In my last entry, I said that I’d been pretty busy. Well, I really felt this statement to be true when the rainshowers began, signalling the end of summer. I wasn’t even aware that summer had already come and gone. I can’t believe I’d been too busy to spend some serious time at the beach.
Sure, I went diving, but because I’d been doing it as part of my training to become a dive master, those weekends spent at Batangas didn’t really qualify as summer trips- they felt more like work. I didn’t get to lounge by the beach, lay on the sand and soak up the sun as one should when summer rolls around. And now it looks like I won’t get a chance to do so.
I always mourn the passing of this season. Sure, I am relieved that temperatures have now gone down, that my skin is no longer baked whenever I walk to work, and that the humidity is not quite as oppressive. But those are small inconveniences to suffer in exchange for the constant feel of the sun on your face and the sense of freedom that the season seems to bring… the feeling that school’s out, that it’s time to go on a road trip, and that work is a world away.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
Busy, busy, busy
As you can guess from the title of this post, I’m about to tell you just how busy I have been. It’s been a rather hectic schedule which began on the last day of March. My brother Jerick, his wife Liz, and their son Aidan came over for a (too-short) two-week visit then. Since they were here for such a short time, we had to cram in as much hanging out, chatting, and eating together as we could during that period.
After they left, I began assisting dives as part of the course to become a dive master. My weekends have been occupied with that since then, so I have been rather tired. Apart from many things, it’s a physically demanding job. I am learning many things in this course, but it is taking a lot out of me.
I’ve also been trying to get back to playing badminton regularly. My sister-in-law Tintin is now back in fighting form after giving birth to Raffy in November, so I now have someone to go and play with. I have a running joke with my badminton-mates, that I only play badminton quarterly. Well, I hope to up that frequency, though with work and all, it’s still been a struggle to do so.
Hopefully, my time management skills will kick in even just a little bit so I will be able to do what I want to do, what I have to do, and even what I don’t want to do (but have to, anyway.)
After they left, I began assisting dives as part of the course to become a dive master. My weekends have been occupied with that since then, so I have been rather tired. Apart from many things, it’s a physically demanding job. I am learning many things in this course, but it is taking a lot out of me.
I’ve also been trying to get back to playing badminton regularly. My sister-in-law Tintin is now back in fighting form after giving birth to Raffy in November, so I now have someone to go and play with. I have a running joke with my badminton-mates, that I only play badminton quarterly. Well, I hope to up that frequency, though with work and all, it’s still been a struggle to do so.
Hopefully, my time management skills will kick in even just a little bit so I will be able to do what I want to do, what I have to do, and even what I don’t want to do (but have to, anyway.)
Monday, February 25, 2008
New Year’s Resolutions Progress Report
I have a bazillion little resolutions that I haven’t started on, but as far as those resolutions that I wrote on this blog are concerned, I have, at the very least, taken initial (baby) steps toward fulfilling them. There were three major (major to me, that is) things I wanted to accomplish this year, and two of them were related to diving. As I wrote in an earlier entry, before the year ends, I hope to be both a technical diver and a dive instructor.
Before my non-diver friends get bored, a little explanation may be in order. A technical diver is one who is able to go deeper and stay underwater longer than recreational divers. A dive instructor (though you can probably figure this out for yourself) is a dive professional who teaches people to become licensed scuba divers.
Earlier this month, I finally started to take lessons to become a dive master (DM). The DM course is the first stage in becoming a dive professional. A DM can lead recreational dives and assist instructors in teaching courses. This course is rather rigorous, and includes written exams, practical training, and swim tests. Among all the requirements that I need to fulfill, the one that I am worried about most is the swim tests. I have to swim 400 meters in eight minutes, and in my current fitness state, that is just plain impossible to do. I will have to train and become more fit to be able to pass this phase of the training without passing out. At the rate I’m going, it will still take a few months to check off everything on the list of requirements before I become a licensed dive pro. But it’s still early in the year so I am hopeful.
As far as technical diving is concerned, the biggest barrier to learning how to do it is the cost While saving up enough money to enroll for the course, I took another class that is a prerequisite for the tech diving course, which is diving with enriched air or nitrox (a mix of nitrogen and oxygen). Diving with nitrox allows you to have less nitrogen in your body after a dive, so you feel less tired. It also allows you to stay longer underwater without getting sick from having nitrogen in your body.
So, despite my failure to start on a fitness program, lose any weight, be a better person, chuva chuva chuva, I am happy to report that I’ve started to work on two of my other resolutions for this year. Wish me luck on passing the swim test and saving up for the tech course (At this point both seem equally difficult).
Before my non-diver friends get bored, a little explanation may be in order. A technical diver is one who is able to go deeper and stay underwater longer than recreational divers. A dive instructor (though you can probably figure this out for yourself) is a dive professional who teaches people to become licensed scuba divers.
Earlier this month, I finally started to take lessons to become a dive master (DM). The DM course is the first stage in becoming a dive professional. A DM can lead recreational dives and assist instructors in teaching courses. This course is rather rigorous, and includes written exams, practical training, and swim tests. Among all the requirements that I need to fulfill, the one that I am worried about most is the swim tests. I have to swim 400 meters in eight minutes, and in my current fitness state, that is just plain impossible to do. I will have to train and become more fit to be able to pass this phase of the training without passing out. At the rate I’m going, it will still take a few months to check off everything on the list of requirements before I become a licensed dive pro. But it’s still early in the year so I am hopeful.
As far as technical diving is concerned, the biggest barrier to learning how to do it is the cost While saving up enough money to enroll for the course, I took another class that is a prerequisite for the tech diving course, which is diving with enriched air or nitrox (a mix of nitrogen and oxygen). Diving with nitrox allows you to have less nitrogen in your body after a dive, so you feel less tired. It also allows you to stay longer underwater without getting sick from having nitrogen in your body.
So, despite my failure to start on a fitness program, lose any weight, be a better person, chuva chuva chuva, I am happy to report that I’ve started to work on two of my other resolutions for this year. Wish me luck on passing the swim test and saving up for the tech course (At this point both seem equally difficult).
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Life in the Third World
The main reason why I chose to live in the shoebox despite its too-small living space, traffic noise, the masses of people lining up outside for a game show, proximity to a cult, etc.- is that it is very close to the TV station where I work. Because gas prices zoomed up while I was away, I didn't want to have to shell out a lot of money just to gas up to go to work (I don't mind it as much if I have to pay for gas for out-of-town trips). Because I live so close by, I just walk to the office and hardly need to use my car (which I call Zak).
However, this morning I discovered YET another reason to be stressed about my living arrangements. When I was about to leave my building for work, the guard approached me and tried to tell me something in a very soft voice. "Blah blah blah blah blah blah", is pretty much what registered, since he was speaking in unusually hushed tones. I asked him to speak up, since I was already late for a meeting. He spoke a bit louder, and he said "Ma'am, nawala po ang sideview mirrors niyo." (Ma'am, your sideview mirrors have been stolen.) No wonder he was speaking so softly! It was his job to guard the (very small) parking lot in front of our building!
I rushed to Zak, and saw for myself that yet another car of mine was stripped of its sideview mirrors. This is the third time this has happened to me. My two previous cars had been victimized in the same manner. As in the past two incidents, I just felt helpless and frustrated. There was no way I was going to get those mirrors back. I just have to suck it up, go to Banawe to buy cheap and probably stolen replacements. As the joke goes, I might just be buying my own mirrors back.
These are the moments when I really hate living in Manila. When your car is violated right outside your home, and when you realize there's pretty much NOTHING you can do about it.
However, this morning I discovered YET another reason to be stressed about my living arrangements. When I was about to leave my building for work, the guard approached me and tried to tell me something in a very soft voice. "Blah blah blah blah blah blah", is pretty much what registered, since he was speaking in unusually hushed tones. I asked him to speak up, since I was already late for a meeting. He spoke a bit louder, and he said "Ma'am, nawala po ang sideview mirrors niyo." (Ma'am, your sideview mirrors have been stolen.) No wonder he was speaking so softly! It was his job to guard the (very small) parking lot in front of our building!
I rushed to Zak, and saw for myself that yet another car of mine was stripped of its sideview mirrors. This is the third time this has happened to me. My two previous cars had been victimized in the same manner. As in the past two incidents, I just felt helpless and frustrated. There was no way I was going to get those mirrors back. I just have to suck it up, go to Banawe to buy cheap and probably stolen replacements. As the joke goes, I might just be buying my own mirrors back.
These are the moments when I really hate living in Manila. When your car is violated right outside your home, and when you realize there's pretty much NOTHING you can do about it.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
The Wonder-Vitamins and My Landlord
I think I know why my landlord has not gotten in touch with me yet after I complained about having many people in the condo’s hall.
Let me backtrack a little bit. As I said in my last post, there have been many people outside my door, lining up to buy vitamins from the office next door. Things have gotten a bit worse since then. They have put benches along the hallway, where people wait their turn to buy these confounded vitamins. So now, there are people sitting on both sides of the hall whenever I leave or arrive home, and I have to undergo their scrutiny and have their eyes follow me as I enter/exit my room.
They are also very noisy. I hear these people talking loudly, and sometimes they bring along their children who run up and down the hallway, banging on the walls as they go.
Because of this turn of events, I have had to make a few household purchases. First, I bought a divider that I set up by my door, so as to limit what the people outside can see of my room. Two, I bought and installed extra locks and a peephole on my door. Since my landlord was not doing anything to improve the situation, I figured I should do what I could to protect my privacy and enhance my security.
Now, one of the voices I often hear outside my door is that of a man, who seems to be the head salesperson of the vitamins that they are peddling. One day, I heard him give his sales spiel to an old woman. “Lola, sa tulong ng vitamins na ito, gagaling ang almoranas ninyo. (Grandma, with the help of these vitamins, your hemorrhoids will be cured.)” This was a very intriguing claim, so I listened on.
“Maraming sumusuporta sa produktong ito (Many people support this product),” he explained. “Yung isa sa mga sponsor nito ay si Judge ——–, lolo ni —- ——– (One of the sponsors of this product is Judge ——–, grandfather of —- ——– [a popular actress]).”
That’s how I discovered the reason behind the non-action of my landlord after my complaint. Judge ——–, aside from being one of the vitamins’ backers, is also my landlord.
Let me backtrack a little bit. As I said in my last post, there have been many people outside my door, lining up to buy vitamins from the office next door. Things have gotten a bit worse since then. They have put benches along the hallway, where people wait their turn to buy these confounded vitamins. So now, there are people sitting on both sides of the hall whenever I leave or arrive home, and I have to undergo their scrutiny and have their eyes follow me as I enter/exit my room.
They are also very noisy. I hear these people talking loudly, and sometimes they bring along their children who run up and down the hallway, banging on the walls as they go.
Because of this turn of events, I have had to make a few household purchases. First, I bought a divider that I set up by my door, so as to limit what the people outside can see of my room. Two, I bought and installed extra locks and a peephole on my door. Since my landlord was not doing anything to improve the situation, I figured I should do what I could to protect my privacy and enhance my security.
Now, one of the voices I often hear outside my door is that of a man, who seems to be the head salesperson of the vitamins that they are peddling. One day, I heard him give his sales spiel to an old woman. “Lola, sa tulong ng vitamins na ito, gagaling ang almoranas ninyo. (Grandma, with the help of these vitamins, your hemorrhoids will be cured.)” This was a very intriguing claim, so I listened on.
“Maraming sumusuporta sa produktong ito (Many people support this product),” he explained. “Yung isa sa mga sponsor nito ay si Judge ——–, lolo ni —- ——– (One of the sponsors of this product is Judge ——–, grandfather of —- ——– [a popular actress]).”
That’s how I discovered the reason behind the non-action of my landlord after my complaint. Judge ——–, aside from being one of the vitamins’ backers, is also my landlord.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
My New (and Very Annoying) Neighbors
I hadn’t had neighbors to the right of my unit since I moved into my little shoebox in August. There are only two doors to the right of mine, one across and slightly to the right of me, and one beside me. After those doors is the end of the hall. A few weeks ago, I noticed that there were people coming from and going into those two doors. I heard a lot of banging and shifting sounds that usually mean that someone is moving in.It turns out that the units to my right were going to be offices. They would be selling some sort of vitamins, which, according to a big sign posted outside their doors, would cure pretty much anything. I didn’t pay much attention to my new neighbors. I had no idea how many people were working in these offices, and I didn’t see or bump into its occupants.
Last week, as I opened the door for a delivery boy to get the pizza that I had ordered, I was surprised to see about three men standing right across my unit. They were just… standing there. I wondered what they were doing there, and I wanted to ask them what they wanted, since looked like they were waiting for something outside my door. I felt a little (okay, a lot) uncomfortable, since my shoebox is just one room, and you can see everything inside my home from right outside my door. This includes my bed, my mess, dirty clothes I may have tossed onto the backs of my two chairs, and pretty much my whole private space. It’s hard enough to open my door to delivery boys who could pass judgment on how I may or may not be cleaning my room. It’s worse when strangers on whom you are not dependent for food delivery can see into the heart of your home without your invitation.
Anyway, they just looked at me as I was getting my pizza and didn’t say anything, so I dismissed the incident and figured those men were just waiting for their friends who might have been in the offices. However, it was apparently just a preview of things to come. A few days after I saw those three men waiting outside my door, I started seeing lines forming outside the doors of the vitamin offices. The lines weren’t even very straight, so the hallway outside my door was filled with people milling about and waiting to get into these offices. This started happening on a regular basis. Like, everyday, for the WHOLE day.
I decided to send a text message to the building administrator to complain about the situation. After all, when I moved into my unit, I thought it was a residential area. It was bad enough that I’ve had to contend with the noise outside my window when lines are formed for the game show. The lines forming for this vitamin beside my unit though are causing me even more stress. Not only do the people make a lot of noise, it’s also making me extremely uncomfortable that dozens of strangers can see into my room and see where I sleep whenever I have to open my door.
I haven’t heard back from the building administrator yet. Maybe I should just make the most of a bad situation and start charging the people in the hallway a minimal voyeur’s fee for a view of my room.
Last week, as I opened the door for a delivery boy to get the pizza that I had ordered, I was surprised to see about three men standing right across my unit. They were just… standing there. I wondered what they were doing there, and I wanted to ask them what they wanted, since looked like they were waiting for something outside my door. I felt a little (okay, a lot) uncomfortable, since my shoebox is just one room, and you can see everything inside my home from right outside my door. This includes my bed, my mess, dirty clothes I may have tossed onto the backs of my two chairs, and pretty much my whole private space. It’s hard enough to open my door to delivery boys who could pass judgment on how I may or may not be cleaning my room. It’s worse when strangers on whom you are not dependent for food delivery can see into the heart of your home without your invitation.
Anyway, they just looked at me as I was getting my pizza and didn’t say anything, so I dismissed the incident and figured those men were just waiting for their friends who might have been in the offices. However, it was apparently just a preview of things to come. A few days after I saw those three men waiting outside my door, I started seeing lines forming outside the doors of the vitamin offices. The lines weren’t even very straight, so the hallway outside my door was filled with people milling about and waiting to get into these offices. This started happening on a regular basis. Like, everyday, for the WHOLE day.
I decided to send a text message to the building administrator to complain about the situation. After all, when I moved into my unit, I thought it was a residential area. It was bad enough that I’ve had to contend with the noise outside my window when lines are formed for the game show. The lines forming for this vitamin beside my unit though are causing me even more stress. Not only do the people make a lot of noise, it’s also making me extremely uncomfortable that dozens of strangers can see into my room and see where I sleep whenever I have to open my door.
I haven’t heard back from the building administrator yet. Maybe I should just make the most of a bad situation and start charging the people in the hallway a minimal voyeur’s fee for a view of my room.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
New Year, Old Resolutions
New Year's Eve is one of my favorite times of the year. First of all, it signals that the end of the Christmas season is near (I intensely dislike that holiday). Mostly though, I like it because it's a good time to rehash resolutions that I failed to fulfill in the past year. I stubbornly hold on to the irrational belief that I will achieve what I simply have not managed to, year after year after year.
For 2008, the usual things that I haven't crossed off my list will remain. You know, mundane stuff like losing weight, exercising more and the like. I have also included some relatively more interesting things on my list for this year. A lot of it involves being a student of sorts once again.
Here is a partial list of things I resolve to accomplish within the next twelve months.
1. Become a technical diver.
2. Learn to surf.
3. Study to become a dive instructor.
That's only three of a seemingly endless, rather ambitious, (and maybe a tad unrealistic) list, but those are the ones that I will focus my energies on. I hope they will be crossed off by the time '09 rolls around.
New Year's Eve is one of my favorite times of the year. First of all, it signals that the end of the Christmas season is near (I intensely dislike that holiday). Mostly though, I like it because it's a good time to rehash resolutions that I failed to fulfill in the past year. I stubbornly hold on to the irrational belief that I will achieve what I simply have not managed to, year after year after year.
For 2008, the usual things that I haven't crossed off my list will remain. You know, mundane stuff like losing weight, exercising more and the like. I have also included some relatively more interesting things on my list for this year. A lot of it involves being a student of sorts once again.
Here is a partial list of things I resolve to accomplish within the next twelve months.
1. Become a technical diver.
2. Learn to surf.
3. Study to become a dive instructor.
That's only three of a seemingly endless, rather ambitious, (and maybe a tad unrealistic) list, but those are the ones that I will focus my energies on. I hope they will be crossed off by the time '09 rolls around.
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