ng tawa sa akin yung cleaning lady ng floor namin dahil nakita niyang kabobohan ko. yan na nga bang sinasabi ko eh…puyat ng puyat.
tulog ng tulog, puyat.
kain ng kain, payat.
alas tres na ng madaling araw gising pa ako… tinatapos ko lang ang trabaho ko dahil uuwi na kami sa friday. medyo pagod na mga ako lalo na itong last two weeks, ako lang ang naiwan na engineer sa opisina. lahat ng technical support sa akin bumabagsak. ok lang iyon. at least pag bakasyon ko, mararamdaman ko talaga na bakasyon nga yon.
ika nga eh hirap muna bago sarap… kabaligtaran ng pagbubuntis, in a way.
on the closing of the australian embassy in manila…i.e., the PDI article: Islamic radicals seen behind Australian embassy threat – Nov. 28, 2002
sobra naman ang australia sa pagkapraning… di ba ang australian embassy sa pilipinas nasa taas ng building sa makati? eh ang higpit na nga ng security sa mga building natin eh. di ko naman sinasabing walang threat sa kanila – pero, to close it down, i think, is admitting na sumuko na sila sa mga terrorist. kaya tuloy inaalaska sila ni doctor mahatir ng malaysia eh. last week sabi niya – “australia has to decide whether it wants to become a part of asia or become a puppet of the united states”.
sabagay di ako magtataka – pati nga singapore, binigyan nila ng security notice.
mahigpit ngayon dito pero subtle lang ang dating… especially sa mga airport. marami ngayong sundalo na nagpapatrol sa loob ng mga terminal na may mga assault weapon na hightech. marami ring biniling mga bagong machines to scan for chemicals, metals, etc. pati na rin ang mga container terminal sa singapore ay equipped na rin ng mga on-line analyzers para pwedeng mag scan ng mga container van during the loading sa mga barko. ang kagandahan lang eh – di mo ito masyadong mapapansin. for example, sa airport nakatago sa mga basement ang mga machines at di mo makikita na may scanning na nangyayari.
sa mga kalye na maraming puti – temporarily closed ang mga ito. especially around holland avenue and the boat quay areas na kung saan maraming tambay na mga foreigners na umiinom at kumakain. so kung pupunta ka rito, park ka sa malayo o kaya mas pinaka the best – mag taxi ka na lang or bus.
ewan ko – better to be prudent than to be sorry siguro. i guess they have a reason to be extra careful. problema lang ay minsan too extreme ang mga measures that it becomes a pain.
15 days na lang.
handle ko ay “bluejay” – medyo baduy, then freddie coco suggested i change it to “jd transit”. hehehe… i was in rj around 1987 when it was still in the j&t bldg at santa mesa. around that time, i was still studying engineering at mapua (4th year).
after school (around 8:30 pm), i’d board a bus in front of the manila city hall and reach j&t around 9:30. i still had 30 minutes to get my cassetes (wala pang cd nung araw) and chat with “the red rooster” who had the 8-10 om slot (sadly, the red rooster died a couple of years ago – a pity, we was a great guy…) i got on board at 10:00 pm and finished at 2:00 AM. afterwards, i had to commute home in a jeep with the rest of the graveyard shift people – drunks, drug addicts, snatchers and hospitality girls.
it was great to work at the tower, especially in the late evenings. you’d see manila by night from up there and it was really beautiful. the city lights and the great music more than paid for my meager “allowance”. wala kasi akong suweldo eh… hehehe.
doubleA was the station manager, dante was the chief announcer, there was freddie coco, bob magoo, monster radio’s the gaucho (i forgot his name, damn – hehehe).
i spent a semester at rj – they fired me afterwards, hehehe… actually, they changed their format again and they fired everybody except dante.
in that short stint, i lost around 30 pounds becuase of the late nights every night except sunday. not to mention, the school work in the afternoon and evening. my grades started getting bad and it was time to make a career move. i chose engineering and left radio to my dad and brother.
back from india… one week of spending time in a strange land. ewan ko kung paano i-describe ang india. so foreign na para akong nasa ibang planeta. pero sabi ko nga, may beauty din naman sa lugar na iyon, sisilipin mo lang ng maigi.
next week, nasa china naman kami. kasama ko si jet. sanan naman ok ang byahe namin. medyo malamig na ngayon sa beijing. tiningnan kong forecast sa linggo (araw ng pagdating namin): mga -4 to 5 deg c.
44 days na lang – uwi na kami sa pilipinas para vacation.
next week nasa india na naman ako. yung mga officemates ko, ayaw magpunta doon kasi mabahu raw, marumi, maraming mahirap, ibang tsibog. ako naman eh, how shall i say it, “trabaho lang pare, walang personalan”. for me, you take both the good and the bad. india is really different – so alien, so beautiful and ugly at the same time. it’s in your face. and, in that way, i kind of like it.
the last time i was there, we went to taj mahal on an unexpected day off where my boss and i suddnly became accidental tourists. on a 45 deg. c day, there we were under the heat of the @#$$@$% sun but enjoying every minute of it. that in a nutshell is my indian experience and i am probably going to relive it once more next week.
maraming nangyari sa amin ni jet itong nakaraang buwan. punong puno nga ng actiivities, parang pelikula ni dolphy – may kantahan, may sayawan, may iyakan, may suntukan at siyempre – may tawanan.
una lipad akong orlando for a work related conference – hassle and long delays at the us airports. this is ok and much anticipated. what i didn’t like was the almost look of panic in the eyes of the people at the airline counters (well, not all of them). there we were: asians from malaysia, singapore and the philippines showing our passports to the person at the counter. once she sees where we are from, there’s a look of panic in her eyes, a bit of agitated movement in the way she carries herself, a slight tremble in her voice. all very subtle, but, if you connect all of it – it is fear. fear for us, i guess. foreigners with strange accents from countries where terrorists live. i don’t blame her but i don’t like it one bit. i hate to be in a muslim’s shoes at this point. i guess for them, being profiled is a regular occurence. sayang, nakakainis and too bad for humanity.
back in singapore. back to jet. back to work. jet and i will be moving to a new flat next saturday. going to the east coast… oh yeah!
good evening from orlando.
habang sinusulat ko ito, kumakanti sa john melloncamp ng pink houses sa concert sa new york. galing.
kagabi, party namin sa invensys. kumanta ng isang set si huey lewis and the news. galing din. iba talaga pag live – magaling din ang showmanship nila at enjoy lahat. nalasing nga ako. hehehe… sobrang tuwa ko, dami ko tuloy nainom. heehee. naka 8 corona ako at 2 malaking basong scotch and soda. pag gising ko umaga na!
good morning from orlando… gising na naman ako ng alas-2. hirap talaga ng jet lagged. body clock ko nasa singapore pa rin. hehehe… problemado pa ako dahil may sakit si jet. buong araw nang nagrereklamo na masakit ang sikmura. bummer… tangnatalgangbuhay oo. tuwing umaalis na lang ako, may nangyayari sa mga mahal ko sa buhay. kaya ayokong umaalis eh. tangnatalaga…
Batang Kaning Lamig 