Tapos Na Ang Commercial Break

After almost three years of being away from the world of advertising, I'm back. "Happiness ba 'yun?", asked one of my friends. Well, it is, since Brand Ideas, the ad agency where I now work is just way too cool. Four-day work week ba naman (Pero siyempre if you have sabit, you still have to go to the office on Friday, like the rest of the world.) Aside from that, kanin-all-you-can pa every day. And, free lunch every Thursday!

So far, so good. The atmosphere in the office is very homey and the people are just nice. I have a lot of former officemates there. Like, kumareng Arleen, Chupete, Mother Zannie, Charlene, and Boss Kiko.

I've also made some new friends. From Creatives, there's sensible Cora who cooks really fabulous pasta; pretty Azel who wears a dress every Thursday; si RJ na ngiti lang nang ngiti; at ang bastos na si JQ. Sa Accounts naman, there's the very demure Donna, ang palaban na Bechai, cute and cuddly Nikki, and this girl named Myk who-- wala lang, hindi ko pa siya masyadong nakakachika eh. Sa Accounting/Admin naman, there's the amusing chismosa named Cookie, the very quiet Tere and the very helpful Arcie. Of course, there's Bobby and Iten, the husband and wife team, who with Kiko, own the company.

I think I will like it there. I hope they will like me too. Hanggang retirement years ko na kaya ito? Let's see.

Guards with Good Memory

Went to JMT Building for a meeting with our BDO client. JMT happens to be the building of the former AMA DDB, where I used to work. That was way back in 1995 up to year 2000, I think.

Syempre naalala pa ako ng one of their security personnel. This short, lean guy na medyo panot. He even asked me if I used to work at AMA DDB. My golly, he's got really good memory. Eh ako nga, hindi ko na maalala kung anong floor yung dati kong office. Nge. But in fairness to me, I thought the guy looked familiar.

Anyway, speaking of guards, one time I was riding the bus, this guy kept on turning his head. Akala ko maniac or something. Turns out to be one of the guards of-- siyempre hindi ko maalala. Pero when I saw the front view of his face, I recognized him and he smiled. Nice 'no? Some people who I don't really know actually remember me even if I always thought my face is pretty generic.

But then, siguro those guards just have good memory. Whatchatink?

I Lost Their ID, They Lost Mine

It was my very first meeting at BDO. Their office is at JMT Building, across Podium. Security was strict. Each and every visitor must leave an ID. And so I did.

After the meeting, the account managers had to stay for yet another meeting. In the elevator, on my way out, I realized I lost the building ID. I went back to the client's office and retraced my steps, but I still wasn't able to find it.

I went to the lobby and told the woman behind the desk about my predicament. She asked for my name and looked for my ID (my driver's license)among the other visitors' IDs. It was gone.

Betchabygollywow -- di ba kakareplace ko lang noon? Kulang-kulang sa P500 din yun! Ngak!

Either someone willfully got the ID hanging from blouse with the intention of using it for some evil purpose. Or, they just made an honest mistake and gave my ID to someone else. (grumble, grumble).

Oh, well. Abangan ang susunod na kabanata ng "Missing ID."

My Honeybun's a Big Boy Now

For a long time, he was the baby of our family. That's why to me, Koko will always be like my "first bunso."

Now look at him. Binata na. With some kind of resemblance pa to Sam Milby! Naks.

Koko graduated this year at Lourdes School. He received a Certificate of Recognition for being the Most Improved Player of the soccer team. That's my boy!

Turning the Subtitles Off

Last Wednesday was my last day at the subtitling company. My last project? An episode for a somekinda soft porn TV show starring that guy from X-Files. On a Holy Wednesday at that! Anobeeh?

Anyway, after I finished the file, we had a "Good Riddance Party". I treated the guys to pizzas galore and Pepsi. May pasok pa sila on Maundy Thursday. Weird. To think our google won't search Alfred Hitchcock because of the "cock" and Dick Burton because he's a "Dick." Our encarta naman won't search "dirty words" like BS, which, I only later on found out was bullsh*t.

On our way home, siyempre walang tao sa bus. Bakit? Kasi kami lang yata sa buong Makati ang may pasok. Ngak!

A Mannrose bus hit the bus we were riding. I'm not sure if it was the driver or the conductor, or was it both of them, who ended up having a fistfight with the other camp. Bakit? Siguro masama ang loob kasi the rest of the Philippines walang pasok, except for them. Korak?

Anyway, many may not believe it, but I kinda feel bad leaving the world of subtitling. Because come to think of it, I liked the job and I enjoyed it. If not for the quotas and the Saturday work, I think I would've gladly stayed, probably until my retirement years.

Oh, well. Another chapter in my life has come to a close. This was a short one. Short, but sweet. : )

The Disobedient Parents

This is during Koko's graduation. Reminds me of that Nestle corporate campaign "Sa Mata ng Bata."

So did we join and take pictures of Koko during the celebration? Medyo. Pero a lot of the shots were taken by darling Gobgob. No wonder napagod ang bata towards the ending.

A Good Friday Lunch

Nag penitensya na naman kami doon sa "Very Cheap" resort. So I just gave in to a craving for Yellow Cab pizza. Garden Fresh, para abstinence pa rin. We took out the meatballs in the spaghetti. Pero yung chicken sa Charlie Chan noodles were too difficult to take out piece by piece, kaya hinayaan na lang namin.

In a way, penitensya pa rin kasi bitin siya. Not exactly because we were somekinda fasting (kuning-kuning) More of di lang kaya ng budget. Mahalia Fuentes, as in!

While in Yellow Cab, may celebrity sighting pa kami. Saw Christian Bautista with his family. He's somewhere in the background sa solo shot ni Oca.

Sarap talaga ng Yellow Cab. Sinful!

Almost The Titanic

Koko was dragging the newly bought plastic boat going to the beach. Just when Oca was shouting out to him not to do that, biglang pfffft. Siyempre tumama ang bangka sa protruding pako ng cabana at nabutas. Ngak. Hindi pa nga nakakatouch ng tubig.

Koko said, "Mama, anong gagawin natin?"

Very helpful Mama said, "Picturan na lang kita." Click.

Sorrowful Koko confessed to his Papa his sin. Oca told him to look for the repair kit that came with the boat. Koko and I both knew it wasn't in the box. Andy hid it somewhere for safekeeping. Hid it so well, he doesn't remember where it is. But nevertheless, Koko went back to the cottage, probably buying some time to think of what to do next.

My MacGyver brain wasn't working. Wasn't much of a MacGyver in the first place. Wished I watched more episodes. Probably I would've thought of something really clever. The only idea I could think of was putting a sticker to seal the hole. Saan naman kami kukuha ng cutesy sticker?

Clever Koko thought of using the price sticker instead. We tried it and it seemed to hold well (although I doubt if it'll last once it gets wet). More clever Papa thought of asking for some electric tape from the engineer caretaker.

Good thing the engineer caretaker had some really good quality electric tape around. And it's red. Not a bad patch for an orange boat. Well, that's a plus point for them.

I would say sana that the boat wouldn't have a hole in the first place if they didn't have so many protruding nails around. Pero sige na nga. Let's just end this post on a positive note. We all had a wonderful time on the boat. Thanks to the engineer.

Very cheap indeed!

We decided to go to the beach this Holy Week, despite our very tight budget. I checked out the Internet and thought Morong, Bataan would be a good option. We've never been there and it's relatively near, just 30 minutes away from Subic. According to the couple of sites I've browsed, price of rooms would be around P3000, not bad.

But when we got there, it turns out that an overnight stay would cost us around P5000on the average. That's why when we saw this sign, aba -- dito na lang tayo!

P2,500 lang daw sila for an overnight stay. The nipa hut, though very small, is air conditioned. Odiba. And the porta-toilet cum bathroom has a bathtub! Sige na nga.

Seing that we were just too happy to take the offer, biglang nagsabi yung engineer na caretaker na there's P100/head charge, entrance fee ek. Sige na nga. Bago siya umalis, Oca paid him P3000. Tapos, may usapan sila na if we decide to extend until 5 PM the next day, additional P500 lang. Okay, fine.

While they were supposed to be "cleaning up" the room, siyempre biglang tinanggal yung kaisa-isang kutson. Akala ko ibibilad lang or papalitan ang sheets or something. But it turns out, the matress isn't part of the deal. Ganun?! No matress, no pillows, no blankets... just a katre and a small table in the bedroom, and another table out in the terrace. Wala silang barbecue pit, kahit na kalan where you can heat water for your morning coffee. Anobeeh?!

And worse, nagka-brownout that night. Joskoday. Of course, walang generator (what do you expect?) Good thing nakapagbanlaw na kaming lahat kasi nawalan din ng tubig. Kawawa the clan occupying the two other cottages. Some of them slept that night nang hindi nagbabanlaw. Yuck. Just imagine the lagkit and the sand in parts where they shouldn't be. Ewww.

It was quite hot pa naman that night. We decided to sleep na lang sa cabanas nila by the beach. At least, the sea breeze was cool.

Around 10 PM, finally, bumalik ang kuryente. The family trooped back to the cottage for some air conditioned comfort. I would've stayed sa cabana (I prefer fresh air, tsaka tulog na ako, noh) Eh ang kulit ni Oca and Andy. Sige na nga, doon na rin ako sa cottage natulog.

Lumamig naman ang air con. I thought hindi siya lalamig kasi that afternoon, parang hindi siya lumalamig. Problema, we just had one blanket. Imagine, the four of us sharing one blanket. Buti na lang, Gob really doesn't like using a blanket. Or else, we would've been five to that one thin blanket! Penitensya,betchabygollywow!

Next morning, after our somekinda breakfast of putok bread from the bakery and our baon na tuna delata with mayo, we searched for a place where our parlor people and construction workers can have their summer outing. Definitely, it's not gonna be in this "cheap" hole in Morong.

Come noontime, one of the caretakers asked if we were going to extend. All of a sudden, ang bilis ng inflation rate, biglang P1,500 na ang hinihingi for the extension. Ganun?! Aba, masaya.

So we packed our bags and left with the promise never to come back to this "cheap" place again. Ever!