Flying Orange Sotong

There, there, lower right. Yes, that's me in my bubble, pulling a Sotong-shaped kite, oblivious of the searing heat of 5.3opm sun.

In case you're wondering why the buildings look kind of dwarfed, well, I'm outside the city (for a change). There are no skyscrapers, just some quiet HDB neighborhood overlooking the greenfield across Buangkok MRT. Yes, when kite flying, go East! Central kids like me felt at ease and at peace there. :D

High School, The Zuckerberg Connection

Cristel, my two-time seatmate in high school, was nostalgic about our St. Thomas Academy days. And lately, I bet everyone is. I don't know why, but a lot of high school classmates are active in Facebook these days. I had the chance to talk to some fellow Thomasians (wow, I haven't used this term to refer to schoolmates since 2004!) through FB chat in the past week.

Inginu, our musical genius ever since grade school, formed a band and launched an album online. Edwin, my junior prom partner, told me that he's organizing a movie marathon aka a small reunion for his senior class so he could make the most out of his week-long break from work. Camille, my classmate in IV-St. Claire, told me she's now happily married with two kids.

I miss high school, of course, with all its Catholic School experiences: The values affirmation in the morning ceremonies. Retreats in Tagaytay. Student Council meetings with a Guidance Counselor as adviser. Our ECHO staff days. Leadership trainings in Calaca, Batangas. And all the Religion-related activities.

But I miss senior year the most: How I was soooo good in English, Social Studies and Drafting classes and how I was sooo mediocre in any Math class. How bad we were in the Choir Competition. How good our Men's Basketball team was. The 'Sister, nagugutom po kami' excuse during the retreat. Our really good Values Education presentations/dramas and how lucky I was to be grouped with amazing actors who happen to be the craziest guys in class (hello Mark Paul, Reggie, Erwin, Ledzepp, Louvhern,Sandro, etc.). Daily kwentuhan with lunch buddies Cristel, Adri, Micah and Eden. The best Social Studies class with Mrs. Torres (who is now teaching at St. Thomas Academy Kindergarten and my niece Marga's teacher). Seatmate Gil Edward and our crazy tactics to save each other when we forgot about assignments and requirements (One time, we were required to bring coloring materials and we broke my Crayola pieces in half so we could share. He helped me borrow books from other sections when we both forgot to bring ours).

I could say more things about senior year but my HS photos, notes, and scrapbook materials are in Batangas. Wah, Cristel, your nostalgia is infectious even though I'm 2400 km away.

Here We Are

Dear Present Self,

It's okay to feel bored, to feel unchallenged. It's not a sign of not growing. It's a signal that you can take things slowly and as cliche as it may sound, have the time to smell the flowers. Don't look for a new job yet, enjoy the current one. Embrace the whole experience. Boredom is part of existence and it's okay to feel like you are too small to change the world. And maybe still young to do something great.

You say you want a job in advertising. Start now. Organise your portfolio. Who cares if that's going to contain some mediocre works, some time, someday, you'll get that dream copywriting job and you'll know that it's not about having a Pencil or a Lion. It's about being satisfied and proud about your work.

You say you want to travel the world, start now. Go to the embassy at the soonest possible time to renew your passport, book those air tickets. You have lots of friends who would like to be travel buddies with you. Muster enough courage to ride a bus or train alone, you'll be fine. It's not about the destination, it's about what you have achieved while going there. Someday you'll find the perfect travel partner who will be there for you all the time. Someone you can drag no matter how frivolous the trip is or how long it would take to travel. But until you find that perfect travel partner, explore the world alone. It's not as scary as it sounds. You have the guts to transfer to Singapore alone, why not travel alone? You can do it, just do it.

Please take the OCness a notch down. January is five months away, don't fret. The perfect job will come, the perfect working environment will come. I know you want to transfer to another city in the world for your next job, but what if Singapore offers something great, too? Or even greater? What if there's something in store for you here if you stay just a bit longer? Consider the 'what ifs', then decide.

Should you decide to go back home and look for a job in Manila, I'm sure your parents will respect your decision. If, deep in your heart, that's what you really want to do, then do so. Stop thinking of how much money you can earn abroad or that some people might say that you are wasting the opportunity that might come your way here. If you want to be in Batangas and experience Makati life once more, then go back. But you know the heavy traffic and the economic situation waiting for you there. Just be ready for everything.

Present Self, I love you for who you are. For how immature and childish you could be sometimes. For being young and idealistic. For surviving in a foreign country and how grown-up that sounds. For thinking about your family first before yourself. For being true to what you want, what you need and what you really want to pursue in life. For knowing that there are unexpected things that will come your way and the best thing to do is accept them. Don't be afraid to experiment on things you haven't done before. Risk. Eat something beyond the usual. Get out of your comfort zones. Run and be free. Do not be afraid to love. You are blessed with parents and siblings who support you all the way. You are blessed with friends who are there for you no matter what. You're a blessed girl and be thankful for that.

Live in the here and now. Plan about the future, but don't be such a worrywart. Yes, it's okay to write some emo stuff like this once in a while. Just don't overdo it and you might sound like a Maalaala Mo Kaya letter and I bet you don't like that.

Just be true to yourself and you'll be okay.



Love,
Nelly

iPod, I Missed You

My first generation iPod shuffle was left tucked away in a lonely corner of my drawer in Batangas for over a year. I thought it was infected by a virus then, which is contrary to my belief that Apple products have a special shield against viruses. When it stopped playing music two years ago, I tried reformatting it, tried putting songs again, nothing happened. Then there came a time when it couldn't even be recognised as a USB drive, so I could not reset it. I tried several times, to no avail. That's when it assumed its position in that lonely corner of my drawer.

When I went back home last month, I saw my dear iPod again. I put it in my luggage, tucked it away in another lonely corner in my cabinet when I got here. Forgot about it (again) until yesterday. My colleague was complaining about his dead 2nd generation iPod shuffle and I told him mine was dead, too. I told him maybe all iPod shuffles have a kind of a self-destruction mechanism, so they would stop functioning after three years or so. But we still downloaded the Restore Utility, read some discussions online and kept our hopes high.

Yes, my iPod Shuffle has risen from the dead! It was resurrected through the intercession of Apple's Restore Utility. My colleague's shuffle, sadly, is still dead as of this writing.

It's not about you

It's not about me, either. It's all about the clients' needs.

Stop using the I'm uncomfortable with the idea drama. I need concrete reasons why you've crushed my concept. Constructive criticisms, dear. I am very open to revisions. I don't want guessing games here.


(update: ten hours after writing this post, I found this blog entry. Coincidence much?)