The More the Many-er

... it's one of the jokes that my officemate recited that almost made burst out laughing.

I've been working for five years in a start up company and atmost, I only had 8-10 officemates. The good thing about working in a start up company is that you're part of building the company from scratch. You learn and do things that are way out of your job title/description such as accounting, woodworking, cleaning, and some other HR/Admin/Maintenance stuff. There's no corporate bureaucracy whatsoever but you have to be independent and self-sustaining.

Now that I'm working in a company with 800+ employees, it feels different. It's refreshing. I used to wish that I could work in a place where I could see a lot of people. I was planning that I'll give myself 3-5 more years in programming then I will look for another career. I do want to work in an airport someday.

I'm sitting here at my cubicle waiting for next task. At least I only do what I am assigned to do, nothing more. No pressures. I enjoy people watching right now, peeking around my cubicle. I just hope they dont find me a weirdo.


And yes, the more is indeed merrier. =)

I'm home!!!

I don't know where to begin. It's been a month since I got home here in the Philippines and there's so many stories to tell. Maybe I'll start few weeks before I left. I spent a week in the phoenix arizona and a week in L.A. They had 'despida' for me and some of them are still convincing me to stay. I can't stay, I already made up my mind. I started packing my things few days before my flight. Three and a half years surely made my closet full but I can only bring home two 70 lbs luggage. I don't want to spend money for excess baggage but those luggages are just enough for the 'pasalubong' and 'pabili.' I packed several piece of t-shirts and few pants. I decided to left my jackets (winter clothes, I won't be using it in this tropical country of ours), polo/long sleeves (formal wears), socks and underwears. Yes, I went home with a pair of socks and one underwear. I told myself to buy some when I get home.

My boss and his wife drop me off at the airport. In the line for checking in luggages, I saw a dozen or more balikbayan boxes being pushed in a cart by two pinoy guys with 'Team Pacquiao' jackets. I looked around, and there he is, the "Pacman" himself. I wanted to take a pix or ask for a signature but I just can't leave my things in the line. I was booked on China Airlines instead of Philippine Airlines (it's cheaper in China Air) so I wasn't able to see him upclose. Our plane was bound to Chang Kai Shek airport in Taiwan and had a connecting flight to NAIA in Manila. It didn't sink that I'm really home until the plane landed in NAIA.

It was raining outside while I waited for my mom to pick me up at the airport. It made me smile seeing some of our kababayans screaming at the top of their lungs after seeing their loved ones in the waiting area. I wanted to take pix of those hugs, crying and other dramatic scenes but I was too shy to do it. After almost an hour of waiting, I called my mom to ask where they are. She said that traffic is heavy and the streets are flooded but they're on their way. They came from Laguna for it's my father's death anniversary. It's been 13 years when my father had a cardiac arrest. After another hour of waiting, they finally arrived. With my mom is my youngest brother and my lolo. Nothing much changed, I mused myself as we passed the streets of Manila. But it's cleaner and there are some newly erected buildings.

I didn't have any weird feelings as I entered in our apartment in Sampaloc. It's like I didn't left at all. I unpacked my things which doesn't have much but few pasalubongs and some clothes. I told my mom that I'll be meeting my college classmates later in the evening. I didn't have time to rest so after unpacking, I went to RCBC plaza to meet up with marie, and then later, with the rest of my college classmates.

The next day, I told mom that I've scheduled a family picture shoot at Robinson's Place Manila. I told my brothers that our sister was also here and that she's staying in a hotel in malate and that we were planning to surprise our mom. Indeed, she was surprised that we thought she's gonna have a heart attack when she saw my sister seating at the waiting area. She cried but the rest of us were laughing.

Few days before my flight, I updated my resume on jobstreet and jobsdb. By the time I got home in Manila, I received phonecalls from several head hunters/agencies. Though I'm still in vacation mode, I don't want pass up the chance for interviews because sooner or later I need to work. Two weeks later, I landed on a job here in Eastwoods, Libis. So here I am at the office, waiting for my domain account to be activated. Since I can't surf and don't have anything significant to do right now, I'm trying to write this blog entry in notepad. And I guess by the time you read this, it's already posted. Harhar!