Blues clues.

I don't have any frickin' idea why I wrote that for the title. I must be going crazy.

Sam, Joey, and I went out yesterday! It was good seeing them again, especially Sam, who I haven't seen since graduation. It's funny, though, that all of us had other agendas other than the get-together. I had to go to Ateneo (where all three of us met) to request for my Transcript of Records; Sam had to go to Shangri-La in Shaw to buy a magic wallet for his boyfriend Topher; and Joey had just come from an interview with UnionBank before he arrived in Ateneo. Still, it was wonderful hanging out with my college buddies!

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TV Matters

Constantine got booted out. I don't watch American Idol, but Jel is gonna be sad. Big time. On other reality TV news, Rob and Amber's cockiness and arrogance finally had its great karmic payback! After fooling around with Meredith and Gretchen about an earlier flight which he thought did not exist, whatdyaknow? It did exist, guaranteeing a 2-hour lead by Uchenna and Joyce and Meredith and Gretchen over their smug faces.

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Just watched Can This Be Love starring Sandara Park and Hero Angeles. I'll defer my long critique about the film, but let it suffice for now that it's infinitely better than Let The Love Begin.

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That's it for now, guys. Blog again soon.

Dilemma, part two.

I bet you don't see any Dilemma, part one. I've written a long entry about a dilemma about work that I'm in, but I realized that divulging such information to an exposed environment such as this one may be against the conditions of the contract I signed, the one about confidentiality. So I hold back. I wanted to post it! Perhaps I'll ask permission if I can do so.

To the curious, it's a choice between two different career tracks I can take within the same company. This dilemma was presented to me during the cocktails I mentioned earlier. It seems that job hunting isn't over as I thought it was.

Updates, and a book of days.

It's been too long. 18 days? Are you freaking kidding me? It's not that I don't have the time (gosh, that is something I have tons of), but there hasn't really been a nice, inexpensive internet cafe nearby. Unlike Katipunan, Makati has none of those clean and highly functional 20-30-peso-an-hour cafes I have come to know and love.

Anyway, updates. I've been in Manila since April 10, Sunday, four days after my last entry here. It felt weird directing the taxi driver to Makati rather than to Quezon City, and it even felt weirder when I entered my new home: the boarding house. Jel wasn't there when I arrived, so for the hour or so that he was gone, I immersed myself in detailed observation. I looked at the sky, I looked at the tall buildings around the vicinity, I looked at the intricacies of my room. Even though I've been to Jel's boarding house countless times before then, it's still a different feeling being there, not as a visitor, but as a resident. That certain feeling can be placed between anxiety and excitement. Anxiety for the future's uncertainty; excitement for the future's uncertainty.

On April 11, Monday, I went to PhilamLife in UN Avenue to sign my employment contract with the company. No, that's wrong: I raced to PhilamLife. I called up the company around 8 AM, wondering when exactly the contract signing would be. I was still very sleepy at this point. The guy then informed me that the participants of the Management Associate Program were already in the Training Pavillion and helpfully told me that I could still catch up. Any hint of sleepiness vanished in an instant. I literally raced towards the place, which, by the way, save for a general address, I had no idea where to locate. I had to rely on the taxi driver to know where the exact location of the building was.

I arrived, my heart beating loudly in my chest, my mind thinking of reasons why I was not able to come on time, only to find out that the guy had confused the MAP with the STP, the program for on-the-job student trainees. The sigh of relief I exhaled must have echoed along each and every corridor of the building.

I regained composure after a few more minutes of post-stress heavy breathing. I still had no idea where to go, and I was already in the building. Fortunately, recruitment called me just then, gave me instructions as to where I should go and who I should meet. Unfortunately, when I arrived at the HR Department, I was informed that the contract signing would not be done that day. I still had to have my medical check-up. The good thing is, except for the singular problem of not being able to pee right away, the medical check-up, as well as the day, went well after that.

On April 15, Friday, I signed my contract with PhilamLife. I now officially had work! Wonderfulness! That night, I went to the AJSS reunion. I've seen faces I haven't seen since time immemorial, and it was great to have time to unwind with people whom you once shared a most memorable summer vacation with. Another wonderfulness!

On April 17, Sunday, I went to Joey's to celebrate their new house's blessing and his brother's birthday. The food was great! Thanks for the invitation, Joey!

On April 18, Monday, the MAP trainees had cocktails with the HR executives. I felt very agitated before going to the event, as I thought that it was a BIG THING. And every BIG THING that happens in my life makes me really nervous. Thankfully, the other trainees were people that I think I can absolutely relate with. There were 5 of us MAP trainees all in all, and I was the only boy. That factoid in itself created a lot of opportunities for friendly bantering from the girls. I felt very at ease with them, and the rest of the company, the HR group, were very accommodating and hospitable, as well. I think I felt really comfortable and enjoyed myself so thoroughly that, when asked what I could tell about myself that would make them (the executives) remember me, I managed to let slip the fact that I'm totally jologs. Looking back, I'm beginning to have real concerns whether or not I've made an embarrassment of myself and whether or not I'd like to have them have that first impression of me imprinted in their minds. Oh well, they seemed to enjoy that little piece of info, though.

From April 19 to the present, I've done nothing but bum. Work starts at June 1, so I have more than a month to bum some more. So far, I've bought 2 PC games, rented 10 VCD's, and spent countless steps walking from AA, Melqui, and Monique's place to my boarding house and vice versa. I've entertained the thought of going back to Davao, but I immediately scrapped the idea knowing that work-related events may come at any time. Thank God, Jel is with me in the boarding house, and that my very good pals are living nearby, or my head would have exploded by now with all the non-activity.

I think I've written enough for this entry. I still have strength for a few more, so stay tuned.

Clearances.

This is the third straight day I've been taking care of my clearances. Last Monday, I went to City Hall to claim my cedula. The line was short, and the counter-girl was sweet, so I had no major frustrations there. After dealing with that, I decided to go to the San Pedro Police Station to claim my police clearance. It was nearby, so I just had to walk. Upon arriving at the station, however, the police guy showed me a huge array of ID's, explaining that these were the people who were inside. Since it was already 3:30 in the afternoon and the office closes at 4:30, I knew that I missed my chance. I then decided to go to NBI (in front of Victoria Plaza) to get my NBI clearance. Unfortunately, the guy in the front desk informed me that their computer was not functioning so I better come back tomorrow. Frustrating! Tomorrow, then.

The next day, I arrived at the San Pedro Police Station at around 1:30. I waited in line to get my police clearance form, borrowed a pen from a stranger to fill the form with, finished the form, fell in line once again to pass the form, and waited for my name to be called. It was 3 when my name was called. It was only when I had stepped out of the police station when I saw the glaring mistake that the typist had done. Instead of "Kerwin", the typist had typed "Jerwin." It was a major typographical error. I'm not "Jerwin," obviously, so that police clearance was null and void, despite the long minutes I've spent waiting for it. Frustrated, I decided to go back to NBI. Thankfully, there was no queue inside. After getting my fingerprints and all, I went back to the front desk to pass my form. The guy then informed me that I had to go inside Victoria Plaza to have my picture taken, to pay for the clearance, and to wait for the release of the clearance. I went there, and lo! The queue I've been dreading was right there. My heart was crushed. Since it was already 4 by the time I went there, I knew that I missed my chance again. Tomorrow, then.

And tomorrow's today. I decided to go to NBI first, before going back to the police station to rectify the spelling error. After having my picture taken and getting the receipt for my clearance, I waited for an hour to get the result. However, it was not the result I was expecting. Instead of an NBI clearance, what I got was my receipt with the word "HIT" emblazoned on the top. What is a "HIT," you ask? A "HIT" means that I'm not yet cleared. A "HIT" means that there's someone in the Philippines with the same name as mine and that person has gotten himself involved with some goddamn case. A "HIT" means that I have to wait for two more weeks to get my clearance, and that is clearly not possible since I have to leave for Manila this Sunday. A "HIT" possibly means that I have to wait in line and pay for 115 pesos for the picture all over again, only this time, I'm going to have to wait in line in Manila. Which is worse. Much, much worse.

My head is aching right this very moment. Not even the success of getting my name corrected in the police station lifted my spirits even a bit. And even if it had, everything would have been nullified by the fact that I had inadvertently discovered who got cut out in today's episode of The Amazing Race. I waited for the episode awhile ago, but Studio 23 did not air it. I assumed that the clip show was shown instead of the next episode. I visited my favorite forums to see how the clip show went, and then... and then... my eyes were greeted with today's eliminated team. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

I am not in a good mood right now.

Heroes of Might and Magic and other stuff.

Check Heroes V's website out. For all Heroes fans out there, I believe we have the best Heroes ever! It's too early to tell, of course, but still. I've played Heroes 1 to 4, and I've even played King's Bounty, Heroes's DOS predecessor, so I'm pretty much psyched out about this one. One thing bothers me, though.

P4 2.5Ghz CPU (or equivalent)
512MB of RAM
128MB graphics card (ATI 9000s and higher, GF 4, FX and higher)
2GB of free hard drive space

Those are the rumored minimum requirements for Heroes V. My gas! My recent computer does not even come close! And I'm not sure I can buy a computer by the first quarter of next year with those ridiculously high requirements! This dampens my enthusiasm a bit, but not to worry, it may be another Ubisoft April Fools' joke. Whew!

In other news, I'm glad that Brian and Greg are still in The Amazing Race! The 2-hour episode last Wednesday really had me cheering for them in that final footrace. I think that was the closest footrace I've ever seen on this show. And to think that Brian and Greg have provided for two out of the three close finishes I've seen this season (the first was with their quasi-girlfriends, Heidi and Megan). I'm glad Ray and Deana are gone. Ray reminds me too much of that evil Jonathan from Season 6.

Go B and G! :)

Masbate, part deux.

I've changed a lot since the last time I've been to Masbate. I've matured and grown, and learned some necessary social skills. Truth to tell, though, it was one hard week of socializing. Some of it was fun and entertaining, while some of it was repetitive and tiring. As I've said before, I'm not much of a social person. I'd rather stay at home at nights and play Heroes on my computer rather than attend a celebration in a crowded discoteque or bar. During that week, I had to go out as much as possible and mingle with every relative that I meet.

Despite the apparent difficulty of this, however, I'd like to think that I learned a lot from and about them as much as they've learned a lot from and about me. During that week, I felt like Alex Haley in Roots. It was fascinating to find all members of my genealogy gathered in a single province. It was even more amazing to discover several interesting trivia about my ancestry. For instance, I found out that my great-grandfather (mother side) was a priest! And that's direct consanguinity, not merely affinity! Even the uncle who I'm closest to was named after him: Nicolas Escape!

Not only that: in Palanas, Masbate, there's actually a street named after my middle name (which, obviously, is my mother's maiden surname)! Escape Street! It runs across Pillejera Street, which is the surname of the husband of one of my aunts!

Not only that: both my grandparents, father side, were born on August 13! It's incredible, really. There's little chance of two people having the same birthdays marrying each other, but there's even less chance of them having an apo with the same birthday! It's surprising, though, that none of my parents have commented on this ever. Weird, right?

[I apologize for the exclamation points. Hee.]

The interesting information never ended. That part of the trip was great all around. But another great thing that happened to me was the realization that I was not alone. Sometimes, I have this not-so-nice feeling (I can't exactly describe it, but I know it's not positive, so I'll just go for "not-so-nice feeling.") when I think of the fact that I don't hear the surnames Sentillas or Escape mentioned anywhere. From Kindergarten names to College names to names being announced as future contestants in noontime TV shows to nursing passers to board passers to bar passers, I have not encountered a single Sentillas or Escape. It's disconcerting, to say the least. But when I went there, in the land of my forefathers, the overwhelming number of people sharing my middle and last names was, well, overwhelming. It made me feel like I'm part of a formidable force. Part of a strong army.

There is a but to this, though. The experience there was a blast, but I don't think I could have survived there all the same. The living conditions are far from eeeevil or inhospitable, but with the way I was raised, I don't think that I could have stayed there longer than necessary. I've seen difficult times (I went to an immersion with the Aetas in Zambales, if you recall), and Masbate was far from that, but my relatives were in not-so-wonderful times, all the same. This realization made me respect my parents even more. Almost all of their sisters and brothers stayed in Masbate, but they chose not to. Papa chose to expand his horizon, and Mama agreed to take the risk with him. It was a huge risk, to be sure: my father was only 20 when he married my mother. 20. Like my current age. It took a lot of courage to be able to pull oneself out of such hard times. I'm proud of my parents.

All in all, the Masbate experience was still a blast. I think I have repaired my reputation this time around, and I think I've undergone a major attitude shift. Never again will they appear distant to me. I come from their bloodlines, and I'm always going to be proud of that.

Hear, hear. Still here.

I know. I've been gone from the blogging world almost two weeks since that entry about my wonderful graduation day. No, I haven't been eaten by sharks, thrown into everlasting limbo, or spontaneously combusted. I'm alive, in other words. Alive! Awake! Enthusiastic!

After my graduation, my father and I went to Masbate to visit my relatives. Both my parents came from Masbate, so the visit actually touched both sides of my ancestry. During the weekdays, we stayed in my mother's parents' house in Palanas, Masbate. During the weekend, we stayed in my father's parents' house in Maanahao, Masbate. We were there from March 21 to 28, so that pretty much explains the lack of contact with the cyberworld.

Before this trip, I have only been to Masbate twice. The first time was when I was 5, during the time when my Lolo Cordong (my father's father) died. The second time was when I was 13, right after my elementary graduation. I left quite a reputation after that second trip. When asked, my relatives would recall moments when I just locked up in my room, refusing to talk to anyone, immersing myself in the tons of novels I brought for the trip. Yep, I was not one for socializing during that time. In the end, all they thought of me was that I was snobbish little brat. Somehow, I didn't care too much about that description. I didn't care too much about them, anyhow.

My father had his reasons of me going back to Masbate, and perhaps my attitude was one of them. He didn't really want me to be remembered by my relatives as someone who was such a jackass. Papa and I talked a lot during our trip (bonding session kumbaga), and he told me that the visit prevented something worse than being badly remembered: not being remembered at all. I guess he's right. It will be years before I can go back to my province once again, and when I do come back, cousins my age will have spouses and kids, will have families of their own, and someone who has visited them eons ago, with a notoriety attached to boot, will most likely be forgotten beneath the chambers of their memories and recollections.

[To be continued... so much time, so little money!]

Other news: I have a job! Yippee! Yep, PhilamLife accepted me as one of the 10 Management Trainees they're training for this year. I have to go back on April 11, though, in time for the contract signing, and that's a little sad because I really want to spend some more time with my family, but on the other hand, it's also good, since I get to spend more time with Jeland in our room in the boarding house (very nice bathroom, wee!) and I get to go to work!

Other news: Ubisoft has announced the release date of Heroes of Might and Magic V! Wonderfulness! It will be released next year, around January. Can't wait to see this edition of HOMM!

That's all for now. The post about Masbate will be done, assuredly. :)