Daene's Anatomy

*These posts are about three weeks late, due to technical difficulties (i.e. lack of an internet connection)

Life as an Intern 1
I miss Pearl Drive.

I’ve moved to a flat that my parents own in Pasay. I previously thought it was in Makati, but I found out recently that the building only missed the Makati boundary by a few paces. It’s a stark contrast from Pearl Drive, and that might very well be the understatement of the year. To begin with, the flat has a lot of issues, such as:

- Ink-colored water from the faucets
- Mysterious flooding in the kitchen
- A smelly hallway due to the garbage chute which some tenants leave open
- Dark, vandalized elevators (not for the claustrophobic)
- A murky, muddy pool
- No phone line (still waiting for it to be installed)
- No one to talk to

As if things couldn’t get any worse, the flat is causing more problems other than ones related to slightly uncomfortable living conditions. See, for some reason there’s always a problem with the flat, and every time one comes up I’m totally clueless as to how to get around it. I guess I’m silly and naïve that way, and as it turns out, such silliness and naivete make me a very annoying and unlikable person. I’ll work on changing that, while also working on adjusting to my new (dump) place. Apparently the area where I live is also home to streets lined with cool thrift shops and flea markets, and a nice little restaurant called Fat Michael’s. I plan to go exploring soon.

Next entry will be about the lighter side of my new life – work and my actual internship.

Life as an Intern 2

- In a strange coincidence, my first day at work was the death anniversary of Antonio Luna. I heard it on the cab on the way to the building where I work. Although we’re not actually related, I thought it was kind of weird (and worth mentioning).
- The building where the office I work for is located is amazing. Very, very cool. I was more than an hour early for work on the first day (I’ve never been an hour early on ANYTHING!) so I decided to hang out at the Starbucks at the lobby. The baristas there are so nice. Starbucks baristas are generally nice but these guys are really friendly. They know almost everyone who enters the place by name and they seem to be naturally cheerful people, and they probably love what they do a lot, because no amount of training could probably make them do their job that exceptionally, unless they really liked it. I know I’ve said I’m a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf convert, but as there isn’t one within the vicinity I’m back to Starbucks. Besides, coffee needn’t be exclusive.
- I like our office a lot, and the people who work there. The place is set up in such a way that it’s casual and friendly, so it’s like we’re all just hanging out as we work. It kind of reminded me of what felt like the millions of meetings my classmates and I had last year. We’d look around the school hunting for a spot that’ll be our office for the day – the IMC board room, prom B, prom A, an empty classroom in ACB. The women outnumber the men in the office too, and it’s really girl power working its Practical Magic (wink) in the corporate world. Plus, I remember hearing in class before about how the advertising industry keeps people young, and I’d have to say I think it’s true. Everyone at my office is so youthful and vibrant and alive. I love it there. I could live there, really. I wouldn’t mind. And I’m sure it’d feel like I’m living there soon, when the work starts to pile up.

Work Life Wonders

Whoever said that men can’t multitask probably never got to see Makati jeepney drivers in action. I rode at the passenger seat of a jeepney this week and I was literally amazed at how the jeepney driver managed to get all these different things done simultaneously, e.g. giving change, remembering who to give the change to, checking if there’s still room for one more passenger, and the obligatory task of staying on the road and making sure not to hit any other vehicles and henceforth kill everyone on board. And the jeepney driver I sat beside of even managed to say “thank you” and “salamat” when the people handed him their payment, and even apologized and explained when he let me off a few paces away from where I was supposed to get off because apparently a traffic enforcer was watching and he risked getting caught. When I hung out with Carlo and Mabz at graduation (graduation! I should write about that soon!), Carlo was slightly amused with me and my “little joys”, as he called it. I think watching people work and go about their daily lives is a little joy of mine. It’s a lot of fun.

More stories next time, bye for now.

*Sorry about the awful writing, I did this in bits and pieces, each of them in a hurry. Next time I’ll write better promise. =)