Back in Manila March '09 - Day Two

March 26, 2009: My day started quite slow.

I was supposed to go to meet with a couple of friends -- GNet and Ronnie -- at around 11AM and get started with my clearance -- hopefully before and after the lunchout with the guys.

I woke up at 8AM -- I woke only because my dad woke me up, who made it a habit to eat breakfast every 8. I lagged around a bit and was finally able to drag myself to the car by 9-ish. That's when I felt the need to go to the toilet. So I went back and did my business... It was a long business... After that I finally made my way.

Not wanting to lose any more time -- traffic was bad in the SLEX (South Luzon Expressway) due to the construction of the Skyway extension to Alabang -- I decided to go "upstairs" to take the Skyway. At first, I was glad that after a long time, the construction of the Skyway can finally be completed. The last time it was touched, it was when Ramos was still the president -- so that's gotta be more than a decade if I'm not mistaken. Then again, I remembered that next year will be election year. Can't help to think that they finally decided to finish the Skyway and all the while putting up banners and signboards stating how the completion of the project is brought to us by the current administration... Yeah right. As if I'm not aware of how trapos -- traditional politicians; literally "dirty rugs" -- go about their business.

I arrived in Makati around 10AM-ish, so I practically had no time to process my clearance before I meet them. So I just waited around and explored the G3 area.

I first met with Gnet and went to Califronia Pizza Kitchen. I'm not really sure what to order, so I let her decide what to buy. Shortly, Ronnie arrived, who apparently had some problems finding the way from the G3 basement parking to the California Pizza Kitchen. I brought with me some of the things that they asked us to buy and bring here. I guess that's why they're treating for this lunch. Hehehe :) We've been talking things over for well over 3 hours and that's when we finally went our separate ways -- I guess they're going on a date, while I'm supposed to be doing the clearance thing.

I got to my old company's building -- let's call it Building 1 -- to pick up the clearance form. My other colleague who also resigned left my clearance form at the IT department. I got there but was told by the security personnel to wait for the IT guy to return. I waited for a long time. It took me well over an hour before I finally got the form. It's a bit frustrating to have to wait when all along the IT guy was inside!!! Don't know what's the problem of this security guy. The hell with these guys! By the time I left, I was just fuming for sitting there for a long time.

I then went straight to our company's Building 2, who needs to route the form to be signed by whatever departments are there in that friggin' building. It was 5:30 when I got there, so they advised me that it can only be processed tomorrow by 10:30 AM and then I can pick it up between 11AM and 12NN.

So that's it. Not accomplished much, really, but at least I got the ball rolling for my clearance.. It's long overdue and at least now I can finally tie up this frustrating loose end.

I was a bit tired, then I saw the buildup of traffic in EDSA. I decided to hang out for a while and maybe visit the Timezone -- our Mecca for our carebears collection. Of course by this time, the carebears are no longer the price in that UFO catcher thing, but visiting it was a bit refreshing nonetheless. I was also looking for the old Marvel vs. Capcom 2, but it was nowhere in sight. Oh well, too bad. I always liked that game, even if I got my ass handed to me whenever someone challenges me. :))

By 8PM, I decided to finally go home. I thought rushhour traffic was ebbing by this time. Still, I took the Skyway. As expected, the long part was for the payment of toll fees. It took a just well over 5 minutes I think -- still not that long; I remember a few years back when I was stuck there for more than half an hour. After that, I was back home in no time.

Glad to see my old brother there with the family. It's the first time I saw them again in almost a year. It was late, though, and was not yet the weekend, so they went home relatively earlier than what he would have wanted: 12 MN hehe :) Yeah, that's still early for him :))