Past 22 Months In Summary:
Lived independently
Spent countless hours on or waiting for public transport
Met new people
Built new friendships - Normanton Hometeam and SG Crew... repruhzent!
Did the readings
Did the projects
Walked the sites
Stood up for critiques
Walked some more
Prayed hard
Learned what it is to be a Filipino
Worked till drooling on the notebook PC...
and then waking only to write a post-it asking for Mac to wake me in the morning
Scrimped on the puny stipend
Overdosed on MSG
Walked some more...
Went postmodern caveman on sundays...
Learned to trust at work
Became less overbearing
Humored myself
Expanded my horizons - and my waistline
Learned to wash whites and colors separately... laundry discrimination
Ironed
Walked some more
Ironed again
Learned to shop... for clothes, for groceries, for friends and family.
Learned to cook... still learning... microwave and all...
Ironed again... learned not to use the high setting on polyester
Went home for Christmas break - felt like crap for having to leave
Overloaded my electives... and get punished for it...
Single-handedly present, defend and get hammered by a panel...
on 4 hours of sleep in 48 hours
Faced the prospect of being stipend-less and jobless by applying for work while studying
Wrote fancy resume/cvs only to have them backfire...
Forget that I have class on monday mornings... and interview on monday mornings anyway
Dissertated... :P
Joined my best bud @ P&T
Did the upstream Salmon rush-hour walk... fought the current and almost ran over helpless bystanders heading to Raffles Place
Soaked in the energy in Singapore's Financial Center... now I know what fastlane means...
Got an underused industrial-strength gym membership - thinking I'd be in that job for the next 18 months...
Graduated... Got the Degree...and kicked ass!
Worked for a workaholic, rapid-talking, kick-ass boss - who I still respect for being gracious to and being a mentor/friend to me despite whatever went down during the succeeding transition.
Did 50million iterations on a condo plan
Mastered the GFA Table- Baywindows till kingdom come
Learned the Singaporean vocabulary of design... pop-outs, slot-ins, clip-ons, ad infinitum
Worked countless hours on a pimpled building... leaving only @ 4am to go home, get some sleep and take a shower to get back to work ... only to have the project go KIV. (Killed-in-vitro)
Bought Coffee... este Kopi-C
Walked some more
Wore my Polo Barongs to work... trying to show the barangay of Pinoy staff that I'm not there to antagonize them... that I'm one of them... and that we're all in the same boat...
Wore my Polo Barongs to work... stood in the middle of Raffles Place... not afraid/ashamed to show people that yes... I'm Pinoy... and we're all running the same race as the locals... kaya natin makipagsabayan sa kanila.
Learned to drink... and then learned that I'm allergic to anything stronger than an IPA.
Maxed out the club freebies... MOS, St James, etc. - walang sinabi sa AmexcoPlatinum
Witnessed Long Distance Relationships take shape, climax and meltdown... learned too
Learned Singlish... Wa Lau Eh! Trying to unlearn it.
Got the fancy shiny Identity Card - salbabida kung sakaling manalo si Pacquiao as President
Get frustrated over brewing incompetencies at work... and pull the trigger on a resignation... Get a new job... manuevered my way to a seamless transition... just before the crisis hit.
Spent 2 weeks recovering from the first job's unforgiving pace... went out for dinner at Marche... met a visitor from Manila... spent countless hours in a little box with scrolling text
Started the new job... graduated from CAD Monkey to Paper Jockey to Powerpoint Monkey
Became plugged into the little red dot's matrix - paid CPF
Walked from Kent Ridge to Vivo City... took the bus back...
Heartland shock! from Raffles Place to sleepy Bukit Merah with all the uncles, aunties and ah bengs sipping their kopi in the morning.
Heartbroken to find out that YM is blocked at work...
spent even more hours YMing... left with 4 hours of sleep... but still going to work with that empowering feeling... looking forward for the next <buzz>, :D and <crickets>
Evolved from man to elephant to Godknowswhat :D
Became an asawa sa saudi
part-timed as family photographer on christmas eve
Went to mass, ate ourselves silly and then visited the lady of peace...
displaced a lot more polar bears traveling between Sing and Manila on an almost monthly basis...
Became a polar bear
Got a polar bear
Kept walking
Walked to West Coast Park... till my legs went floppy...
Became suki ng Singtel hot128 and HiCard Top-ups...
Asked Oliver to redeem all the free pepsi that the top-ups came with... katas ng LDR
Became witness to the blossoming of a short-distance relationship :P tipong 3 hakbang lang
Sunday dinners became the highlight of my trips home
Became unofficial agent for the Singapore Tourism Board... with family and Patring visiting several times
Traded Phuket and Bali backpacking with the flatmates for several flights home and business trips ad nauseum
Saw Brunei... had Chickenjoy there...
Visited Kampung Ayer, the 2 Main Mosques, saw downtown - all in 2 hours.
Saw Hanoi... got lost in translation... and only really care about wireless internet in my room
Sleptwalk through countless revisions @ work... only really caring about what's happening back home.
Spent countless hours planning for trips home... purchasing tickets by bulk...
Naging suki ng Muji at Ikea
Nakipagpatayan sa IT Show
Diminishing returns started to mount... Life in SG started becoming an out-of-body experience... existing in suspended animation till the next visit home.
God speaking in whispers... answering prayers...
Family responsibilities beckon
Opportunities aligned... as if a succession plan is in place...
Time to restart a life put on hold...
Time to step up to the plate and walk all the nationalistic talk...
Time to place my bets and earn my stake...
To be given a chance back home, to make it work and to succeed.
Yes... there is a Filipino Dream!
I'M COMING HOME! :D
Bakbakan na! \m/
