Subic (Enjoyable Pandemonium) II

We did nothing much on the first day of the plant visit. After that short visit to Hitachi we went straight back to our suites. I like the place. The room is cold even if the aircon is not set to high, the beds were enough for our group. I also like the soft couch, and the carpet flooring. Although the bathroom seemed a little too kinky with the opaque sliding door. The toilet bowl was comfortable. And was the most favorite of the group. Well, I have to agree because when you sit on it, it's so comfy that sooner or later you might fall asleep. When we arrived at the suite, we immediately unpacked our stuff, then one of my classmate violated the clean and sparkling toilet. No wonder earlier that day he felt a little nauseous. There were ten of us in the group. It should be eleven inlcuding a prof. Luckily, he didn't come with us in our plant visit. It wont be fun if there's someone older like Dr. Nilo watching over us. We all had planned for each persons food assignments and contributions for the group because food is not provided. One of us brought his PS2. While some of us were unpacking our stuff and setting the table for lunch, Mike was in the sala setting up his console. The rest were eagerly waiting for the PS2 and lunch. I brought the adobong manok i cooked the night before the plant visit. And guess what, so did the other two of us in the group. Kevin had his three kilo pork adobo prepared by his yaya. hehe. Gerome, also brought adobong manok but his was special 'coz it had boiled eggs. But, of course, my cook the best and was the supreme..naubos kaagad.. hahaha. Anyways, The plan was that me and Kevin are responsible for Thursday's lucnch. On Friday, the breakfast by Art, Gio and Wanda, then we have lunch outside and our dinner by Gerome and Mar. Mike's contribution was for entertainment. Rd brought some extra food and some of his group leisure games. And for J-than..well he had a plan for the final day. We all brought our own fun stuffs, utensils and snacks. hehe.. So, Mike immediatly set-up the console and inserted the Budokai Dragon Ball series. He brought a lot of games but it for our whole stay, that was the most played. Most of us were gamers so on the first day the PS2 was running for several hours. Gio who always watch UFC and the news wasn't given a chance to flip the channel. I took out my cam and record a few scenes on the first day we did in the suite. A few minutes, some classmates went to our room and paid a visit. On the first night, i heard that there was inuman but nobody got drunked...yet. Of course, nobody would dare to be drunk on the first day because we still have a plant to visit on the next day. For dinner we had, (what else, but) adobong baboy. Basically, we hooked ourselves in the TV (not giving a damn on what's happening outside the room) and played video games on the first day. Well, i visited some of our classmates on the other room and had a little shooting practice at the court. The second day was the most awaited. This is when the bonding while drinkig began. hehehe. Sarah's dad who was responsible for the contacts of the company we visited was kind enough to give each of us sandwiches for breakfast. Actually, the drawer for foods, snacks and canned goods were full. And we had enough food that could last for a week thanks to Gio who had the biggest bag from the group it was like he's leaving home for a week. hahah. Skip the plant tour part, it didn't took us long to finish the last plant (which i didn't expect to be the last 'coz it we finsihed at around 11 am, i mean, there has to be another one. What are we going to do for the next seven hours?). Well, after that all of us took luch at Jollibee and then we went to our suites and was told that we won't stay for long because the company we just visited earlier that day gave us free tickets to Ocean Island. I've already seen that place so it's not new to me. It was hot and boring. Some just wanted to stay at the suite, probably they were lazy, in fact all of us were tired. They have a sea lion and false killer whale show at four in the afternoon but it was just around two in my watch. We spend the time roaming around the place. Some were taking pictures, buying suveneirs and stuff. I got to see the acquarium again but this time the tank that had nothing in it before was already filled with sea creatures. My favorite stone fish was still there along with his buddies Nemo and company. It was boring. Then the show started, at least there was a little entertainment even though i've already seen the show. Sea lions were performing their tricks and so did those stupid false killer whales (just kidding, they're not stupid). Some of the girls had their picture taken with the sea lion having a fish in his mouth (by the way they said the sea lion is a playboy). So, the second day turned our to be a field trip. The show ended and we decided to drop by at Duty Free to buy some pasalubong (unfortunately, i didn't have money) and on our way my stomach was aching. Before going to Duty Free, we had a vote on who wanted to go back to the suite first or to Duty Free. That's why i chose to go back, i might, you know...explode down there. I think it was because of what i ate in breakfast, the sandwich that came from Sarah's dad or the adobong baboy of Kevin. So, for almost one hour i was holding it hoping that i could hold it long enough for our stop at Duty Free our ride back to the suite. But, nature prevails and i couldn't hold anymore. So i ran inside the mall and found my refuge at an awkwardy situated comfort room located in the chocolates section. whew! I wanted to borrow some money from my classmate to buy pasalubong but i felt my stomach ache again. It made me look for some medicine but there was no drugstore in Duty Free. Then i saw J-than with two cases of red horse and one case of san mig light. He added some more to our stock. After that we went to a shabu-shabu restaurant for dinner which means no special adobong manok of Gerome that night. This again was charity by the plant we visited that morning. We arrived at the resto but i asked Ms. Karen (our prof. who looks like a student) if i could use the coaster to look for a drug store. So I went back and they were all eating. I wasn't feeling good that night. It was a wrong timing for that to happen. I know that later that night we're going to have some good time, if you know what i mean. I don't want to be a kill joy, it's J-than's birthday. Two capsules of Loperamide did the thing and the pain was gone. Everyone was full from the dinner but me. I lost my appetite. heheh. So, after the free meal we left the place and thanked the owner of CSI (the plant we visited) who paid for the bill. We said thank you to him in Korean but i forgot how it's pronounced. Anyways, the time we've all been waiting for is almost near. All of us in the bus were singing "happy birthday j-than" on the way to the suite. We arrived at eight-thirty had some rest and played PS2 'coz on ten pm the fun is going to start. Our room is going to be jam-packed. Well, I don't want to reveal the good stuff here so let me just tell you the drinks that we had - Cuervo, Gilbey's, Fundador, Emperador, Red Horse, San Mig Light, and San Mig Stong Ice. And thanks to J-than most especially Rd who made us all drunk. Could you just imagine mixing everything except the Cuervo and using it as a chaser. Nice one Rd..sira ka talaga.heheh. It's really funny to see people when they're drunk. The way they talk, act and laugh changes, and sometimes share stories. Like what i did with Mar and Clang. Wanda was hilarious when he was acting like a bouncer and sying "step-in" and giving a drink to anyone who passes the room and not even entering the door. hahah. I also heard Mike's weird and funny high pitched laugh. And Gio's concern to Mike that he might jump off a cliff. That's why he didn't let Mike leave the room. Some, like Da went back to our room to have a drink. I didn't know he was a hard drinker. But some of our classmates didn't enjoy our drinking. I think they should just be a little open-minded. And, i think nothings wrong with what we're doing 'coz it happened at the right time and in the right place. I, myself only drink occasionally. And it was during this time that i puked (even twice), had a hangover, and woke up eleven am forgetting that i had puked the second time and left it uncleaned in the bathroom sink. I made the guys cleaned my own puke. Anyways, everyone else puked. hahah. It was fun...a sure fun. Too bad Herbie wasn't around that friday. Anyhow, I'm looking forward to our next plant visit. I heard it might happen at Cebu or maybe at Singapore (sosyal ei).

Subic (Enjoyable Pandemonium) I

I feel so embarrassed after knowing what i did on the night of Friday, Oct. 14 last week at our trip in Subic. It wont happen again. Yeah, that 3-days-to-nights plant visit I got one word for it - masaya (!). It was fun, i can't wait for another plant visit to happen again. I heard that next term it's going to be at Cebu. You can just imagine how much we're going to spend for the tickets. Defenitely, it's much expensive than the eight hundred peso trip to Subic with free lodging at a hotel. On our desire to budget our allowance, we decided to use a coaster than a bus. I have a thing with coasters. When i see one, bad thoughts comes into my mind like it might stumble or fall when it turns into a corner, or it might get crashed. Things like that. It's really small! It's really small, really, really small like a bean. hehe. Although it's cheaper, it can only accomodate twenty-eight people. Did i say it was small? So, some of my blockmates brought their own cars but still have to pay for the coaster fee. So unfair. Anyways, I think it was on this trip that all of my batchmates were present. Complete attendance! The plant visit that should be educational turned out to be a recreational. Haha. I knew from the beginning that this is going to happen. I figured that it was going to be a bonding experience. Just imagine, six plants / companies to visit in two days? And, we were expected to write a reaction paper per company after the trip. Well, yes it's possible but i doubt it'll happen. And, i was right. We only visited two plants. One Taiwan based plant on the first day that brought their company here along with their Suppliers because labor is cheap in the Philippines. And another foreign-based plant on the second day. It's a good thing we visited the Suppliers or else we wont be able to write a reaction paper for six companies. Although, we almost wrote nothing on our papers because there wasn't interaction at all and we just passed by or looked at the things that's happening in the plant. Anyways, i guess that's what happened in the educational part of the trip. We just annoyed the owner and the workers in the plant for visiting and meddling them on their job. hehe.
Well, i learned something that they have high tech manufacturing devices. And it gave me an idea on how manufacturing companies work. Wait 'til i tell you about the recreational part, the gooood part. I'm going to bed now. Got to catch some Z's..

misery

       The call of a departure and the implication that either I have felt a departure or that it is a recurring dream or perhaps it is just the goodbyes, the last scene in either a story or a movie which somewhere you are gone, somewhere you are far away. The emptiness, it is hurting. It is killing me. But I do remember the pain, I do remember the misery. The fear and the bitterness. The sense of loss, and the sorrow. The sense of irony, extremely harsh, extremely cruel.

Coolin

Come with me under my coat,

and we will drink our fill

of the milk of the white goat,

or wine if it be my will.

Or would you like to ride on a boat,

and let the wind drift us away

from coast to coast.

And we will talk until talk is a trouble,too,

out on the side of the hill,

and nothing is left to do,

but an eye to look into an eye,

and a hand in a hand to slip,

and a sigh to answer a sigh;

And a lip to find out a lip.

What if the night is black

and the air on the mountain chill

where all but the trees are still.

Stay with me under my coat

and we will drink our fill

of the milk of the white goat,

out on the side of the hill.

Something Desired as Essential

There’s something about gloomy weather that makes me think gloomy thoughts, and brilliant weather that makes me think brilliant thoughts as well. When will you ever realize that there is not anyone out there for us who’ll make our lives heaven on earth? Not until you realize and embrace your ability and responsibility to make your own life heaven first will you find your one true love, a true friend. Get the picture? It is like you cannot really find the one person who will make you happy in this world until you find ways for yourself to be happy. We are responsible for our lives, our actions, our feelings – everything. We are responsible for all that is ours and only after we learn to take responsibility for what is ours can we move on to being responsible for someone else- that someone else that could be our love of our lives or a guiding true friend of our life. No one can make you happy in the same way that nobody can teach you love and pain. At best we can be inspired by others to be happy and to learn, but we can never be taught anything, really. Life is surely hard. We learn by our own, work by our own, and love by our own.

I find it funny when examining Desiderata. In some ways, it gave me a wider perspective in life. It keeps one in a positive thinking attitude in every aspect in life even though it always comes the way around. I am not being pessimistic or whatsoever, but I think that we should make it a point of pointing out the weak, bad sides of what is happening around us. Does it make any sense if we face the possible errors in life?

Desiderata are a piece which shows the reality of life and how to deal with it as humanly as possible.

The essence of being human shows in Desiderata. We individuals have become so absorbed in our daily quest for success that we at times miss the real objective: finding one’s own happness. For my part, I have been struggling to overcome my own weak points that I have set myself personal craving for success, one after the other. I have to admit, it’s a race out there, and I am certainly one of the masses of participants wanting to be at the top, or at least be one of the winners of the world. After all, it is they who are admired, appreciated, and even loved, and I just have to do my very best at all times to be with the “in” crowd. I felt a sense of superiority in me each time I climbed one stepping stone after the other, believing that I will someday be invincible – always winning, never failing. It is that sort of perfection that I have wanted deep within, diving even further to win, and again, and again.

But then, reality has a way of reminding me that I have a long way to go. I thought that my status in life as quite a well-off person sets me above the rest, and it would only be a matter of time before I take over and lead. But along the way, I was proven wrong. Comparing myself with others, I realized that I could be anywhere – at the top where I feel ecstasy, in the middle where I feel secure but lacking, or even at the bottom where frustration lies to be felt. Understanding it all, someone my age from a lowly station in life could be better than me, not certainly in terms of wealth, but in other ways such as intelligence, self-reliance and even a longer line of experience in coping out with the stress and harshness of daily living. Then again, I could be way above another who is more financially secure with all the luxuries that man has developed, who could project and wield influence, but who lacks intelligence, courtesy, discipline, understanding and respect from his peers.

I have been raised and made to understand the value of competition, at least in the school level. Winning, I have wanted to win more, more often than not forgetting my own welfare for a coveted title other than honors, credits, special pins and medals; and losing, I felt nothing more than emptiness. It was at that latter part that I overlooked my own achievements: I had at several times stepped up the stage in convocation ceremonies for special recognitions; I won in contests for talents not commonly shared by everyone; I felt the rush of self-worth and self-respect that I was longing for; I was able to make my loved ones proud of me. After looking back and remembering my share of success, I made a step backwards and told myself: not bad, not bad at all. These are things that are quite fresh in my memory and would continue cherishing, but there will come a time that I have to push forward for more. Things of my past will form my personal history, and there is no such thing as forever for them that I have to let go to survive future challenges and hold out to win, this time with experience.

For my years of still growing up and learning, many things stand out as my guide. And after reading “Desiderata” and accepting its teachings by heart, I realized that what I have been living for are all there in what I describe as a product of a wise author who had been around, only that I got that high feeling that such writing will guide me even better in the future. What I have to do for my part is to be human as I can, but with tenderness, better understanding, higher wisdom, stronger spirit, better self-worth, and with greater ties with God who is always there to see me through.

What I have been doing all these years was reflected in “Desiderata,” only learning more and seeing the light for a clearer picture of the things I have to go through. It was a unique experience, teaching me the right way to be human, more importantly to be me as I am while doing all that I can to find everybody’s ultimate goal: a happy ending.