The Mice, The Search, and The Lion

Yesterday afternoon, Jofil, Rose Ann, and I were looking for companies for our thesis. The constraint is that the company is still using manual processing. We walked the stretch of the highway on foot, knocking unto every business establishment along its sides, ranging from pet shops to hardware supplies.

Most of the time we were rejected by them, either because they are already computerized or they just can't dedicate time for us, or we're just fly in the ointment. This is inevitable, and we're not letting ourselves be disheartened, but instead be motivated.

We came over a company named ABCED System Corporation. We were actually cynical if a huge establishment like this one is still on the mano approach. But there's no harm in trying...

When we approached the saleslady and started explaining. But since she can't get any idea of what we're talking about, she addressed a fellow employee who's college course is in-line with IT. Whew, at least, there's someone to help us out.

After hearing our explanation, he actually agreed. But he said more...
He actually offered us to stay in the company, and work, do internship. For him, we can study better the system if we are involve ourselves with the company's operations. He even offered us to talk to the manager about it; signing of contract, and even a promise of grand if we can satisfy the company's needs.

We were so overwhelmed with Mr. X's (I forgot to ask for his name and his position in the company, but I'm sure that he's a graduate of Computer Engineering.) proposal. ABCED System Corporation is a huge company selling tiles and household interiors; actually that's just one of their many businesses. Their branch is already computerized, and no definite time yet for them. The idea is that, we have to 'automate' their sales processes, if not all.

We can feel our cold sweat dripping on our foreheads. It's like we're mice facing a mighty lion. The task they offered us seemed gargantuan. We also have other priorities to attend to.

We have their contact number. But I think we won't be pursuing it, to be honest.

[I will soon edit this post. I'm not really feeling good right now. :( ]

Random Stories

I went to Atty. Go's office this morning to give him my present from South Korea, to show my heartfelt gratitude for giving me the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel to South Korea. I was kinda delayed; it is almost two weeks after the study tour ended. Procrastination on the loose again. My bad. :(

It was a box of porcelain teacups. I know it isn't that much, but it's not really the material worth. And I'm happy that Atty. Go gladly accepted my little token. Kamsa hamnida, Mr. President. :)

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I've drank a lot of coffee back in the office this afternoon. Perhaps I made the mixture too concentrated, that's why the coffee really struck my senses, and I feel really wobbly as of typing. @.@

I'm such a noob.

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Yesterday was our beloved Mr. Aahron Dinauanao's birthday. Sir, I know this may sound cliche, but I want to thank you for being there for us rain or shine, as an adviser, a teacher, and as a friend.

Sir, you're getting old. When will you marry? :D

Happy birthday, Sir A.

A Valentines Day I'll Never Forget

February 14 has come. And again, this is another time for the reds and the pinks, for chocolates and flowers, for lovers in romance, and what-not. Valentines Day is another ordinary day for me. I don’t have a date to be given gifts, and I don’t want to spend the little money that I have. So for a guy like me, who cares about Valentines Day?

But that is ought to change…

I am wearing my only pink T-shirt today, since me and my barkada agreed on wearing the color, and just to go with the Valentines’ craze. Right outside the school gates, I can see a lot of tinderos and tinderas bringing in their flowers and balloons, hoping to get more revenues. Inside the campus, guess what? Almost everyone’s in pink. Oh well.

I said to myself: “Valentines Day, a time of love and forgiveness.” Then I thought about Kathlene and Jobby. I feel sad for the years they’ve shared together, all gone to waste just because of a misunderstanding. They sat beside each other, but each turning a blind eye.

That is why, my mission for this season of love, is to reunite Kathlene and Jobby again.
(Note: You can read about Kathlene and Jobby in my "Being the Middleman" post.)

Later that afternoon, I went to the school gates and bought flowers. I am still confused as to what flower I would give them: the red rose or the pink one (sorry, I don’t know the name :P ). Packaging-wise, I would prefer the pink ones. I bought two, and also bought a balloon. I picked the green one, since green is my favorite color.

I asked Lornie, a friend, if it is okay giving both of them the gifts. I told her my reasons, and she gave me two-thumbs up. And she offered her help.

I wrote a little note on the flowers and on the balloon. I’m puzzled as to giving both of them flowers, or I’ll give one the flowers and the balloon to the other. Lornie told me that it would be better if I give them separate gifts. That, I should give the balloon to Kathlene, since green is also her favorite color. Coincidence?

I’m still nervous as to what I would be doing soon. When should I give the gifts: after the class or before the class? I’ve got to find the right timing.

I left the flowers and the balloon in our office.

I went to the canteen to buy some yellow pad paper. Lornie, Cristina, and Kathlene were there. Lornie and Cristina called me up for help with our IT 23 lessons. Meh, I am just as perplexed as they are. :P

I never looked at Kathlene. Though she talked to me, I just quipped quick replies and smiled.

Then the bell rang; we need to go to class now. And I’m getting more and more nervous.

What should I do? When should I give it to them? Should I listen to Lornie’s advice on giving it during the class, or follow my own instincts and instead give it to them after the class?

God-knows-how.

I’m building up more confidence. Damn, and Sir Caliao is already here; I should hurry up. Out of the blue, a brilliant idea came into my mind!

I hurriedly went back to the office to take the gifts. In the classroom, I asked Sir Caliao to please give me a few minutes of time. And in front of the class, I told everyone about these two special persons in my life. That they once were good friends, but because of some uncertainties had a change of heart. LOL, and I lost my words, and cut my speech. I handed over the balloon to Kathlene and the flower to Jobby. I told the class how special these two are to me. And how I wanted them to reconcile, to let bygones be bygones, and start moving on.

I immediately went to my seat, and covered my face. I didn’t turn my head onto their direction, since I still feel embarrassed.

Oh, and Sir proceeded with the test.

After the class, Kathlene and Jobby told me that I was “O.A.” Well, call me overacting if you want to. Lornie also smiled at me.

I looked back on what I have done tonight. I’m proud of it. And if they come on good terms again, that will be the best Valentine gift I’ll ever receive.

My Medical Exam

I took my medical examination yesterday, as part of the requirements for the PRISAA Meet. If you can still remember, me and my teammate Anabelle qualified for the PRISAA Regional Computer Quiz in Bohol. We'll be leaving this Friday morning. Am so excited. ^^;

I met one of their attendants, and she's really pretty. She has such a sweet voice, hindi-makabasag pinggan in Tagalog. She's the one who took my blood pressure count, and pulse rate too. She also has these soft hands. She also helped me out in determining my height and weight. Hmm, I hope I have gained some weight. My weight of 50.4kilograms, and a height of 166cm. Not bad. ^^;

She must've recognized my medical form, and she asked me if I know Narciso. I didn't know that she knew the guy, who is one of the topguns of IT,a really intelligent man, and how she fancies his name as "Isoy". I just can't stop laughing upon hearing Narciso's nick. *brewing evil plan* I was able to read an article on "How to Know if You Found the Right Person", and she's somewhat interested on hearing it. Who am I to resist? We talked for a couple of minutes, until she was called for duty again. I don't want to waste her time. We parted ways for a while, but not until I know her name. Maria Teresa. :)

Now I have to proceed to the doctor, for the next series of tests. Yeah right, and I have to wait for minutes for my turn. Time's ticking out, and I still have my classes. :(

At last, my turn now!

The doctor asked me a couple of questions, like: if I was admitted to a hospital lately; and if my parents have diabetes, anemia, tuberculosis, heart failures, etc. Then she inserted this thing called autoscope, in my ears. Damn, that tickles. XD I just can't stop giggling as she was doing it, even when she was already checking my eyes and my mouth. Glad she didn't slap me. ^^; Thanks for bearing with me, Doc.

She then signed my medical form, confirming that I'm physically fit to travel and participate for PRISAA. Though, I find the medical exam a bit unnecessary, since the event does not require intense physical activity. Maybe for safety precautions. Yeah, safety precautions that is.

Too bad, I wasn't able to bid goodbye to Teresa. But there will be next time. ^^;

Really Absurd

Well, after days of not going online, I finally got the chance to do my usual net habits again.

I checked out my Friendster account just a few hours ago. Hehehe, I got a friend request from Kathleen (if you have read my post "Being the Middleman", you'll remember her). And as usual, my inbox is again full of unwanted chain mails (right, spam), along with fabricated subject titles so as to 'appeal' to the reader. Meh, too bad I've learned from these. But for the benefit of the doubt, since the mail is entitled "Very Nice: Promise", I clicked the link, and found that the mail was a linkback to this site: http://www.love.2loop.com/

And guess what I found out: it asked me to input several items, out of which it will compose a "love story." Here is the sequence:

"Follow the instructions to make your wishes of love come true."
"Enter an adjective:" - bright
"Enter a place:" - school
"Enter another adjective:" -lonely
"Enter the name of a person of the opposite sex:" -Denise (don't ask)
"Is this person a he or she?:" -She
"Enter the name of a person in any gender:" -Sumanyu (-_-);
"Enter another adjective:" -good-looking
"Enter one more adjective:" -attractive
"Enter another place:" -Canada
"What is your favorite thing to do:" -playing games
"Type in a phrase you say a lot:" - What the heck?
"Enter a noun:" -fox (LOL)
"Enter your favorite number:" five (5)

The result:

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One bright summer day at school you see the most lonely creature you have ever seen. Their name is Denise , and every move She makes just turns you on more and more. You nudge your best friend Sumanyu and say, "Wow, that has to be the most good-looking body I have ever seen."

Suddenly, She looks in your direction and starts walking right towards you!!!

She says, "I noticed you staring at me from over there. I just had to tell you, that I think you are so attractive , and was wondering if you'd like to go to Canada with me and playing games ?" With a stupid smile on your face you say, "What the heck? " and go with them.

When you finally get to Canada , She moves closer to you, and gives you the biggest kiss ever. The two of you are passionately kissing, when you feel a fox hit you on the back of the head. You open your eyes to find out it's all a dream, but there is a note left next to your bed.

It reads:

"Denise is the love you've been waiting your whole life for. She will ask you out in 5 days or less, but only if you send this e-mail to at least 10 people within the next few minutes. The more people you send it to, the sooner they will ask you out, and you both fall in love. Do not take this lightly, because if you simply ignore this, you will have bad luck in love for the next 5 years!"
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Laugh-out-loud, but I can't help myself but be amused as to how some people would go just to advertise. The nerve of some people. You should've noticed that it used the same format and capitalization as to how I inputted it. Oh, and the grammar too. XD

Ahem, my apologies to Sumanyu and Mihai. Sorry if I have to use both of you in my foolishness. ^^;

Too bad, I won't be sending it to ten people. I'm not the type who fills other people's inboxes with spam and junk. But come to think of it...

Meh. :P

A Helping Hand

I've been very busy these past few weeks for the preparation for our College Days, which is due this Wednesday-Saturday. Our College Days will compose mainly of activities that will hone our students' potential through academic/cultural contests, IT seminars, and also to give them a break away from books, homeworks, and professors through fun-filled activities (one of which is our Ms. ICS 2007 Pageant).

Anyway...

I was assigned today to post the academic contests' guidelines in every bulletin board in our college. And I mean it, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. Tough job, huh?

After printing the guidelines and photocopying it (which means I have to go up-and-down the building), I'm off to do my thing.

Off to the first bulletin board. Yeah, right. -_-;

Well, at least I only have to post 9 guidelines in every board, to think that each board is around 2.5 X 4ft. and the guidelines are in legal-paper size. You know what it means? I have to paste some of the guidelines OUTSIDE the bulletin boards, which sounds kinda absurd. I wonder if the students would mind thinking "out-of-the-board." XD

Meh, and I'm taking too much time on posting them. I have to go through the toil of tearing the tapes and pasting them on the papers to putting them on the boards ALL BY MYSELF. Oh well, I'm used to doing things myself anyway. No bother.

But to think that I still have to go around the whole college...I definitely needs some help!

Then all of a sudden, a stranger, no, a beautiful stranger came to help me. "Hey, let me help you with those. You seem to be taking time.", she said. Hmmm, she looks very pretty, and young too. Perhaps she's in her first/second year of college. Now that's interesting...

So this...beautiful stranger, took care of tearing the packaging tapes while I did the pasting-and-posting. Surprisingly, work was fast-paced, almost tripled to that when I was doing it alone. And doing it with someone with sheer beauty and kindness sure makes things a lot easier. ^^;

Yeah, we did talk about stuff, and later I found out her name. Janice. LOL, and she's already in her fourth year of college. Oh well, Ate Janice then. XD

She was a classmate of one of our advisers before, but she had to stop schooling for one and a half year due to some constraints. But now she's back. Glad to hear it.

Minutes and minutes have passed, and we have finished posting all the guidelines. Whew, that was some pain in the back. ^^;

Ate Janice needs to attend to her classes, and she was in a hurry.

But not until I give her my thanks...

The Sinugba Experience

*happened last night, posted it today ^^;*
*hehehe, sorry if I have to insert some Cebuano (Philippine dialect). You can ask me on what it means. ^^;*

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What a tiring day~!

And yes, after a whole day of work (preparations for the College Days), everyone's hungry.

"Jan, would you like to buy us the dinner?", asked Kristine. Oh well, who am I to resist. I am hungry myself. XD "You can ask anyone to accompany you, for I still have something to do...", and she handed me over P700.00.

And no, no one accompanied me. Everyone's busy...with the Ms. ICS pictorials, and also in taking their OWN pictures. Oh, they're so-so busy. *sigh*. But meh, that won't stop me from going on my own. I'm not Soliloquy for nothing. XD

So there, I'm off to Colonnade Mall to purchase two roasted chicken worth P145.00 each. Yeah, and the check-out counteris yet full of people waiting in line. Does "first-come-first-served" ring a bell. Correct.

After presenting my proof of purchase (receipt), eagerly he butchered the chicken. There's not much juice coming outon both, probably because most of it had already dripped off since this morning. A lady wanted to buy one; sadly there's not one left. Hehehe, early birds get the worms. In this case though, the chickens. :P

Next stop: Osmeña Blvd, where there is a long line (not again) of barbecue grills. Though, you can see more "fish" than"pork/beef/chicken" being grilled. Que se joda. I'm after sinugbang isda (grilled fish) anyway. *evil laugh*

But wait, still have to buy some puso(pronounced as pusô. It is rice wrapped in coconut leaves shaped like a diamond). It's amazing how they swiped the sharp cutter onto the puso bundles without hurting their hands. Great precision, and with great price: 80 pieces for P1.00 each. Cheap!

Seventy pesos I have to shell out from my budget for the sinugbang bariles (a kind of fish). Mahal-mahal sad da.

With no one to talk to, I decided to open up a conversation with "Ate," since that what I usually call women older than me.Ate is around her mid-twenties, a bit chubby, but with a sweet smile. You don't see that everyday, you know. ^^;

I asked her if they always pose themselves along the stretch to sell sinugba. I wasn't able to see them last Saturday to buy sinugba. "Didto na lang gud ko nipalit ug isda sa may unahan," I avered while pointing to a three-storey building a few meters away from the mainstream 'sugbahanan'. One of their relatives (I forgot what specific "relative" got sick; maybe a family member) got sick, and they have to attend to its needs, so they weren't able to sell last Saturday.

"Is the cash flow (income) in selling sinugba in this place good enough?"
"It depends. There are times where we earn a lot (even sold-out); there are also times where we earn less. It is usually whenpayday that we consider our "peak season", and when classes are ending, expect that there will be a decline on sales. Another factor is the weather; it is during rainy days that we only have a few customers. Add the fact that we have a lot of competitors along this stretch."

I pointed out to one of the fishes and asked if that was the "bariles."
"Uhuh, that one on the right is the 'bariles' on the left is the 'anduhaw.' The bariles have white meat, while the anduhaw has red one. We go to Pasil Fish Market early to purchase kilos of fish. They are becoming more expensive, even escalating to P120.00 per kilo, almost equal to a kilo of pork or chicken meat. That's why we even hear our customers saying that they opt to buy the latter than fish.

And here's the sad part: a kilo of fish usually contains two to three pieces of fish only, depending on the size."

"Unya Te, dali ra na maluto?" (I asked her if the fish cooks fast, since I know that those guys are "dead hungry" waiting. Hah!)

"That's the reason why we pre-cook the fishes to make the cooking process time shorter, especially with bigger fishes where the area near its bones takes time to cook. We seldom buy gargantuan fishes; we settle with those medium-sized ones which takes earlier to cook."

After a few minutes, the fish is already cooked. They wrapped the sinugba with banana leaves, then put some sarsa/sauce (consisting of the concotion of soy sauce, vinegar, lemon, chili, and onions). One won't be complete without the other.

I bid goodbye to Ate.
Money spent: P440.00. Change: P260.00. *evil laugh*
Hmmm, I never thought that my little trip would go on great. Hehehe, now I know what's the difference between anduhaw and bariles. :P