Three.

If I would be allowed to do only three things and be miserable the rest of the time, then those three will be the following — dance, drink beer, and play sports. Not necessarily in that order.

Having two out of three this week wasn’t bad at all. It was a rare occassion that I was able to whisk myself out of the office before 7 to attend the HipHop 1 class at OSchool’s new location at Lavender. I guess they’re still working on the airconditioning — it was turned off before our class was ended, so the mirror got all misty and we literally had to wipe the mirror every now and then just to see ourselves.

An even rarer occassion was that I got to hang out with my teammates for drinks after work. Huwaw. That’s how every job was meant to be — good or bad, there should always be beer at the end. :p  My former team lead just flew in from London; he’s brilliant at work, but he was also the type who always rallies the troop and drags us away from our PCs for some good-old WLB (thank God!). I do admit, it’s hard sometimes being the only Filipino in the group, but at other times, the way I look at it, I have the most to gain. I mean, I’m learning A WHOLE LOT about perspectives I’ve never dealt with before. It’s amazing how much they know not just about their culture, but about the world as well. This Pinay must have looked a lot goofy, smiling and trying to decipher common Hindi expressions. Something tells me the learning will never end. =P

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Two.

When tributes to two of your greatest heroes can be found in one place, you just know you HAVE to be there (and no, this does not involve Michael Jackson). Dragging myself off to the other end of the island, this kaladkarin went solo to see the Da Vinci exhibit and Van Gogh IMax movie over at the Science Centre (nerdox much?). Honestly, the Da Vinci exhibit was a bit underwhelming; I was expecting more than things that I could have just Googled. As for the Van Gogh movie, it was worth it. I now remember why I braved the heat and the commute to see this 40-minute/8-bucks flick — in 4 words, beauty found in chaos. Sweet.

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One.

The one. That elusive one. You begin to wage a war on the world, knowing that there will never be that perfect match, but then this one comes along, who brings your hopes up. Maybe, just maybe, there’s a chance. There will be trade-offs, definitely. Something endearing will always be compensated by something annoying, and vice-versa. And then, at a wink,  it’ll be lost again. You’ll both be in the market.

Just when I was getting to love how near I was to the office and to the MRT, next month we have to move again. I guess I knew all along that I was destined to be a nomad. But I guess this is all for the best — it’ll be just like scouting the island, before I’m ready to settle down and commit to one place. Hay. Pati ba naman pagdating sa bahay, non-committal pa rin ako! I knew it. :p

Found a clip of my first hiphop class at SG. Whoever told me that there wasn’t much of a hiphop community in SG — you and I need to talk. OSchool seems to be a fun place to learn & hang out, but boy, do they teach fast. The whole routine was taught in just under one hour — I think double the steps and half the time when compared to the classes I’m used to. I think I’ll stick to the beginner classes first. =P Don’t even bother to look for me in the vid — I’m the one messing up all the steps. =P

Yesterday, I would have celebrated my third year at HP. As it was a Friday and chance chose to smile upon me that day, I would fortunately remember it as my first clubbing night-out at my new post. Haha.

We were happy to show off Clarke Quay to Dino, my college blockmate, during the last night of his business trip here in SG. Our merry band was composed of the usual HP alumni (Ben, Mike, Donald and me) and Dino and Aimee, another college orgmate. Initially, I thought we would just be out for dinner, coffee and good chatter, but after one turn led to another, we found ourselves at China One, a bar/club/billiards-hall recommended by Aimee. As Aimee’s birthday had just past, she generously sponsored a bottle of tequila AND a bottle of vodka, with beers++.  The gapes on our faces must have been amusing. After several shots, we danced like there was no tomorrow and had a go at the billiards table. Niko, the eternal party animal, joined us a few moments later. After some more shots and chatter, we finally called it a night, but not without taking away some anecdotes from that night that we know will still be hilarious months from now (diba Dino? 🙂 ). Thanks Dino for letting our bunch of drunk delinquents crash your hotel room at 4 am. Thanks also, HP, for giving Dino that room. 🙂

But of course, most of all, thank you, Lord, for always looking out for me. I’m blessed to have a group of fun & amazing friends, a sister, relatives, and friends of friends of friends, right here with me who will never let me forget how thankful I should be. Hats off to you.

A fellow HP-graduate-now-in-SG told me that if you lasted for a month here without being homesick, then the chances are pretty slim that you’ll ever be homesick. If that carries a grain of truth, then I guess the worst is over. Last 13th was my first month-sary in my new job. Incidently, we also had an after-work bash on the same day to celebrate the completion of a project. Drinks galore, and free too! What did I do to deserve this?!

I usually go off with my Pinoy buddies during breaks and lunches, but this time, I went with my teammates (I’m the only Pinoy in the group) to the venue. They weren’t kidding when they said the bar will be at a place you least expected it to be. It’s on the top floor of a secluded furniture-and-tiles building at an industrial compound. Whoever discovered the place must really have been thirsty; at least I got to bond even just for a bit with my teammates during our excursion to find the place.

At the party, my teammate, Shiji, took it upon herself to introduce me to others. I must have met more new people that night compared to my entire first month at the office. I also got to mingle with some other Pinoys in other teams, and other non-Pinoys as well. It was interesting to note that the ones who brought their pimped-up SLRs were all Filipinos. =P All in all, it was refreshing to mix with everyone in a loose environment.

Pics to follow =P