AN OPEN LETTER TO BAC4 ON THEIR GRADUATION

it has been a while since i last saw each of you. in fact it has been close to 5 months. how have you been? i assume that since you are graduating soon, you are extremely busy meeting deadlines, and submitting paperwork.

jayvee approached me weeks ago to write you guys a message for your graduation. i wanted to, in all honesty, but frankly i also hesitated.

alfter 5 months of not seeing you all, who knows what sort of things have gotten to you? an assortment, i would understand and reckon. but i guess i still have to say my piece, and tell you all how i feel, now that you are leaving the school's gates metaphorically (since i assume some of you might be hired by the school).

true, that i have built a bond with each of you. let me tell you these now objectively, after having spent 2.5years of my life with you, kids.

=amy, and her stubbornness, commands her to be treated equally.
=april is ever so watchful of her words.
=arvie (whom i thank for starring in FRANTIC, which has never come out) is unsure of a lot of things.
=aster is stronger than she thinks.
=ayrah needs to put her foot forward and should learn to start taking charge.
=brigitte doesn't need to re-assure herself that she is pretty, by taking a lot of pictures of yourself. you ARE beautiful, child.
=cabz needs to tell the world that he is a loving person in more ways and one. take it seriously, so the world will take you seriously.
=camille needs to realize that although she is more than a pretty face, she needs to stop doing orations when she talks to people. you are a sweet person. make people feel that you are.
=dang needs to look people in the eye when she smiles so everyone sees her face.
=enzo needs to get his act done. i know you can do better.
=jessica needs to bloom.
=lester needs to be more honest with himself.
=lorna needs to admit to herself that she is childish, but that she too can make tough decisions in life. and stop whining like a 5 year old.
=marla needs to eat more canned food. and sleep on a cot. and spend lesser on hair treatment. grow up, girl. you don't need to tell everyone that you are gorgeous. you already are.
=micah needs to be careful. you know what i mean, nak.
=pangga should put up a business.
=prikee needs to be more assertive. you also need a haircut.
=rachael needs to figure out the things she does best, and use that to her advantage.
=roselyn needs a diet. and be more aware that although she may feel tingly inside, love isn't always about "kilig."
=sabel needs to be more tactful, and less childish.
=searle needs to fall out of love. and learn to wait for it.
=vanessa needs to be patient. and stronger.

i admit, i felt bad when i found out what you did after i gave you the revisions for the theses you did - how you stormed to GMF and told her that you didn't want to do the revisions (i felt betrayed because i thought my comments mattered to you), but then again, i realized that you always had it your way, and that inasmuch as you would say i was a big part of your lives, sometimes you didn't make me feel like it, when you did stuff like that.

i would like to think though that i taught you a thing or two. that would be enough. remember that whatever awards you get during recognition day, chances are they will forever remain as they are - just awards. pieces of metal or sheets of paper. i hope after you throw those caps in the air, you realize that life is more than just a set of good grades. life is about a set of good traits.

and although i may not be the authority to tell you this now (after all the mud-slinging, particularly towards me by a lot of people), i still feel it is my obligation to tell you to never think that just because you have achieved something on paper, it means that it'll define who you are. people may tell you you are the best, or you have great potential. but schools do that to people nowadays - build the ego, without building the character. keep yourself on check. become your most dreaded critic. and don't let a title define who you are. you need to define the title.

i still feel sad at times that i wouldn't be reading off your names during graduation. but i guess we've all made our decisions, and made moves. because we all get tired, and sometimes are told by superiors to leave, as i did and was. but you also need to realize that life goes on -- with or without you or everything that you have done. people will forget (and believe me, they forget rather quickly these days). but we shouldn't fret. each day is a new opportunity to create new memories to be remembered.

never worry about tomorrow. each day has its own set of problems. let tomorrow worry about itself. it's a passage from the bible (i go to church more often now, akalain nyo).

be safe. be better than youself. take chances. laugh at mistakes. respect other people. love God. be bold enough to stand up. stand out. live large. play hard. pray harder.

happy graduation, kiddos.

FIVE DAYS AFTER: HOSTING, MCMUFFINS AND AN INSATIABLE FEAR OF FALLING FACE FLAT ON THE PAVEMENT

A sausage McMuffin with egg for breakfast. No coffee, no hashbrown. Just the burger.
S$3.90 = P132.60. Buhay-singapore. Nakanang. Kaya nako nagbibihon araw-araw LOL

***

It is my 33rd day in Singapore. And to appease myself, I started compiling all the blogs I wrote for the past month – from Day 1 to Day 26. And although some of the dates were missing, I really didn’t mind. A lot of things had happened in 33 days, and are still happening as I write this final piece to the chronological puzzle I am trying to piece together.

Today I went to Woodlands, at the Regional Library inside Causeway Mall (which apparently was just a 20-minute bus ride away from Malaysia), where I was to co-host an awards ceremony for young authors. I came in a bit late for the call time, since I underestimated the train ride – not realizing that the distances between, for example Bishan and Khatib, were not the same as that of Eunos and Aljunied (for cross-reference, please refer to the Singapore MRT system map). I was 15 minutes late, but was still earlier than the rest of the other people.

Fran, the production manager (a Canadian who was married to a Singaporean Chinese teacher, whose work for today brought her to Malaysia) was already there, arriving at around 7:30am (since he had to accompany his wife to the bus going to Malaysia; they left the house at around 4:30am); he was the earliest. Nanette (the other Filipino in the company) was also early, as was the boss, and Spark (the guy who designed the company’s website). Kendrick, a former awardee of the ceremonies a few years back (he was interviewed in Channel News Asia’s Primetime Morning when he was just 12 years old right after the first awards ceremonies in 2007) was also early, helping out Spark set-up the exhibit panels (he was the usher for the day).

The program started almost on-time. It was late by 5 minutes, since the special guest, the Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of Israel, got caught up in traffic (she was driving alone, in her own car, and was stuck because she “relied on GPS” to find her the shortest way to the venue).

The program ran for a few hours, with a 20-minute tea break at around 10am. They served (guess what) bee hoon, some small éclairs bars topped with strips of milk chocolate, meat balls and lumpiang shanghai. The other guests were the same people whom I was in a meeting with, after the ceremonies, a managing director of a music company that utilized a lot of apps in their musical productions, and two hotshots from a company that specialized in apps for iPhone4 and Androids (needless to say, my nose bled).

I went home after the meeting, taking the Circle Line. From Woodlands, I got off at Bishan, took the train to Dhoby Gaut but got off at Paya Lebar, then took the green line to Eunos. I bought some French baguette, and then made my way to the house, only to find out the HDB whose corridors and by-ways I used to pass through was already barricaded. So much for easy access. Now I have to go around the fences to get to Changi Road. Grr.

***FLASHBACK: TWO DAYS AGO
My boss, together with Nanette, Adieline (our illustrator who has a degree in fashion design from Australia, and whose uncle had a second stroke just this morning, after he was diagnosed with cancer a few months back) and I, had lunch at Aunt Mary’s, a quaint little cafeteria which served home-cooked meals. While Addie had a fill on the chicken, Nanette and I had some beef (which was cooked in a rich curry sauce). Our boss had chicken which was something similar to adobo.

She also bought us a platter of petite curry puffs and a serving of radish, chili and hard-boiled egg, stuffed in small, edible and crunchy cups (which tasted like Pinoy, the mamiso-pack chicheria).

Later that evening, the four of us – Fran, Adie, Charlene (a Mass Comm graduate who works for the company as editorial associate) and I – went to the launch of Media Fiesta 2011, a month-long celebration of varied media platforms, which had both free admission and paid admission events. The launch was held at the third floor of the SCAPE Mall at Somerset Rd. To tell the least, the launch was highly formal, since the event had the Minister of Information, Communication and the Arts as the special guest. But that wasn’t the nice part.

The nice part was the host of the launch. For one, he had a Duck Tails hairstyle. Second, he talked funny ‘cause he spoke in phrases. Third, he called the minister up the stage three times to do a couple of things – his keynote speech, the launch of the Media Fiesta (which he did by pressing his palm on a console set on-stage), and open a box that had the logo of TEMASEK (a MMPRG that featured the history of old Singapore, whose original name was Temasek) in it. THREE TIMES. Hello, high-ranking official!?

After the launch, we were led to the dining area at the second floor. They served tempura, tons of canton, coleslaw, fried chicken, burgers, and fish balls. And yes, I ate a heap of everything, except for the tempura, and gulped three glasses of pomelo juice. We wanted to mingle and exchange cards with everyone else, but the party felt like they just wanted to remain in their own cliques. So we left and went home.

***FLASHBACK: YESTERDAY
I met with a Filipino clinical psychologist who taught in the National Institute of Education. The boss wanted her to be part of the editorial board, so she sent me to talk to her. She was supposed to join the awards ceremony today but she backed out, last minute, last Friday.

Thirty-three days, and counting. I still have jitters for Monday though. Pray for me. I’ll let you know what happens.

Still here. Hey.

1 sausage mcmuffin with egg for breakfast. no coffee, no hashbrown. just the burger.
S$3.90 = P132.60. buhay singapore. nakanang.