Brother Eraño G. Manalo, Executive Minister of the Iglesia Ni Cristo, passed away last August 31, 2009, he was 84. He was laid to rest today at the INC Tabernacle inside the INC Central Complex in Quezon City.

His passing gave me a sense of emptiness inside me. I felt a loss I have never felt before in my life. I was very sad.

Since I learned of his death I have wanted to write about him and his great achievements for the church, but words fail me. An unexplainable grief engulfed the whole of me that even thinking of writing about his death is unbearable. My sadness even deepened as I watched his wake which was held at our Central Temple in Quezon City. Thanks to our website Gemnet.tv I was able to update myself of the things happening through the live streaming feed provided by the site.

I should have been there, together with all other brethren that came from every corner of the Philippines and other parts of the world. I should have been one of the thousands who queued in line for more than 8 hours just take a last glimpse of his remains. I felt very terrible that I couldn’t even see him for the last time, even in his present state. I should have been there mourning with all of them, but I simply can’t. And that hurts me a lot.

It was in this state of mind that I remembered the last time I saw Ka Erdy. I just graduated then from college and was actively applying for job openings. At one time I went to Glorietta in Makati City early to prepare myself for an interview. Coming out of the restroom after wearing my tie, I observed a lot of security aides lurking around the mall. “May VIP sigurong pulitiko na andito ngayon kaya madaming guard…” I said to myself as I walked toward the mall’s exit. On my way out, there he was, walking side by side with his two sons Ka Angel and Ka Mark. I was so awestruck that I wasn’t able to speak when they passed by me. All I was able to do is whisper “Si Ka Erdy un ah…” to myself. A security aide must have noticed me and immediately approached me. He instantly asked me my locale and if whether I hold an office in the church. I replied to him that I am from Molino, Cavite and is a member of the choir. Satisfied with my answer, he asked me a favor. He told me to please refrain from following wherever Ka Erdy was going or to even try to speak with him. he also said that, “Kilala mo naman si sir, pag kinausap mo yan hindi pwedeng hindi ka i-e-entertain, e ngayon lang nakakalabas at nakakapamasyal si sir kaya kung pwede sana pabayaan muna natin siya makapag-relax.” I immediately obliged to the security aide’s request, but before I could leave, one of his sons, Ka Angel, approached me and thanked me for understanding. That was the closest encounter I had with Ka Erdy and I would never ever forget it.

Ka Erdy has touched my life through the biblical lessons he tirelessly prepare for every worship service. This was where he expressed his love and care for every church member’s spiritual, moral and social well-being. And for that I thank him, for without those teachings I would never have had the strong faith in God that I have now.

Salamat po Ka Erdy. Paalam po at hanggang sa muling pagkikita…

I was devastated. Everybody back home is already expecting to see me this May, but I guess we all have to wait for another year to see each other. Hopefully, if everything goes well in the project and deployment from testing to live goes according to plan, I can again talk to my boss about my chances of going for vacation before the year ends (maybe October or December), but I don’t want to put my hopes up high, projects like this take not less than a year to stabilize and run smoothly. For sure issues will arise after the website is deployed and more will appear as we go along the testing.

Just wish me luck, I hope I can still conquer the longing of seeing my loved ones again.

Again, I was not there to witness this momentous event which for me is a must see for all Eheads diehard fans (well um, like me!). So I promise myself when I go for my vacation on May I would collect all their albums as a tribute to this great band.

Long live the Eheads!

Well, sorry for them, they just lost a very good friend and earned a very irreproachable enemy.

It’s the 31st of December and still I went to work, up to 8 pm! Imagine that! As far as I know this is the only part of the world that doesn’t give any importance in celebrating a coming new year. Our church locale here in Sharjah just had our year-end celebration socializing, I was supposed to be a part of a chorale competition, and because I stayed late at work and there were no taxis to be found, I wasn’t able to make it. I reached our flat at 11, just 1 hour to go before the new year.

The worst part of it was I was all alone in our flat when I arrived. As we all get accustomed in the Philippines, new year celebrations are a family gathering. I am used to having all my loved ones with me during this moment, but now I’m all alone. Now tell me, is there any reason to be happy?

As expected, the bus station near Al Ghurair Mall in Deira is jam packed with passengers waiting in line for the iftar to be done with and the station officials start giving the orders to board the buses. After paying the driver, I found myself sitting beside an Indian guy who smells like a dead rat, literally. I can almost say the stench of a dead rat maybe an understatement, but it’s the closest comparison I can think of. Forgive me for the description, I know it’s a bit harsh, but if your were in my position, I am very sure you would certainly agree.

Much as I hate it, I covered my nose with my hanky throughout the duration of the ride. I know it’s untoward to do that but I was left with no choice, or else I would certainly puke. I don’t understand why do they have that kind of stinking smell. Is it because they don’t take a bath? Or is it because of the food they eat? Don’t they smell themselves and realize how stinky they already are? Hygiene plays a big part on this. I’m sure they have poor hygiene habits.

Me and my Filipino office mates always notice the bewildered look in the faces of our Indian colleagues whenever they see us brushing our teeth after eating lunch. An elderly Indian from the accounting department wasn’t able to help himself and even commented and told us that we shouldn’t be brushing our teeth more than ONCE A DAY! Duh? So, It means that they only brush their teeth once a day, or maybe not at all. That explains it, that explains their hygiene.

Going back to the bus ride. I was already feeling nauseous when finally the Indian guy beside me stood up and disembarked from the bus. Finally, I was able to breath normally again. This is not the first time I experienced this, but definitely this is the worst. When I got down from the bus, I can’t walk straight because of dizziness that I opted to ride a cab just to reach home.

I’m still cursing Ali up to this very moment.

Yup, this topic is too appalling to talk about. Being part of the corporate world, it has been an unwritten understanding to keep bowel issues among ourselves. It can be compared to discussions about salary. You always think about it, you want to talk about it, yet it was not spoken of.

I know most of you would agree to just flush this topic down the toilet than discuss it publicly. But I believe that the subject is worthy to be blogged about. Pooping is very much a part of our natural life, especially for us employees who are basically spending more than half of our lives in the office, an occasional trip to the CR cannot be avoided.

Yep, those trips to the CR: The nature of taking a pee to relieve our bursting bladder. The gross releasing of brown submarines in the bowl and fervently wishing there won’t be any MacArthur experience.

The office CR has always been a very awkward place to defecate. Once we’re on the throne, we want to immediately get it over with. Why? Because the place itself presents a lot of opportunities to produce very embarrassing moments.

Just this morning, I was in the CR at the same time with our Sales Director. What if I heard him make a very loud, disgusting farting sound? What if he forgot to flush the toilet and I got a bird’s eye view of his load because I followed him next to the cubicle. Will I think of him differently? Wil I look at him the same way again? No doubt about it. Luckily, none of these happened.

In the Philippines, a building in Makati, 6750 if I’m not mistaken, provides separate CRs for executives, besides the usual gender segregation. Maybe the building planners recognized the inherent awkwardness inside the rest room. By creating separate CRs for bosses, awkward moments between subordinate and superior are alleviated.

As for me, I have already adjusted to the office CR situation. What I do is I go out of my way and proceed to another floor’s CR, where I am a stranger and there is very low traffic.

Fasting is a major part of Ramadan where Muslims don’t eat anything beginning sunrise up to sunset. Although this seems absurdly difficult for me, there’s nothing I can do but to follow. You cannot chew anything in any public place all around the country. Restaurants and fast food chains are closed during the day and only opens up in the evening. You wouldn’t believe that you could be jailed if caught eating or drinking or even chewing a gum in public during fasting time. They treat this as an insult and as an act of tempting those who are fasting.

Before sunrise, Muslims take a light morning meal called Suhoor and just after sunset they again take a meal called Iftar to break their fast. Usually a canon is fired to announce the breaking of the fast for the day.

Children (cut-off point is about 12 years old), the elderly, the insane, travellers, pregnant or nursing women, sick people, and those who are fighting in battle are not expected to fast. Instead they should feed one poor person each day during Ramadan, or, in the case of temporary conditions, make up the days by fasting at a later date. Women should not fast during menstruation but make up those days after Ramadan.

Other obligations of Muslims during Ramadan are as follows:

• Curb undesirable emotions such as anger, greed, envy, lust, and refrain from gossip.
• Keep thoughts and actions pure and use the time of fasting for spiritual contemplation.
• Be charitable and help those in need.
• Visit friends and family members.

Women who are not Muslims are advised to be respectful and polite and dress more conservatively during Ramadan – shoulders and legs should be covered. Bars are usually still open but patrons will be asked what religion they are and refused entry if they are Muslim. Live and loud music is banned, so is dancing. Any alcohol related offenses will probably be treated much more severely than outside the month of Ramadan – it is quite possible an offender is stuck in prison until the end of Ramadan. Car stereos should be turned down – loud music, especially rock or similar music, is disrespectful at least, and if police hear it, they’ll have something to say about it.

Traffic jam times change – the morning is not much different but afternoons from 1 pm – 4 pm is quite busy, and again just before Iftar as many people are trying to get to a desired location for Iftar. Every year there are numerous accidents and requests from police to drive carefully at the time. For an hour or so just after Iftar, and from 4 pm to an hour or so before Iftar, the roads are relatively traffic-free.

The only benefit I get during Ramadan is the government ruling that companies are required by law to reduce working time by 2 hours per day for all employees, not only Muslims. If employees work longer hours, they should receive overtime pay. Workers can file a complaint at the Ministry of Labour if a company is not following this rule, or not paying overtime for employees who do work longer hours. Although there’s not much of a difference for me because I work regularly from 9 am to 7 pm. Other companies are only working till 4pm, so in Ramadan they go home at 2 pm. But still, it’s better than nothing.

Matching Ramadan with a very hot weather is a team to beat. I just hope I could endure Ramadan till it ends, but surely I will miss the shortened working hours…

I know its normal to be nervous, but for me my body reacts a bit differently. There are times where I suffer from a rapid acceleration in my heartbeat. Sometimes I experience uncontrollable shaking and excessive sweating of my hands. It maybe different with every person, but for me it always have been either of the two. I have no idea if they already had an earlier understanding about which of them would go first or vice versa, but I just noticed they occur rather alternately.

I am scheduled to be interviewed today at 10 am by Mr. Joe Dillieto, IIR’s Technical Manager. According to Sarah, if hired I’ll be working on the Cityscape website, “administering” the website as the job title suggests. I will be tasked to update the website content using a content management system (CMS). As I browsed through the Cityscape website, I learned that they currently use the Webdeck CMS developed by the Solid State Group. After seeing some screenshots of the CMS and watching the Flash demo, I am confident I would be able to use the software with ease.

The website is an online resource of real estate market intelligence on countries which the company consider as emerging markets, which are the Middle East, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. These so-called market intelligence info provided by the website is expected to help investors, developers, and real estate professionals to make sound business decisions. (Am I prepared or what?).

Just finished rapping up my preparations (such as reviewing answers to common interview questions like “Tell me something about yourself?” or “What is your greatest weakness?”) and just finishing writing this post and I’m ready to go! Wish myself all the best and luck! God be with me! Hope to get the job, inshalla!

Now, my hands are starting to shake and it’s already getting sweaty, it is its schedule to make me jittery today…

Update: Got another interview next Thursday, wish me well…

It’s not that I really missed playing on flooded areas (I used to enjoy it back in the Philippines), it was just I need to do it to reach Ali’s (my officemate) home for us to reach Gulf News in time. I folded the lower part of my pants (literally, if you just saw me, I was not like a person going to office, but like a fisherman preparing for a day’s work in the sea…) and started walking through the freezing cold flood water.

So after 20 minutes of suffering the coldness of the water and the pouring of light rain , with my feet almost numb, I finally reached Ali’s place and we went to office immediately. Still, traffic was so bad. Most major roads going to Dubai were still flooded. On the way, we saw the gravity of the situation. Cars stuck in the middle of the street due to the floods were everywhere, garbage and different kinds of filth were scattered in every direction you look at.

Last night I thought I could have another day off, but to no avail, there we were in the office, despite tha fact that we still don’t know whether we will be able to go home later that night, we’re there working our asses off while the whole of Dubai (especially Sharjah!) was soundly sleeping…

Hope tomorrow most of the major roads will be cleared out of flood so that I won’t have to go through the same experience again.