Hindi Ka Nag-iisa (Noynoy Aquino's MTV)

I can't help that my eyes teared up over this MTV and will no doubt have thousands and probably millions vote for the only son of the country's martyr, Ninoy and his equally loved wife, Cory. There's still a part of me doubting though whether he can do the job as he was pretty "quiet" when he was in the Senate. But considering the other presidentiables, I think Noy will do.

Bad Service

I don't know what is it about bad service that I've been getting these past few days. Makes me think whether I've been expecting too much from people and establishments as I've been getting disappointed.

Don't get me started on my rants (refer to my previous post) as negative emotions are bad for me but I can't help but get pissed. Just this evening when I was at Festival Mall, everything seemed to go the other way. First of all, the cashier at Bench took forever to ring up my purchases. The cashier beside her already checked out three customers while my cashier was still struggling with the register. Lucky me that I got a trainee.

When I went to Red Ribbon to purchase Basti's cake, the POS was not working so I had to pay in cash (I was using my BPI Credit Card as I already got a lot of freebies just by using that card).

Now, I found out that the CD that Picture Company gave me contained the wrong pictures. Moreover, they didn't tell me that it would take two weeks for them to make our Christmas postcards. Ano ba????????????????????????????????????? What is going on???!!!!

Rustan's FSP RANT

I initially wrote this post for an egroup, but I decided to also post this here. Sorry for the taglish language. I wrote this in anger.

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Medyo long read at rant ito. Pasensya na. Uminit kasi ang dugo ko nung weekend.

Kumuha ba kayo ng bagong Frequent Shopper's Card ng Rustan's? Matagal ko na kasi gusto kumuha nito kaya yung nag-launch sila two to three months ago, kumuha ako. The date on my receipt is Sep. 12. Ang promise sa akin, I'll get my card within 2 to 3 weeks.

After 2 to 3 weeks, I called their customer service in Alabang (where I filed my application) and they said wala pa raw yung card. Sige, mabait naman ako so I waited for another week and called them again. Wala pa raw. Medyo nairita na ako and I called again until last Tuesday, they told me may dumating daw na batch at punta nalang daw ako. Na-excite ako kasi marami na ako gustong bilhin sa Rustan's (for gifts) pero nagpipigil ako kasi hinihintay ko lang yung card para ma-credit naman yung points ko (sayang ang points!). So punta ako doon only to find out wala pa yung card ko. Ok lang sana sa akin pero I didn't like the way they handled my complaint. They only gave me blank looks na parang wala silang pakialam kung wala pa yung card ko which made me more angry. They just got my name and number and said they will follow-up with the head office.

Kahapon bumalik ako to find out about the status of my card. Siyempre, wala na naman sila maibigay na sagot sa akin. Sabi ko, hihingi nalang ako ng refund pero sabi hintayin ko nalang daw. Tinanong ko pa sila kung puwede bang bumili ako ngayon and then they'll just manually credit the points. puwede naman daw. Pero nanigurado ako at pumunta ako sa isa sa mga cashier nila. Sabi, hindi daw at dapat dala ko yung FSP ko para ma-credit ang points ko. Ay naku, nag-shoot up yata ang BP ko doon. Yung husband ko hinila na lang ako palabas ng Rustan's kasi nararamdaman niya na ge-guerahin ko na yung customer service at cashiers nila. Gagawin ko talaga yun kung di ko lang kasama ang baby ko.

Kung tutuusin, hindi naman siya gaano big deal pero mataas ang expectations ko sa kanila. They're Rustan's for pity's sake and their customer service should be exemplary considering their clientele! Alam kong hindi naman matunog ang last name ko tulad nina Zobel or Ayala or whatever pero, I have minimum standards set for them. SM has better customer service than them considering masa market sila. Worse pa, I paid 350 pesos for a privilege that I can't even use!

Does anyone know where I can write a complaint letter? Kailangan ko kasi talaga mailabas ito sa kanila. Hindi ko alam kung mabibigyan ng action pero hindi ko talaga kayang palampasin ito. In all my years in shopping with them, ngayon lang talaga ako na-dismaya sa kanila. Sabi ng brother-in-law ko, hanapin ko nalang daw ang store manager at siya ang kausapin ko. Kung letter daw kasi, wala daw talagang sasagot nun. Hay naku talaga.

Looking for my Good Samaritan

Everyone has their tales to tell of Good Samaritans who came to their aid. Strangers who want nothing more but help without expecting anything in return.

I have my share of stories but there's this one incident that I've been remembering lately and by writing my story, I hope that I will meet this stranger to thank her for her help. Though the incident was not as life-threatening as others, it mattered a lot to me.

I was a grade school student in St. Scho Manila. I cannot remember the exact grade but it could be from grades 2 to 3 (years 1983 to 1985). Back then, we were required to line up at an open area outside the Grade School building before our class. Our usual practice was to leave our bags in our respective classroom lines and rush to the playground while we still have free time.

Our line was located beside a building. I bent down to place my bag and as I went up, I bumped my head against an aircon edge protuding from the wall. I remember how jarring it was and my hand automatically rubbed the sore spot. When I looked at my hand, there was a lot of blood and I could feel it streaming down my head. All I could remember was saying, "Ay, dugo." (Oh, blood)and staring at my bloody hand. My classmate must've started screaming or called for help. An upper grader (or a probably high school student), rushed to my side and pressed a handkerchief on my head. She then half-carried me to the clinic which was thankfully nearby.

They cleaned me up in the clinic and the doctor noted that the wound was not that deep thankfully not needing stitches.
Details after that are a bit sketchy now. I can't recall if I was hysterical or crying or was calm throughout the whole ordeal. All I remember was the kindness of that upper-grader who helped me. I can't remember if I thanked her or spoke to her and I hope someday I'll meet her again so I can say my thank you.

World Teachers' Day

Our STRAMA teacher reminded us that yesterday was World Teachers' Day and we should think about our professors in the past who made a difference in our lives. I then thought of four teachers, one person in every aspect of my institutional learning life from MBA down to my pre-school years.

In my MBA studies, one professor comes to mind, Prof. Willy Cuason. He teaches Operations and Production Management and I appreciate how he challenges us and forces us to think for ourselves. Even if it was a Saturday morning class, we all managed rise up to his challenges. One certain exercise (which I don't think we have an answer until now) is why there are teller booths. All our answers were shot down by his rebuttals and we've ran out of reasons. I liked his stories of how operations of some companies (which shall not be named) actually work and the secrets behind them. When I got my 4.0, I knew I really earned it as I worked hard and appreciated the subject. Prof. Cuason basically taught me to question things and to think logically.

As for my College years at La Salle, there's Prof. Tomakin (I can't remember his first name!). He was my Algebra teacher when I was still enrolled in the College of Computer Studies. I recall hating Algebra and Calculus with a passion when I was in high school. I never could understand it but he somehow managed to drill into my brain how the whole thing works and how excited I was doing derivatives. I remember passing his exams and I think if I studied hard enough, I would've passed the finals (which pulled my final grade down as I flunked the finals). He's no longer teaching in La Salle so wherever he is, I hope he's doing well and inspiring students like me to appreciate the wonderful worth of Mathematics.

Moving further, I had a lot of inspiring grade school and high school teachers at St. Scho. But I remember Mr. Pulmones--our Chemistry teacher. Again, if I studied hard enough, I would've passed his subject with flying colors but he made chem certainly interesting. I remember when he was teaching us about conversion, he substituted the weird chemical names to simple names just to teach us how the whole process works and for us to understand it better. After graduation, I only saw him when I watched Ms. Saigon at CCP (I can't recall when that was). He was with me in the line and I greeted him telling him I was one of his students. Of course, he doesn't remember me but I will not forget our classes. I don't know if he's still with St. Scho but he must have a lot of white hairs now. Mr. Pulmones basically taught me how to simplify complicated things by looking at them in another angle.

Moving further on, I will never forget my pre-school teacher, Mrs. Tugade.

Mrs. Tugade owns a small pre-school in the heart of San Antonio Village where my parents used to hold office. It helped that Mrs. Tugade's daughter and my aunt are bestfriends so it was only natural that we study there. I remember looking forward to school. It has a distinctive smell that I can still remember up to now--the smell of crayons and mimeo paper. When we would arrive in school, we have to look for our names on the activity sheets arranged around the tables in the room. Once we find our place, we sit down and painstakingly copy our names letter per letter, perfecting our penmanship. Afterwhich, we would start answering the exercises that Mrs. Tugade drew for us. We matched and colored fruits and letters and afterwards, played in the small playground. We sang songs and got a star on our paper if we did our exercises right.

Those were indeed happy days. I last saw her two years ago at the funeral of my grandmother (and I visited her a year before that) and she amazingly looked the same. The make-up is still the same (I later on realized that she makes her face up differently than other people do--we call it the kabuki make-up) as well as her speech (she enunciates words perfectly). Back then, I thought she was really tall but when I saw her again, I realized I was just really small as I was a few inches taller than her now.

The Think and Try preschool has also grown. Though it's still the little school along Sampaloc, they now have a school bus and they've expanded the space. I would want my son to study in this school but it's too far from our place of residence. I would've wanted him to experience how it is to be a Mrs. Tugade student.

So, to Prof. Cuason, Mr. Tomakin, Mr. Pulmones and Mrs. Tugade, thank you so much for making learning fun. I believe that being a learner is now my greatest strength because you incalcated in me the value of continued learning. May you inspire more students as much as you have inspired me.

Magdasal na Tayo

We know it's already desperation when the weather bureau told us to say our prayers and prepare for the worst.

Pepeng (international name: Parma) is scheduled to slam into Luzon Saturday morning--one week after Ondoy (international name: Ketsana) poured one month worth of rain inundating 80% of the metropolis with floods.

When I went to work this morning, I took with me a change of clothes, a towel, water and snacks and stocked them in the backseat of my car. In case the rains would pour again tonight, I'm prepared to camp out in my car.

In my 33 years of existence, the only memorable storm that comes into mind was Milenyo (international name: Xangsane) when it hit Manila three years ago uprooting trees, damaging property and taking lives. I felt the wrath of that storm when it blew open the terrace doors of our house and it took three of us just to close it again. We ended up blocking the doors with a couch and bed to keep the doors closed.

According to news reports, Pepeng has sustained winds of 195kph with gustiness of up to 230kph. If my research is correct, it's definitely stronger than Milenyo which only had sustained winds of 130kph and gustiness of 160kph. No wonder PAG-ASA intends to raise Signal 4 in the affected areas once the storm hits land.

Leo and I have been stocking up mostly on Basti's needs. I already bought two more bottles of Wilkin's yesterday and though I have 1 can of back-up stock of Basti's milk, I still want to buy more as I'm really preparing for the worst. Leo bought batteries in case the power goes out, at least we can listen to the AM station for any news. I hate being kept in the dark in times of crisis. (However, when I was stuck in SLEX with rising floodwaters, I refused to listen to the AM station as the news was already scaring me).

God help us all.

Kris Allen - Live Like We're Dying

I was rooting for Adam Lambert in last season's American Idol but this song made me love Kris Allen. It's his first single released post-Idol.

By the way, this is a cover of a song by The Script (known for their monster-hit "Man Who Can't Be Moved").

Picture

Though I've been seeing the devastation wrought by Ondoy since Saturday, it was only yesterday that I realized how devastating it really was. Blame it on me being desensitized by the violence and crimes that are shown daily but somehow, this cognizance hit home.

It took a picture to make me quickly call home just to hear my son's garbling, never mind if he didn't make sense. It was a picture in http://mb.com.ph/ that made me feel grief and empathy and it took a big measure of self-control for me not to empty out my bank account and give it to the flood victims. It was a picture that made me hug my son last night making him squirm from my tight embrace.

It was a picture of a two year old boy dug up from the mud after his house was buried in a mudslide Saturday morning. A man in a blue shirt was digging out a body of a two year old baby and it showed his thigh and his small white hand limp and almost closed in death.

I was haunted by images of that mud-covered thigh, thinking it might have been Basti's, or that small white hand that might have been my son's. Though I know my husband and I will do our damned best that Basti will be kept safe, I can't help my thoughts from superimposing my son's image on that small frail body.

It was a gruesome picture that I really refused to look at again after seeing it once (it did not help that I was eating my merienda when I saw that picture. For the first, I really lost my apetite). But I forced myself to look at it again and again hopefully to desensitize myself and make me appreciate my life and my blessings more. But at the back of my mind, I know that nothing will ever replace a human life and that for the mother of that baby, her life will never be the same again.

I just take refuge in the fact that he will never grow old and that he's now safe in the bosom of our Father's arms. He will not know pain or sickness and his innocence will never be marred by the evils of our society.

I pray for the victims that they'll be able to overcome this and rebuild their lives. I pray that I'll be able to help them as effectively as possible.

God help us all.