For some reason, I've received a lot of flak in MBA class this week - mostly because I work for an oil company. It's not the first time I had educate people on how "Big Oil" is not synonymous to oil cartel and I have explained to more than one person how Shell is merely a transporter of products through the FPIC pipeline and is not responsible for its upkeep and maintenance. Oh, and with regard to the stockouts that are consequence to the unoperational pipeline, it's not because Shell is hoarding products so it can jack up the prices come holiday season! People, we simply cannot get enough products to the terminals and consequently the retail stations, hence the shortage! I hate ignorance.

Tsina Chinabank

It is quite serendipitous that my birthday month falls right after my hell quarter. After frying my brains bananas in August and September, I flew to China and decided to forget about work, schoolwork and the other stark realities of the Philippines

An ensuing super (take note: SUPER) typhoon was threatening to cancel my plane ride but after spending 6 hours in the airport and finishing half a Stieg Larsson novel, I finally boarded the plane bound for Beijing. A trip to China isn't exactly at the top of my bucket list (maybe not even at the bottom) but this is the first time I'm travelling with my parents, titos and titas - meaning there's a big chance for this trip to be a free ride, so what they hey, I was up for it!

The Chinese embassy made a huge deal with the fact that it's my first time to go to China and decided to reduce my validity to just 7 days. The nerve. Even though I have US, UK, AU and Japan visas, they still feared that I become an illegal alien in their country. Pfft. I had to miss the Guangzhou leg of the trip which should have been interesting because the older folks and I were supposed to visit the town where my grandfather was born and grew up in.

So anyway, I landed in Beijing on my actual birthday! Yahoo, my mom and dad woke up in the middle of the night when I arrived at the hotel just to greet me "Happy Birthday" and offer me Skyflakes. Hehe. I willed myself to sleep right away because the next day should be exciting - we were going the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven.

The following day, I froze my butt off in 6-degree Beijing ambient temp. I was ill-prepared for the cold. I camped in Pulag at the same temp with drizzle but I was wrapped like a spring roll then. I underestimated the nearing winter in China and did not even bring thermals. Yikes. But the Forbidden City was awesome and I was amazed at how the Chinese mastered the art of twisting tree trunks and branches into pretzel-like shapes that surely don't exist in nature.



On Day 2, we were bound for the Great Wall. This should be the highlight of the trip - I mean if you've gone to China and did not see the Great Wall, you ought to kick yourself. It was freezing again and we were in the mountains! However, the sun was shining really brightly that day, no clouds, no drizzle so it was a comfortable 9-dgerees that day. I made it to 4 or 5 towers before my tito, my fittest tita and I decided to hit home. My dad and the other ladies opted to stay behind and enjoy the view in a less strenuous manner. My dad actually has a chronic knee problem so the fact that he was even there - hats off! Hey moon man, can you see me now???



That night, my tito (a well-known restaurateur in Cebu) took us to Da Dong, a somewhat pricey restaurant in Beijing that boasts of the best Peking Duck. And true enough, the duck doesn't just melt, it disintegrates in your mouth! Oh, and Da Dong has these really cool interiors straight from a James Bond movie.

Our third day in Beijing was spent going around the Summer Palace and a Beijing Hutong (aboard a rickshaw).

Mom: So how do you find the trip so far?

Me: It's different when you're with older people. Relax lang. Not like when I travel with friends, we rush, try to cram in as many things as possible and we stay at the cheapest places. Unlike now, we're in a service apartment. So yeah, I'm having a good time!

I missed the Olympic Stadium leg of our Beijing trip (thanks to our friends at the Chinese Embassy in Manila) but the remainder of the trip almost made up for it. And so we're off to Shanghai.

Shanghai was more cosmopolitan than Beijing and with a friendlier temperature too. We arrived in our hotel a little before noon to dump our luggage, take quick showers and eat lunch. Now we've been gorging on Chinese food for days already so when my tito found out that there's an Italian restaurant in the hotel - I died and went to tomato heaven. The assistant manager was Pinay so we got a complimentary bottle of wine. Yeah!






Our first day in Shanghai took us to the TV Tower and to the museum at its base and of course, the requisite river cruise which I absolutely loved. I saw for myself that building which Tom Cruise scaled in M:I III. I've always found skyscrapers to be breathtaking so Shanghai was a dose of pure oxygen for me.



Our first dinner in Shanghai was in this upscale-ey restaurant called Din Tai Fung which, according to my tito, served the best xiao long bao (soup dumplings) and was well-renowned even in the West. Slurp. Yum.

The second day in Shanghai was spent in the World Expo. Guess what, the Pinoy expo won the Most Relaxing (or something like that) award - it offered massages. I wanted to go into the German expo but the queue was four hours long! I will not subject my parents to such torture (alright I tried, we stood in line for about 20 minutes then gave up) so we walked around instead, taking pictures of the exteriors. At this point, I've already had it with the Chinese people's bump car mode so I decided, "What the hell, I can play bump too!". And the World Expo was the perfect place to start haha! I probably walked 10 kilometers that day (in circles) with my parents so we congratulated ourselves with a nice Thai dinner in Xintiandi.



Our last day in Shanghai was spent - you guessed it, shopping! Alright, I'm merely mirroring the excitement of my titas since I'm not really a big shopper myself. I suddenly panicked when I realized that I have not bought any pasalubong yet (yup, obligatory). Thankfully, a half-day at Yuyuan Garden will fix everything. I grabbed a couple of stuff for myself and for my friends. I realized it's green tea palooza in this place! My dad, bought himself a mahjong set which spelled "excess baggage"! Heheh.

We left Shanghai amidst a raging storm - yup, that same typhoon that attempted to foil my trip followed me all the way to China!

My first trip to China was different in many ways. I was travelling with older folks so the pace was more relaxed. There was none of those eat-while-you-run scenes. Photo-taking was kept at the minimum (waaah!) and we stayed at really nice hotels, dined at the fancier restaurants and enlisted the services of tour guides (something which I've never done in my previous travels). In fact, I enjoyed it too much, I can't wait for the next time I'd travel with the oldies again!

Not Just Driving Through

I was starving when I got to Cafe Ysabel for a very, very late Palm Sunday lunch. It's good that I was there to eat this time, having driven past this joint a couple of times before when I lost my way in San Juan. From the outside, it looks like an old house from the Spanish colonial period and if not for the dozen or so cars parked outside, one wouldn't know that it's a restaurant. Needless to say, it's the place's exteriors that bear the "come hither" factor that a passerby's curiosity cannot help but be spiked (like me when I drove by a couple of times before).

There were a lot of diners at such a late lunch hour (2PM) so we made our way to our table by the big window. The interiors were very interesting - I was particularly thrown off by the frescoes on the ceiling - women who wore the traditonal baro't saya but drawn with, in my opinion, an Egyptian sway. I liked the dark, rainy-day-but-you-are-warm-inside atmosphere that the the place evoked.

Now having driven from Batangas with no breakfast, I devoured the bread which was absolutely piping hot. The bread dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar tated so good but I reckon that it's my ravenous (read: patay-gutom) state that made it such.

So anyway, here's what we ordered for lunch:



Appetizer: Jake & Christine's Crisp Smoked Fish (tinapa) Wantons in Salsa Verde. Now this one I loved. Fish and salsa went so well together.



Main Course: Spicy Lamb Kebab. I was a bit disappointed. When I order lamb, I expect that "lamb smell" in my meat but there was hardly any trace of it. I'm not sure if this dish was calibrated to fit the not-too-adventurous Pinoy palate but I would've wanted lamb in my lamb. Also, when the menu says "spicy", it ought to end up with sweat on my brows after eating. Again, if there was any hint of spiciness, I did not get any of it - and I did not have a cold that day.



Add-On: Longganisa Mushroom and Roasted Garlic Risotto. My bad- my brain did not process that there's actually longganisa in it so when the dish ended up as a "sweet" surprise, I was unpleasantly surprised.

If there's anything that I would rave about, it's the price. For a place that has a fancy menu and is oozing with ambience, you will definitely get your money's worth.

The place is also known for it's eclectic coffee concoctions and someday, I might go back for them AND for the desserts that we haven't had the chance to try.

Anna Wangen and Woodstock

While feasting over isaw in UP, we decided to go to Anawangin. Jake's friend Chezka had been dying to jumpstart her summer and since we found ourselves free for that weekend, we decided to make the long drive (since we're coming from Batangas) to Zambales.

I switched cars with Yang so Trina (my car) was in hibernation at the Park & Fly for a week. Meanwhile, I drove the Bitch (Yang's car, not her).

We drove up on Friday night and reached Patio Beach in Pundaquit, Zamables at around 1AM. This was our jump-off point to Anawangin Cove which is about 20 minutes away by motorboat. Other than the fact that we were all on the verge of dozing off, it was pitch dark when we arrived so there was nothing we could make out of our surroundings.

That morning, we woke up to this gorgeous sight:



No, I did not mean me, you dummy! I meant those hills around me! Heheh.

We awakened to such breathtaking view that I was half-tempted to stay in the resort and not go anywhere else. However, such a beautiful sunrise held the promise of greater things to come for that day - enough motivation to get my butt out of bed and board the banca to Anawangin. The boat ride was smooth thanks to the early morning calm. Traversing the waters near the coastline, we came face to face with the majestic hills that seemed to carelessly tumble into the sea. I silently mumbled to myself "Ang ganda pala ng Pilipinas". Thankfully, before I could utter any more corny musings to myself, Anawangin Cove came into view.



From afar, it seemed like the beach was deserted but once we reached the shore, I realized that the place was abuzz with people, mostly campers. There were tents and mats everywhere and everyone was just lying around and being lazy. The atmosphere was light and hazy, everyone seemed to be in high spirits and there was this inexplicable calm in the air that I had to fight off the urge to randomly say "Peace, man!" with a silly grin pasted on my face. "This is probably how Woodstock felt like", I thought. Now I'm not sure if anyone was smoking pot that day but one can never be too sure, especially in the company of campers. My friends and I took posession of a picnic table, which you get for free with the Php 50 fee, and strung a hammock between two trees. However, sleeping was the last thing on our minds since we came here for only one thing: The Beach!













Overcrowded beaches don't do a thing for me so when I saw this, the opening notes of Moby's Porcelain started playing in my head. I fell in love.




I've been dying to go back to Pagudpud since I went there 4 years ago but Anawangin, which is a study of the atypical - with out-of-place pine trees and browning hills made even more otherworldly by the ensuing drought, definitely holds its own charm!

We started back for Pundaquit at around 5:30 that afternoon, just in time to catch the sunset as we disembarked from the same small boat that brought us to Anawangin that morning. Once more were beheld by a breathtaking vista:



Not me, you fool! The sunset!!! Heheh.

Under The Tuscan Sun...In Tagaytay

Last Saturday was decidedly lazy. My sister came over to Batangas for a visit and I wanted to take her someplace new in Tagaytay on the way back to Manila. My friend Jake has a penchant for looking for new places to eat via Google and came across a newly-opened restaurant called Marcia Adams' Tuscany. Interesting.

We headed up to Tagaytay at around 11:30 and were driving really slow (my sister and her boyfriend were in a car behind us so I couldn't speed up). We missed the restaurant on our first attempt to locate it and ended up somewhere past Ville Sommet and had to turn back when we realized that we probably drove past it. It's not that I wasn't paying attention, the restaurant had no sign!

Neil(or Neal)Adams was waiting for us at the entrance and explained to us, half apologizing, that they were not officially open yet but are accommodating diners anyway - sort of a dry run, hence, the absence of a sign out front. I actually found it charming that the host greeted us at the gate - it made me feel like an actual guest at someone's home and not just some casual diner out for lunch.

Since I love all things Mediterranean, I was instantly charmed by the place. The interiors were simple, rustic, and sleepy - all the ingredients for a perfect late lunch. We were first led to a lounging room that had a view of the rolling countryside as well as Bataan Bay. If we had come later, we would've caught a glimpse of a gorgeous sunset, says Marica Adams, who came straight out of the kitchen and introduced herself to us. Again the charming feeling of being an actual houseguest permeated the air. The whole place was intended to have the look and feel of a Tuscan villa - sans vineyards cum sugarcane fields.

Marcia Adams explained that she did not want to become too commercialized and was trying to carve her niche in the Tagaytay dining scene via the slow food movement (the opposite of fastfood). So what's on the menu? Well, there is a set 4-course meal that consists of soup, salad, a main course and dessert. I had the Aegean salad which had grilled pears (yum! my first time to eat them), mixed greens, cottage cheese and roasted pistachios. The soup du jour was pumpkin soup with yoghurt and a pinch of cinnamon (my favorite spice next to Victoria Beckham...kidding). I had Shish kebabs for the main course which was served with couscous (alternatives are organic rice, Egyptian rice or lentils) and I must say, my romance with lamb has gone on to the next level! The most interesting dessert choice was the grilled orange with vanilla ice cream - just because I've never had grilled orange before. The strong, citric flavor of the orange married so well with the subtle sweetness of vanilla that it made me wonder why I've never had this combination before!

Marica Adams also offers a selection of wines but since we had a long drive ahead of us, we opted to have ginger beer instead (it tastes like ginger ale, only better). I know, beer and non-alcoholic seem incoherent but the "beer" in ginger beer means that the drink has gone through the brewing process. It's a drink that can get dangerously addictive but procuring it seems to be a challenge - the only other place I've found this product is at the Shell Station in SLEX.

Right after dessert, Marcia Adams sat down and chatted with us while we waited for our tummies to settle down. She intimated that she was not only responsible for the menu, she also had a hand at the restaurant's architecture and interiors. She also shared that even if they are not really open yet, plans of expanding to a spa and bed & breakfast are already under way. She says, however, that she does not plan for the place to grow too big and too commercialized and intends to keep it small, charming and most importantly, personal.

As to my plans of coming back...well, I'm already salivating at the thought of trying out Marcia Adams' Moroccan fish stew, grilled aromatic pork, or amalfi prawns (provided that I lose my allergies)!

For reservations: 0917 801 1456
Street Address: JP Rizal St., Brgy. Sikat, Alfonso, Cavite (same turn as Ville Sommet)

Thoughts On Teachers

All of my mother’s sisters were public school teachers, one of them retired as principal of an elementary school in one of the highland towns of Negros Oriental. Last Christmas, during the usual chitchat with the elder members of the family, my titas inadvertently broached on the topic of my compensation. Feeling that it is in poor taste to tell them the exact figure, I just gave them a range and let their imaginations do the rest of the work. Since I work for a multinational, I must say that I am reasonably well-compensated. Needless to say, there was an uncomfortable silence (at least for me) that ensued my response. “When will public school teachers ever earn that much?” remarked one of my titas. This got me thinking: “In this day and age, what incentive does one really have to become a public school teacher?”

We have heard over and over that passion is what drives one to choose to become a teacher, that teaching is a calling much like priesthood or medicine. However, we must not rely on these romanticized notions about teaching to provide our public schools with a steady supply of educators. As much as teachers would want to feed the fires of their vocation, it is a stark reality that the basic need of putting food on the table comes first. Because of this, teachers either leave the education profession entirely or work overseas and high school graduates may not even consider studying to become teachers. Ultimately, it is the public school students, especially the ones in depressed or rural areas who are left hungry for knowledge and robbed of the opportunities that an education can promise.

This got me thinking further: “What is our government doing about this?” Last year, the upper house finally passed Senate Bill 2408 which seeks to grant a P9000 across-the-board salary increase for all public school teachers and non-teaching personnel. Prior to this, the entry-level salary of public school teachers was P10933 per month. This was about P9000 lower than the monthly family living wage of P19404 as determined by the National Wages and Productivity Commission.

Fresh out of college, an education graduate and would-be breadwinner is looking for a job. If he opts to work in a call center, he can earn a starting basic salary of P25000 a month. On top of this are transportation and meal allowances, overtime, and night differential pay. Senate Bill 2408 provides for a P1000 annual medical check-up allowance, an outsourcing company is most likely to shoulder the costs of personnel annual medical check-ups via HMO. Based on these numbers, I will not be surprised why a would-be teacher would pick up a telephone headset instead of a piece of chalk and that he would rather face a computer monitor instead of a roomful of students.

Our Constitution expressly states that "The State shall assign the highest budgetary priority to education to ensure that teaching will attract and retain its rightful share of the best available talents through adequate remuneration and other means of job satisfaction and fulfillment." However, quoting Sen. Chiz Escudero, "The highest budgetary priority being given money-wise is debt servicing. The second is the Internal Revenue Allotment or IRA of government units. The DepEd only ranks third. In 2009, the budget allocation for education was increased to P157.9 billion. This is a very meager amount compared to the P600 billion for paying off national debt, or the P260 billion for the Internal Revenue Allotment of government units.” I suppose the leaders of this country have driven us between a rock (national debt) and a hard place (education), though leaving us with a stick (IRA rationalization) to wedge us out.

In the spirit of the upcoming presidential elections, I checked what some of the leading presidential candidates have to say. Sen. Nonoy Aquino's Transformational Leadership Platform states: “From relegating education to just one of many concerns to making education to making education the central strategy for investing in our people, reducing poverty and building national competitiveness." Poetic but vague. It begs the question "How are you going to do it?". In Gibo Teodoro's website, he has these 2 agenda under Education: Student Loan Program, Preparing Our Children for the Future. A little bit more specific but does not really address the issue. Sen. Manny Villar's website is down.

RA 4670 (Magna Carta for Public School Teachers) provides that public school teachers' salaries "shall compare favorably with those paid in other occupations requiring equivalent or similar qualifications, training and abilities" and "they shall be such as to inspire teachers a reasonable standard of life for teachers and their families." Calling to mind again the call center example, this Law has long been violated.

In our parents' generation, being a maestra accords one a high regard in society. Aside from this, one is able to raise a family, send children to school and comfortably retire by being a teacher. However, we are now in different times and globalization has inadvertently siphoned teachers from the public schools to the concrete jungles or to schools abroad. It eludes my understanding that our government appears to struggle with this reality and has somehow failed to exercise a bit of foresight, it being led by an economist who at one time was also a teacher.

Lady Luck Has Come To Town

My track record at winning has never been good on paper. I can count with my ten fingers the number of times I've been in first place. One was a singing contest in elementary school (I cringe at the memory of the song of choice), another was a card-making contest in high school (I still have the Christmas Tree-shaped trophy in my room), and a couple of English writing categories in the Regional Schools Press Conference right before college (damn, why did I not write about Rizal in Nationals!!!). Now I'm worse with raffle draws. I remember a time when the company I worked for gave out 100 Starbucks GCs and I did not win a thing! I can't even luck out on a stupid cup of coffee! Now things haven't been really good at work lately, so for the past month, I've concentrated what's left of my will power to the arts (photography class), sports (badminton) and eating. And then the streak started. Two weeks ago, I landed in 4th place in our graduation photo contest. The class size was about 40 people so I was thrilled when I nabbed a top 5 spot, not to mention that I was so thankful that at least I got a medal for waking up at 4am to go to Taal to take my winning photo (which I didn't know was gonna win at the time, unless I am clairvoyant you dummy!). Lucky? Not quite yet...Last week, I became somebody's last-minute replacement to an inter-industry badminton tournament participated in by Shell (wohooo!), Petron, Chevron and Total. Now I'm not a very athletic person, but badminton is one sport I would like to think I'm decent at. At the end of the gruelling whole-day tournament, me and my partner emerged as champions in our class! I was like, "Whoa!!! I've actually got a medal as testament to my "athletic" prowess nyahahaha!". Two medals in two weeks, now that's enough to keep a smile pasted on my face during business planning season. The latest (I dare not say "last") of my streaks came last night during Shell's One Finance masquerade ball. Now this was one event where I really had to work for my Renaissance Hotel buffet dinner. I co-hosted the event, sang with the band and performed a dance number with my boss and teammates. Needless to say, I was running out of energy as the night was coming to a close. Now there was a raffle, the grand prize being an ultra-slim flatscreen TV and dvd player - tasty lah! And guess who won...ME!!!?!?! I'm not really sure why all this is happening, I haven't even been extra good boy lately. Well, if there's one thing I know that applies to me, it's that it always pours when it rains in Paul's world. I've half the mind to take my friend Rico's advise and bet on the lottery next week. Wish me luck!

Palakol

24-hour internet access means you can google anyone whenever you want. And with too much spare time in your hands, you can either become a blogger or a stalker. I was looking at my facebook profile when it suddenly dawned on me that I haven't heard from my favorite musical artists for some time now. Some of them just vanished at the turn of the century while others are on "hiatus" and are focused on raising their families ( hey, at least they're pretty well-balanced people and not career-obsessed freaks who'll die alone and be eaten by their cats).

Now I've always wondered whatever happened to Paula Cole. Yeah, yeah, she's the artist who's responsible for the massive hit "I Don't Want To Wait" no thanks to that sappy TV melancholia-fest called Dawson's Creek (nope, not a fan). Way back in 1997, I decided that I liked her music so I got myself her record called "This Fire". From what I remember, the liner notes said and I quote "listen to this record in full volume...i hope it takes you on a journey". And listen in full volume I did (full volume of my walkman...yes, it's called a walkman back then). True enough, I was enamored by this amazing artist who not only has great talent but sang with such raw emotion that listening to her gave me the chills. I only call an artist a "favorite" if I can listen to his entire record without losing my patience and if I can listen to him over and over again, with each time an altogether different experience. This Fire, in my opinion, was a dark, foreboding work with themes ranging from anger, death, despair and cynicism, themes that spoke to me personally during that phase of my life. A particular favorite of mine is an obscure song called "Nietschze's Eyes" whose meaning escapes me to this day (I'm not into philosophy so I haven't read up on Friedrich Nietschze. When I do, I'd probably get the meaning of this song). I love it because of the clear, strong vocals and the haunting piano interludes. My parents didn't like this song, though, and found the last part a bit disturbing (yup, I share my music with my old folks!)

So I googled up Paula Cole and found out what she had been up to. She apparently released a new record in 2007 (I don't think this was distributed in the Philippines) so if anyone's going to the States, I'd ask you to grab one for me. To read more about her, check out this link: http://www.paulacole.com/ and to listen to Nietschze's Eyes, check out this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa0WTcg3Xbk

Go ahead. Listen. I hope she'll take you on a journey too.

Booster Shots

There's nothing like a brief bout with depression that makes me want to rewind my life and bring myself back to happier times (Tanslation: those times when my biggest worries were about flunking chapter exams). Here's what suddenly zonked me back to the late 90s.

While clearing my head in SM earlier tonight, I checked out the perfume selection at Scents Per Cent (hmmm...tacky) when I got the best news of the week. Lacoste Booster is back on the market! Yeah! I used this cologne when I was a freshman in college and there's nothing like it for everyday wear.

Now I might be wrong about this but two years ago, some saleslady told me that IT had been phased out and replaced by Lacoste Green (seriously, it does not come close but I bought one anyway). Anyway, the blend of menthol, lavender, eucalyptus and peppermint with a touch of nutmeg (I can be talking about tea here) was perfect when I wanted to play pa-cute in A/S years ago, though at 2,600 a bottle, it was quite pricey considering I was living off my allowance.

Now this brings me back to the present. At least now, despite the pain of work, deadlines, bosses, taxes and all that good stuff, I don't have to save for weeks just to get myself a bottle of cologne!

Wright Choices

My favorite subjects of the late, in thoughts or words alike, are my wrong choices. Consequently, this entry has begun with the wrong choice of words. First, the choices I made in my life aren't exactly wrong ones, they're just...weird. Kudos to me for using two adjectives that start with a "W". Speaking of W, I was able to catch Fahrenheit 9/11 on HBO last week. However, I'm saving my opinions for another blog entry as they would make for an interesting exposition. Every time I look back in the past, I am left feeling perplexed by the choices I've made. The ones that range from the peculiar to the downright stupid. Oh yes! A lot of people are led to believe that when it comes to life-planning, I have it all figured out, that every move I make is calculated. One thing's for sure: I put up a really good facade of security and self-contentment. My friends are actually tired of hearing me complain, talking about my what-ifs and stuff like that. I used to think that I'm a guy with no hang-ups but then here I am, months before my 25th birthday, hanging from the gallows of quarter-life crises. I now realize that my favorite chapter of my life is high school. Yeah, yeah, I know some people would rather purge their high school memories, and, I must admit that mine wasn't that perfect also, but hey, those were the times when I cared about nothing but sleep, food and MTV (this is something you'll hear me say over and over again)! There were no worries about taxes, SLAs and KPIs, credit card bills (I got a call from an agent today!) and bosses from hell. Anyway, when I was in high school, I was so sure of what I wanted to become--a biologist or a journalist. Alright, I was indecisive even back then (pardon me for being a Libran). I thought I was destined for a career in science or media. Though not exactly polar opposites, these are two very different fields. And I happened to excel in both. My English teacher encouraged me to major in Communications when I go to college (Actually, she tried to talk me into it). I did consider it, but decided otherwise because I realized early on that I'm not too good in writing editorials. My strength was Features. I really can't write anything too serious lest I bore myself to comatose. Since I'm not a fan of heavy literature, I guess it reflects in my writing. The only classic I've read is House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne and it was for a book review requirement. When I was little, I was fascinated by the animal world, particularly reptiles and marine mammals. I was fortunate enough that my hometown has a thriving dolphin population so it was like having Sea World in my backyard. Alright, I'm slightly exaggerating but it's true that the Tañon Strait is home to several species of dolphins (Spinner, Risso's, Pantropical Spotted), so if one ventures out to sea on a calm, early, almost windless morning, there's a good chance of seeing these beautiful creatures cavorting in their natural habitat (if ever there's such a thing as marine-cavorting). And on a calm, early, almost windless and extremely auspicious morning, a pod of Pilot whales will show themselves as well. I've gone dolphin-watching a couple of times, with each time as exhilarating as the one before it. I've never seen the whales, though. I loved reading about animals, I've got volumes of animal encyclopedias when I was a kid, all of them now in boxes gathering dust in the storage room next to our garage. I loved to read National Geographic too (actually, it's looking at the pictures and reading the captions, given that I was a kid). Here's another interesting trivia: My grandfather, all of 86 years old now, has an active monthly subscription to the NG magazine and he reads each issue from cover to cover. Now I know where I got my smarts from heheheh. Realizing that, I'm thinking of subscribing myself. Anyway, going back to the wrong choices, seeing that my inclinations were journalism and biology, I should've pursued either one when I went to college. But oh no, I decided to take up accountancy on a whim (Help me think of a better word, please. Accountancy is hardly whimsical!). Was it really a wrong choice? I really don't know. Think about these: Right now, I actually have the privilege of choosing where to work, my profession is in high demand overseas, and it's relatively easy to land a decent-paying job in the Philippines, especially now that the outsourcing of finance and accounting-related processes is the prime cost-savings strategy being employed by multinationals. Being a CPA, I was able to go to the States for free (on Business Class, no less) and I now have a good chance of going to Europe (after which I can die with no unfinished business, thus sparing everyone I know the risk of being haunted by my restless soul hehe), I got to know a lot of people (widening my social circle that now includes Manila hahaha!), I've been to places I've always wanted to go to, I've given stuff to my parents as well as to my brother and sister (which gives me the best feeling in the world), and people actually tell me how fortunate I am with the choices I've made. On the other hand, I still have this feeling in my gut that makes me wonder what could've become of me if I had thrown all logic out of the window in the name of passion. Oh well, I'm still young and I still have time to pursue my childhood aspirations. So for now, I'll settle for this blog as a venue to put my thoughts to writing, and maybe next month, I'm getting a pet fish.