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The name is Elaine or Ien or Pssst or Hoy ...or whatever suits you
...from the city of Davao
...26 with fine lines and wrinkles already
...short-haired, two-eyed na! (thanks to constact lenses), right-handed, flat-footed
...wants to be a Buddhist and a United Nations interpreter someday
...confused about life in general
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Saturday, October 23
API Interview and Meeting Up Old Friends
Just came back from a short visit to Manila. BITIN!!!!! I flew in last wednesday and had to fly back the next day. So I only got to bond with them in between my API interview. First "must do" : ride the MRT. That part was ok. But when I came down Q-ave station, the Philippine Fiscal Crisis started creeping in. Oh my goodness, P6.50 na pala ang pamasahe from Q-ave to campus?! And everything from food to mineral water had gone up. But I expected that... I mean, what's new? It's Manila. It's the Philippines. hehehe
First on my list was to check in UP Mindanao Guest House somewhere deep in the woods of Area 2. Oh my goodness again, nobody's home! So I stood there, outside the scorching heat of the noontime sun, waiting for someone to open the gate and rescue me and my burdensome backpack. And so I shouted, "Krystala!!!!" Then came Barot! hehehe.... ayos ba sa Intro? =) Barot, Tess (grade school friend who's teaching EE subjects at UP Diliman) and I went to UP arcade for lunch, because I figured out calling and texting people for help will just drain out all the load I have in my cellphone. I don't remember what I ordered for lunch, but I wasn't able to eat everything. Ang laki kase ng serving, tapos parang hinalo-halo lang na dogfood. Yuck!
After lunch, Barot and I went back to the guest house and found Sir Tim home [at last]. Sir Tim Montes was the Humanities Department Head at UP Min last sem when I first joined the faculty. Barot says he's "papa-ble" but took it back when she learned about more personal stuff about him. hehehe... I freshen up a little, prepared some of the things I'll be needing for the interview, and unpack some of my belongings. Minutes after, we headed for arki to meet Lex, Naj and Alan. I knew then it will be a "bulabog" of sorts. Knowing how kikay, boisterous and kalog we can get, I just braced myself for a no-holds-barred ambush interview from them. Haha... It turned out Lex got most of the ambush interviews. We talked about love, work, family, review, practice, blogs, etc. But I had to cut my kwento short because it was almost 2:30 pm and my interview will be an hour later.
So I went to ADMU and almost got lost. Where the hell is Social Sciences Bldg.???!!!! I think my walking [in heels] left my feet with blisters, but I got there just in time. "Arch. De Los Santos, it's your time," Russel announced. Russel is the guy I pestered big time when I submitted my application. Hehehe... pero sabi nya ok lang daw. charing! There were 5 members of the interviewing panel... 4 Doctors of Whatever and former senator Raul Roco. Sheesh! I was starstrucked. I know Roco is now laos and whatnot, but to be in his presence is to feel like a true intellectual. He was asking me about my introductory letter. "So why do you say you have an unusual soul?", "So you say 'Don't miss the forest for the trees', in this case, which are the trees and what is the forest?", " So why do you say houses here look like California-styled houses?", "What's the difference between vernacular and traditional?", "Is there are a difference between houses in Manila and in Davao?", "Why in Central Thailand?"... and the questions poured in. You know the feeling when you're sort of "ganged up" by big people? That's how I felt at that time. I was so down that I immediately went to see Lex [for moral and immoral support... hahaha]. I saw old faces along the way... Bing, Peter, Kons, Sir Rico, etc.
Later that night, Lex and I went to UST and continued our chit-chat. We were waiting for Naj, Ruth and Alan to finish their review classes at Capricorn. We all ate dinner at Yellow Cab in Recto [i think]. It was my long overdue treat to the barkada for getting a job, passing the board exam, 3 birthday celebrations, christmas gift... basta, lahat-lahat ng pagkaka-utang ko. And Lex continued with his kwento...
Barot rode with me to the guest house. We chit-chat some more until her mom came to drive her home. Good night. And I'm looking forward to doing that again next month, probably with more sets of friends. Naka-book na nga eh. Hehehe... Ellyn & Co, Arkiboks [hopefully], Michael & JPT friends, and high school buddies. I hope I can squeeze that in a weekend, 'coz that's how short my next visit will be.
Just came back from a short visit to Manila. BITIN!!!!! I flew in last wednesday and had to fly back the next day. So I only got to bond with them in between my API interview. First "must do" : ride the MRT. That part was ok. But when I came down Q-ave station, the Philippine Fiscal Crisis started creeping in. Oh my goodness, P6.50 na pala ang pamasahe from Q-ave to campus?! And everything from food to mineral water had gone up. But I expected that... I mean, what's new? It's Manila. It's the Philippines. hehehe
First on my list was to check in UP Mindanao Guest House somewhere deep in the woods of Area 2. Oh my goodness again, nobody's home! So I stood there, outside the scorching heat of the noontime sun, waiting for someone to open the gate and rescue me and my burdensome backpack. And so I shouted, "Krystala!!!!" Then came Barot! hehehe.... ayos ba sa Intro? =) Barot, Tess (grade school friend who's teaching EE subjects at UP Diliman) and I went to UP arcade for lunch, because I figured out calling and texting people for help will just drain out all the load I have in my cellphone. I don't remember what I ordered for lunch, but I wasn't able to eat everything. Ang laki kase ng serving, tapos parang hinalo-halo lang na dogfood. Yuck!
After lunch, Barot and I went back to the guest house and found Sir Tim home [at last]. Sir Tim Montes was the Humanities Department Head at UP Min last sem when I first joined the faculty. Barot says he's "papa-ble" but took it back when she learned about more personal stuff about him. hehehe... I freshen up a little, prepared some of the things I'll be needing for the interview, and unpack some of my belongings. Minutes after, we headed for arki to meet Lex, Naj and Alan. I knew then it will be a "bulabog" of sorts. Knowing how kikay, boisterous and kalog we can get, I just braced myself for a no-holds-barred ambush interview from them. Haha... It turned out Lex got most of the ambush interviews. We talked about love, work, family, review, practice, blogs, etc. But I had to cut my kwento short because it was almost 2:30 pm and my interview will be an hour later.
So I went to ADMU and almost got lost. Where the hell is Social Sciences Bldg.???!!!! I think my walking [in heels] left my feet with blisters, but I got there just in time. "Arch. De Los Santos, it's your time," Russel announced. Russel is the guy I pestered big time when I submitted my application. Hehehe... pero sabi nya ok lang daw. charing! There were 5 members of the interviewing panel... 4 Doctors of Whatever and former senator Raul Roco. Sheesh! I was starstrucked. I know Roco is now laos and whatnot, but to be in his presence is to feel like a true intellectual. He was asking me about my introductory letter. "So why do you say you have an unusual soul?", "So you say 'Don't miss the forest for the trees', in this case, which are the trees and what is the forest?", " So why do you say houses here look like California-styled houses?", "What's the difference between vernacular and traditional?", "Is there are a difference between houses in Manila and in Davao?", "Why in Central Thailand?"... and the questions poured in. You know the feeling when you're sort of "ganged up" by big people? That's how I felt at that time. I was so down that I immediately went to see Lex [for moral and immoral support... hahaha]. I saw old faces along the way... Bing, Peter, Kons, Sir Rico, etc.
Later that night, Lex and I went to UST and continued our chit-chat. We were waiting for Naj, Ruth and Alan to finish their review classes at Capricorn. We all ate dinner at Yellow Cab in Recto [i think]. It was my long overdue treat to the barkada for getting a job, passing the board exam, 3 birthday celebrations, christmas gift... basta, lahat-lahat ng pagkaka-utang ko. And Lex continued with his kwento...
Barot rode with me to the guest house. We chit-chat some more until her mom came to drive her home. Good night. And I'm looking forward to doing that again next month, probably with more sets of friends. Naka-book na nga eh. Hehehe... Ellyn & Co, Arkiboks [hopefully], Michael & JPT friends, and high school buddies. I hope I can squeeze that in a weekend, 'coz that's how short my next visit will be.