Finding Work

It has been 3 months since my last school day. I haven’t done anything productive between then and now. Other people travelled the world. Some pursued post-graduate studies while others already started looking for work. I just hang around the house reading books on my Nook, watching videos, and playing video games. I told myself last month that I would be looking for a job by May but I haven’t put a serious effort into finding one. I look at job vacancies online but I don’t do anything more than just look. After talking to Kenneth during our barkada overnight trip, he told me that it’s normal to feel under qualified for the vacant positions. I feel that I won’t qualify for any of the good jobs available. Even though I always tell myself to have no regrets, I’m starting to regret not taking my academic life seriously. I thought that as long as I graduate from the Ateneo, the world will be my oyster. The Ateneo name will certainly open up doors that would otherwise be unavailable to me but these I’m not even sure if I am capable of taking advantage of these opportunities. It feels like I did not obtain in my years of college the skills that I need to work for other companies. I try to tell myself that it will all work out in the end. I will be able to land a job quickly if I put some serious effort into job hunting. Throughout the years I have overcome many of my fears – clowns, darkness, injections, and ghosts, but the one I’m facing now seems to be the biggest one: the future. I am afraid of not knowing what the future hold for me. I’ve always had a plan for when I’m already in my late 20’s and beyond. What I didn’t contemplate was the near future. I never thought about what I would do right after college. This little oversight is causing me a lot of confusion right now. Some people are disappointed that they are disappointed that they did not achieve their dream, whether it is travelling the world, pursuing further studies, or landing a dream job. I feel so frustrated right now because I don’t even have a dream. I don’t know what I want to do. I certainly don’t want to be a bum for the rest of my life.

I’ve received 2 calls for job interviews so far but I didn’t really apply for either. The first one was a few months back. It was a networking scheme so I didn’t bother to go to the interview. The second one was just last week. I’m not sure if it was really IBM or just another spammer because I did not hear the other person very well. I refused the offer because they needed someone fluent in Mandarin and French to translate financial documents. My Mandarin sucks. My French is only at a very basic level. I don’t even think I’ll be able to survive a few days in France unless the people there also understand English. My knowledge of finance is even worse. Since I did not want my brain to rot at home, I started doing a project aside from reading books. I planned to sort of upgrade the way our family business works. I made excel sheets that would allow me to easily go through the financial data. Even though I hate finance and accounting, I find it the easiest to work on. All I need to do is create excel sheets that will automate the calculations of sales, receivables, payables, etc. I find that the operations part will be the hardest to do since there are so many different car parts that I don’t know anything about. Since there is practically no marketing aspect in our business, I find this the most exciting. I can design a logo, create a brand name, and maybe start advertising and possibly selling online. I’m already nearing the June deadline that I set for myself. If I still don’t have a job by the start of July, I will start working for our family business. The reason why I don’t want to work in our family business yet is because I don’t want the responsibility. I know that one day I’ll be taking over when my dad retires but that is still years away. Handling a business means I will be responsible for all aspects of the business. I’m not just responsible for what I do, but also for all the employees. I don’t think I’m capable already of handling all these things. I hope that I’ll somehow be “inspired” so I can realize what it is I really want to do in my life.

Trip to Thailand

Day 1

We arrived at Chiang Mai International Airport at around 1245am local time. (minus 1 hour from Philippine time) It took only a short time to get our documents processed. While looking for a taxi, we noticed a large congregation of people waiting at the arrival area. Apparently, a Korean pop group called FT Island was about also arriving tonight. We left the airport at 1250am. According to the guy who escorted us to the taxi van, it would take about 30min to get to Baiyoke Sky Hotel. We arrived at the hotel at 124am. I was surprised to learn that lobby was at the 18th floor. I found the hotel a bit small in terms of floor area but it was very tall. My brother and I stayed at room 4904 while my mom and sister were in the adjacent room. I slept after finishing Crazy Stupid Love. My dad woke me up at 830am. After a quick shower, we ate breakfast at the hotel. The view of the surrounding area was exquisite. The food was also nice. I liked the danish and the doughnuts the most. Unlike in Kuala Lumpur, I was able to eat as much as I usually do. After waiting for almost an hour, we were able to board the hotel’s free shuttle service to Siam Center. The trip was quite short. After exploring the mall a bit, we went to the mall next door. A family friend referred Siam Paragon to us. It was filled with luxury brands. We spent the rest of the day there. Alas, my shopping spree did not happen. The clothes didn’t appeal to me or were not available in my size. Curse you creator of slim fit clothing! There was this pinstriped suit that was on sale but it didn’t fit me. I almost bought a pair of headphones but decided not to at the last minute. I didn’t expect to do any tech shopping here in Thailand. After a while, we went to Ocean World which was at the basement floor of the mall. It was nicer than what I expected. I took a lot of pictures of the fishes displayed. My favorite shot is the one with the photo bombing fish. After checking out the fishes, we ate dinner at McDonald’s. I was able to finally eat the Mcpork burger which I wasn’t able to try out in Japan. The Coke Mcfreeze was also available. The last time we had that was last year in Hong Kong. It was like coke slushy with vanilla ice cream on top. We went to the supermarket after dinner. I bought a bar of Lotte crunchy chocolate, a box of green tea, a can of ginger ale, and a bottle of Smirnoff apple flavor. I also bought three different flavored cream puffs at Beard Papa’s. We then rode a taxi back to the hotel. My brother and I stayed at the hotel while my parents and my sister went to the night market below our hotel. I wanted to rest my very tired legs in preparation for the more grueling shopping day my mom had in plan for the next day. After a nice warm bath, I finished the latest episode of Bones and the first 2 episodes of a new anime called Another. The show is quite creepy. I went to sleep after organizing my stuff.

Day 2

I woke up almost 9am. I slept much better than yesterday although it was a bit weird because I woke up a couple of times in the middle of the night. I wasn’t able to eat much at the breakfast buffet because of a tummy ache. After exchanging some money at the money changer in front of the hotel, we stayed at the waiting area again for the free shuttle ride to Siam Center. While waiting for the shuttle to arrive, I taught my sister a few French words. We went to Madame Taussads to look at the wax figures. Some were a bit creepy while others looked so realistic. After that, we ate lunch at Outback Steakhouse. Luckily the membership card is valid for international use. Apparently this branch is the first and only Outback in Thailand. The manager was trained in Outback Philippines. We went to BMK shopping mall afterwards. My mom and sister spent hours looking around. I noticed a good-looking bag but there was only 1 left and it was slightly damaged so I didn’t get it. I was able to buy a pair of swimming trunks. We went back to the hotel after. My parents bought some KFC back to our room. I stayed in my room while my parents and my sister explored the night life outside our hotel. I wanted to rest my sore ankle for the next day. After my bath, I watched the next episode of Another and the first 2 episodes of Suits. I love it. I slept after a little reading.

Day 3

I woke up earlier at 730 because someone was going to pick us up at 9. My parents met a Filipino manager here in the hotel who set us up with his friend who does tours. We were going to visit the floating market and the crocodile farm. The floating market was fine. The elephant ride was fun but a bit scary. I rode a freaking elephant! After that we went to the crocodile farm. The elephant show was amazing. The driver also took us to some kind of honey store that sells different kind of honey products. The driver dropped us off in Central shopping mall. I was finally able to go shopping for clothes at Uniqlo. I bought a bunch of shirts. We went home afterwards. The walk back home was very tiring. I rested my feet before taking a nice warm bath. After finishing the 11th episode of Suits, I went to sleep.

Day 4

After breakfast we went to the mall in front of the hotel. This day was dedicated for shopping. We went to Isetan beside Central. I bought some things that I liked. We ate at Mos Burger after buying some groceries. At the end of the day I realized that I had another shopping spree. I think I’ve spent more on this trip than the one in Hong Kong last year. Last time the bulk of my expenses was because of a suit. This time I bought another suit that is much cheaper. I bought a lot of clothes in this trip. The only times that my personal expenses were higher than this was when I bought affects such as the cellphone in Hong Kong back in 2008 and my camera from Japan. We ate dinner at the mall in front of the hotel. It’s called Black Canyon Coffee. The food was exquisite. The service is great. I recommend it to people who will visit Thailand. We visited the hotel’s revolving deck at the rooftop. The view was magnificent. We then went back to our room to start packing up for tomorrow. I finished the last episode of Suits tonight.

Day 5

I woke up 6am because the driver was going to pick us up at 645. After checking out, we were on our way to the airport. The trip didn’t even take half an hour. The vat refund processing was also quick. We had a couple of hours left in Thailand. I fell asleep during the takeoff. We arrived in the Philippines mid-afternoon.

Nook Tablet

I just bought a Nook Tablet 16GB. I’m enjoying it so far. I haven’t played with it a lot yet. I still have to look for a way to make it work the way I want to. Hopefully I’ll be able to make full use of it without rooting but I’m open to the idea of rooting. I already loaded it with many ebooks. I plan to read on it a lot.

Freedom

I had a great end to my school days and a great start for my pre-graduation break. My school days ended with a bang. I had a great time working with Jay and Paulo for our LS173 Doing Business in Japan marketing project. 

Special thanks to Justin and Kevin for their cameos in Cospray Commercial. After my class ended, I had to finish the clearance process in school. It only took a few minutes. I even encountered Khalil while waiting in line. After that, I went to Greenhills with my friends. We played laser tag. The game only took 15minutes but it felt much longer than that. 2 days later my quads are still aching from all that running around and squatting. After that, we watched This Means War. It was a very fun movie. It wasn’t a spectacular film but it was funny. We ate dinner at Yellow Cab. The laser tag pizza party actually happened. The next day, I watched Wong Fu Live in Manila with Perkin. Thanks Perkin for going with me. We ate dinner at Army Navy. I bought a jumbo shake from Big Chill but food and drinks were not allowed inside the Music Museum so I had to finish it on the spot. Perkin finished the last quarter of the drink. After that we both had brain freeze. We then met Patty and her roommate Kim at the ticket booth. I bought a Nice Guy shirt as a souvenir. After the Wong Fu show, I met up with Jay to line up for the meet and greet. It was funny seeing Jay transform to “girly girl” Jay to “psychostalker” Jay.  In the end we were able to get our pictures taken with Phil and Wes. Too bad Ted wasn’t there. After that we met up with Jay’s friends across the street then I went home.

Farewell Ateneo

My grades for this semester have come out. I guess this spells the end of my academic life. At first I thought I might not graduate because of theology but luckily Sir Guevara is very considerate of graduating students. I’m so excited that I’ll be able to graduate on time. I also had my first academic A in my college life. It’s a management elective (LS172 Doing Business in China) but an A is still an A. My QPI this school year is my highest QPI in my four years in the Ateneo. My grades are not as high as other people’s but all I care about is that I am graduating. Goodbye Ateneo. It’s been a great four years. You have thought me so much but I know that I still have a lot to learn in my life after school. I’ve met great people during my stay in this school. I’ve learned from great teachers. I’ve encountered different teachers from rookies to terrors to legends. I wish I can stay longer in this wonderful paradise but a new chapter in my life is waiting for me. When I have kids, I hope they’ll be able to enjoy the different experiences that the Ateneo can give you. Au revoir l’Ateneo.

Valentines Day

I saw a lot of girls with flowers yesterday. Some friends had dates planned while others already had a pre-Valentines date during the weekend. I was alone once again this year. I don’t feel sad that I’m alone since I have to focus on the final stretch of school work anyway. I’m just a bit curious what it would be like if I actually had a Valentines date. It’s my fault that I don’t have the courage to ask ma femme idéale out on a date. I just hope that one day I’ll be able to muster up the guts to do what I should have done years ago. By the way, kudos to my friend who faced the uncertainty and did what he did yesterday. Good job.

Final stretch

The end of college hasn’t recently affected me much until recently. I think it was just last week when it hit me hard that I was about to finish my academic life. School will end about 2 weeks from now. In between I have some tests, papers, and other things I have to deal with. Last week was such a hell week for me. An long test for French 2 on Thursday morning and a haphazardly planned mock defense for LS 127 in the afternoon. I had a report for JapMan in Friday morning and a Theology report + paper in the afternoon. On Saturday, we had the actual defense. I think I did well on my reports. In fact, I got an A for my JapMan report and a 3.4=B for the LS Defense. We felt so great that we got such a high score for the defense. We almost got a B+=3.5 but we got a low score from one of the three panels (3.6, 3.55, 3.05). It was a great improvement from last semester when we only got around 2.7. Yesterday I got back my French LT and I got a 94. I felt so relieved that I got a high score. I wasn’t doing well in the first half of the semester. I failed my first LT and my first few quizzes as well. My teacher even talked to me after the because she was scared that I might fail the class and not graduate. Luckily I got a high grade for the second LT so I can still pass this class. She even wrote trés bien beside my score. I encountered a major slump in the middle of the semester. I wasn’t doing well in most of my subjects. I thought I might not even graduate. This recent events has inspired me to work harder for the finals week next week. In basketball terms, I have the hot hand right now. I have to keep this up until next week. With a little bit of luck, I will be facing my parents in the audience next month with my head up high when I receive my diploma.