Three Cities and One Island; Discon 2012 Experience

April 27, 2012. Flight to Davao via Iloilo at 9:20 am.

I woke up not because of the loud banging of my cellphone alarm. It was the streak of light that penetrated my room that drove me mad and crazy. Time check: 5:30 am. The earliest trip from Bacolod to Iloilo is at 6am via Supercat. Again, our trip for Davao is at 9:20 am. Bacolod to Iloilo will take 1 hour and 15mins. That almost made me want to fly. Reality check: I am wholly human. Not wanting to waste a split of a second, I immediately brushed my teeth. Then my phone rang. Name on the screen: Emily Go Villanueva.

Emily: "Jay, where are you na?"
Jay: "Hi Ems, I'm preparing to go. Am about to leave the house." (still brushing my teeth)
Emily: "The queue is very long. Would you want that we get you a ticket?"
Jay: (pause). "Ah. Ems. I'll get my ticket lng ah."
Emily: But Jay the line is very long. Some passengers are boarding na.
Jay: "Oh no!" I'll take the next trip if I can't make it."
Emily: No, you can't afford not to catch up with the first trip to Iloilo. You will be late already for our flight."
Jay: "Okay Ems, I'm on my way!" I dropped the call.

I dialled Faith taxi and thanked God the main control promised that the white Adventure will arrive at my gate after 5 minutes. Oh my! I even forgot to fix my hair! I arrived at the Supercat terminal with some passengers still getting their tickets. Then Emmylou Iman appeared from somewhere, telling me stories about the earlier commotion of which I am the cause. Okay, I apologized. "I am so sorry".

When we boarded Supercat, I wore my most charming smile to tell everyone, everything is okay. And Emily remarked, "Jay, it seems like you're in the Amazing Race." Of course I still flashed my most beautiful smile. When I settled in my seat, breathing normally, that was when my mind tried to fugure out, "Did I miss anything?" And I comforted myself saying "Everything is IN" You're definitely ready to face Samal Island."

The trip from Bacolod to Iloilo was what I call, my idea of a stress-free sea travel. The vast blue sea seemed like an infinite swimming pool, oil-like in appearance, motionless from a distance. That somehow made up for the-not-so-good-early-morning-start I had. The fastcraft docked around 7:15am. We had just transitioned from an action movie packed with thrill and so much energy to a more relaxed, well kinda romantic-comedy movie. Ha ha ha.

When we arrived at the Iloilo Airport and finally got our passes, I tapped my own back, saying, "Dude you are really destined to attend the District Convention of Toastmasters."

People are People

One question that was asked to me during my job interview in 2006 was this one, “What if your manager asked you to make a report that requires you to get some data from a colleague. However that colleague refuses to provide the information. What will you do? I was mute for a couple of seconds. And I had to smile to show I’m still interested to answer the question. Sort of giving them a clue, “Wait, give me sometime to think.” And when it seeped into my consciousness that this was not just any ordinary conversation, I answered with a trace of formidability, “Sir, I will report that colleague to you!” And that answer made them mute for a couple of seconds too. On my bus ride going home, I was visually panning each question and answer in that interview and I was trying to rate myself. And then I thought again of the scenario when a colleague will refuse to cooperate. Could it really happen? Can he afford not to? With all these questions lurking all around my head, I became so tired that I dozed off immediately in that very common yellow bus we see everyday!

And now that 5 years and 11 months have passed I realize that interview questions are really tidbits of truth, half-truth, quarter-truth if there is such a word. I have condensed these so-called gathered truths into three equal weights.

Would you agree that, one which is the most difficult to do is the most rewarding? I can hear your yeses. Thank you for confirming. That will lead us to my truth number one: “Walk the talk”. Follow as I say; not as I do is the greatest irony ever created in the English Literature. Preachers are inside the church when they preach; not in the workplace. If you want to preach, please be holy first. If you cant be holy, then don’t preach. People in the workplace like myself, need models. There is much more to learn when we see the things we need to learn than just hearing it. As experts would put it, humans are naturally visual. The same applies in the workplace. We tend to do or follow what we see and observe with the people ahead of us. When the leader says, let’s all jump off from the 14^th floor window, he must jump off first, and all the rest will follow.

My Truth number two is all about the Shared goal, Shared reward. We work to live and not live to work. Implication: Work should be something rewarding. “What will I get out of it? Para que? What for? What is in it for me? If people won’t see the benefit, it is very difficult to make them cooperate in the workplace. If kids are happy with lone candies after an accomplished errand, how much more with adults?

My Truth number three states that The workplace is an avenue to build relationships. Obviously we wanted to work with people whom we feel good about. Work is fun when we have good relationships with colleagues. In fact, the opposite of teamwork is bad relationship. And I remember this very striking quote I read sometime ago. “Don’t lighten up the room by leaving it”. I strongly believe that in the future, when we meet somewhere around the Philippines or around the world, we will not talk anymore about Raw Mats Delivery, MAA, CO2 Recovery, Water Treatment, and the like. What we will be talking about are the good relationships we have made while we are here in San Miguel.

How rewarding it is when people will follow you not because you told them to do so but because you have walked the talk, you have shared the reward, and you have built good relationships with them!

No, I am Not Ready to Die Yet!

The Hunger Games movie bit my psyche. I thought it was too gory that I raved about it for a couple of days. And it came to a point when my storytelling became refined and to that effect the continuity and fluidity of words just came out like a waterfall cascading to a river basin. I mastered it by heart. It took me, well 3 days, to rest my mind on thinking and overanalyzing the plot of the movie. If I were probably a tribute, I’ll die not of physical, chemical, or biological cause. I’d die of nervous breakdown.

True enough, I am not ready to face my own death. Oh, let me rephrase that. I am not ready to face my own mortality. That’s better don’t you think?

Last month, there were foolish people at Facebook who posted something about details of their death which became a hit (to my surprise) thus my wall had tons of it.  Is the word morbid not in their dictionary? Where is the fun in seeing your very own tombstone engraved in it, your name, birth year, death year, and the cause of your death? I cringed seeing all of them. To the individual who created that application may I quote the gentle lady from Iloilo, “What on earth were you thinking?”

When I was younger, I think I was in kindergarten then; my whole family was on board MV Don Martin when in the middle of the infinite seas, it tilted to an angle enough to panic all passengers, myself of course included. The ship crew tried to deviate our attention from the panic state so they let Mr. Bean did what he does best. Unfortunately it didn’t work. At least for me. Mama would interrupt me by giving me nuts to eat but no thank you. When I’m paranoid, I closely keep watch of what’s going around. I even made an indomitable effort to balance the ship with my own juvenile weight. Ha! ha! And when I saw a bigger ship following us ready for rescue, it all emptied all the remaining hope in me that we will survive. I have practically gone crazy, until the ship reached the side of the port. That was a huge relief seeing that we have the strong concrete port on our side and seeing the ropes ran as the ship was tied to it. I felt the comfort it did. And the feeling of safety surged in me. Oh God, thank you, I am still alive!

That was the earliest not-so-good experience I had that created a push button -senses alert- when I travel by sea or by air. And that explains my fondness to travel by land. This is my idea of a comfortable, stress-free travel or goes even beyond to being therapeutic to some sort. My travels to Bacolod from Dumaguete and vice-versa are good times for me. Those are joy rides even if it takes 6 to 7 hours.

One air travel I could not forget was in 2005. That was after the board exam. We were bound home to Dumaguete on board a Cebu Pacific plane. While in the terminal, the sky was overcast and the rain started to pour. We were up, up and away in the sky when the aircraft abruptly dropped. Yes, it fell! In Physics it’s called a “free fall”. The passengers looked at each other, faces drawn with fear. And then I heard someone who spoke with authority in his voice that we were in grave danger. The aircraft fell I think three times, distance and duration became longer. I almost wanted to stop breathing. Hope lurked in us when the plane was on its final attempt to descend but failed. Until we flew higher now in a different direction. Then we heard the captain finally broke the stillness inside the aircraft. “We are landing at Mactan International Aiport in Cebu due to some technical problem.” My heart skipped a beat, or maybe two or three. It was erratic until we touched the runway. Then we were all ushered in to another aircraft, umbrella on top, because it was still raining. And I should say, only when I arrived home, that I am convinced I’m still breathing as one piece with my sanity intact, and I felt my heart back to its normal beat.

I almost did not want to ride an airplane again. But then you know very well how this is so impossible.

Travels by air and sea just make me sick. Reasons unfathomed yet. My mind turns dark and imagines unwanted scenarios. It became excessively fertile of possibilities, mostly negative. That explains why I don’t sleep at all when I’m on board a plane or sea vessel. I don’t travel at night if given the choice. I don’t push thru crossing the seas when it’s gloomy outside. It became automatic to stay another day in the hotel, and say, “I can pay for another overnight stay with my own money.” (in case its an official business). Then imagine an evil laugh after.

So yes its true, I am not yet ready to die! And by the way, people say that frequent travelers develop immunity to rough seas, and that they are still composed, oh common, I cross the Bacolod to Iloilo seas many times in a year, but still, it’s not my cup of tea.

My Newest Toy

Learning to play the keyboard is long overdue in my to-do list. Some things just get into the way. And I left that dream around the corner. Last week, that yearning seemed uncontrollable. Finally I took that one step like a surge of angry river after a storm.

Now, I am in my day 2 of keyboard lesson at Yamaha School of Music. And I finally bought my newest toy!

The Winding Road to Being a Chemist

When I graduated in College in the year 2005, I couldn't apply for work yet. I can't because I don't have the license to do it. I mean both, literally and figuratively. So after I took home my diploma, I still need one more qualification in order to be 'fit to work'. And that is to pass the Chemists Licensure Examination.

This week, batch 2011 exprerienced what I had gone through few years back. Thus inspired this writing.

When we were still in the process of studying how atoms and molecules behave, we already heard pulsating stories that go with sitting down in that Room in MLQU, trying to figure out the best answer, and praying before and after knocking out the first and last item in the 2-day examination. We have heard tips like reading from cover to cover just one General Chemistry Book and you are few steps getting that seemingly elusive license. Fact is, every year, only half of the examinees pass the test. To give you a better picture, in our batch there were approximately 500 takers. And every year the number plays around that figure. The examination is done only in one venue ever since and that is Monzon Hall in Manual L. Quezon University.

My living in solitude now and liking it actually started when I reviewed at the University of San Carlos, Talamban, Cebu City. And that's where I developed my coping mechanisms. And then I realized it is fun to live independently. I derived so much fun in making decisions for myself. And until now, I am still loving it.

The 3-month review ended very fast and in September of 2005, we were put to a 'test'. The time to face our own fear. To duel against that risk of failing. To soldier on 'til the end of that grueling 2-day battle of solving problems.

Arriving in Manila a day before the exam, our professor, Maam Barrera, advised us not to open our notes and books anymore. So off we went to Glorietta in shorts and slippers with very little money to spend. That was my first time to be there. Not to mention that that was also my first time to ride an MRT. When we arrived at the hotel at the onset of darkness, we were all tired and exhausted, to the point of forgetting to browse our notecards before we dive in our own beds.

Then that BIG day came. That was September 8. We said, Today and Tomorrow serve as our judgement days. We arrived at MLQU around 6:30 am. Then we searched for our rooms. I felt the jitters all over me. My knees weakened as I went up the stairs to the 4th floor of the building. As I searched my name, I felt the shortness of my breath. I was gasping for air. When I found my name in the list posted at the door, I thought I'd faint so I doubled my steps so I could sit down immediately. My hands were uncontrollably and profusely sweating. I said my prayer and I felt a little better.

After the first day, little conversations transpired in our group. We were shocked, terrified, and now unsure of what tomorrow might bring.

The 2-day exam was over. We managed to smile although it was very fleeting. Sure, the exam was over but the whole package has not been opened it. Although memontarily, we managed to talk more frequently and giggled and laughed but there were still moments of silence, of pondering, of thinking deeply the vast sea of uncertainty that will come. There we found the company of beer to loosen our rigid thoughts and deep thinking.

Another horrible event took place when we were on our way to Dumaguete. The plane had some engine trouble. We were suppose to land already when the plane moved up higher and directed to an opposite direction. Before we knew it, we were already advised to deplane and transfer to another aircraft at Mactan Airport in Cebu. It was very gloomy that day. The weather must have conspired with what we felt that time.

Thank God, we arrived safely on that same day in Dumaguete. We parted ways with very low energy.

Now came that dreadful part of waiting for the result of the exam. I arrived home Wednesday afternoon and I knew the result will be out Friday morning. The waiting time was very traumatic. I did not go out of the house. I don't like talking to anyone. So I just ate, prayed, and slept. Friday morning came. I was already very nervous. That I believe is an understatetement. I did not want to search the result myself. You know the pain that goes with browsing the names one by one as as they appear in the alphabet and not seeing your name there. OH NO! That would be very devastating. So I just watched out for any sound from my cellular phone. If I pass, for sure someone will inform me. If I did not make it, I expect no news at all. Unless a classmate decides to be very rude. So I was just staring at my phone and closely monitoring it. Then I heard a beep. I said, "this must be it". I read on the screen "One text message received". Then I felt the sudden surge of nervousness. It was from a classmate, Joy Adalia Bertoldo. And it read, "Jay Congratz! Chemist na ta!"

Win P50,000 pesos in the Rizal Sesquicentenary Literary Contest

To celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Jose Rizal, the University of the Philippines-College of Arts and Letters (UP-CAL) and MyRizal, in cooperation with the Office of the Chancellor, UP Diliman, sponsor a nationwide essay writing contest for Filipino college students.
Contest Rules
The contest is open to Filipino college students (undergraduate) in the Philippines.

The contest has two categories: essay in Filipino and essay in English.

The essay should be original, unpublished (in print or online), and consists of 5,000 words.

Theme: ”The Relevance of Rizal Today" in English and "Ang Diwa ni Rizal sa Kasalukuyan" in Filipino.

Participants are limited to join in one category and the submission of one entry to the category of choice.

Entries must be written by a sole author. Collective authorship is not allowed.

The last day of submission is on 31 October 2011, 5pm. Mailed entries must be postmarked not later than 31 October 2011.

Entries must be submitted together with the properly filled up entry form. Entry forms are available at the Office of the Dean, College of Arts and Letters, 2nd Floor, Rizal Hall, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City.

Entries must be submitted together with the endorsement letter of any of the following: teacher, adviser, department chair, college dean, or university president. The letter must recommend the entry and confirm the author as a currently enrolled student in the college/university.

The entries must be submitted or sent in four copies together with the filled up entry form and the endorsement letter to:

U.P. Jose Rizal Sesquicentenary Celebrations Steering Committee
Office of the Dean
College of Arts and Letters
Bulwagang Rizal
University of the Philippines
Diliman, Quezon City 1101

The author is responsible for ensuring that the submitted work is original, she/he is the sole author of said work, and it does not infringe on the rights of other authors.

The board of judges will evaluate the essays blindly, i.e., they will not know of the authors’ identities. UP-CAL will name the members of the board of judges.

The entries will be ranked based on the content, originality, style, composition, and organization.

Winners will be announced in time for the performance of the opera Noli me Tangere at the U.P. on November to December 2011. Winners will receive the following cash prize

First prize: P50,000.00

Second prize: P30,000.00
Third prize: P10,000.00

The copyright to the entries remains with the authors. However, UP-CAL and MyRizal have the right to their fair use like publication and teaching resource. No additional compensation will be awarded to the authors.

View the full poster for more details here. Entry forms are also available at the link provided.
Date and Time:

October 1, 2011 - 12:00am - October 31, 2011 - 12:00am

The Art of Evaluation