My Name Is Fernand Yim: June 2009

Save A Dolphin Today, Save A Thousand Of Them Tomorrow

It has been two weeks now and I haven’t shared yet my trip to Subic and so in Ocean Adventure. So here I am trying my best to describe the feeling of seeing live genius ocean creatures – the dolphins.

The trip to Subic from Makati was an adventure itself. We had to travel around four to five hours to get there. We took Victory Liners from Pasay Station. We had to take North Luzon Expressway which was my first time. I couldn’t help but to compare South Luzon Expressway with NLEX. I was feeling so tired and sleepy and yet I managed to chase off dreamland so that I wouldn’t miss a view while comfortably sitting on the bus front seat. My heart was beating so alive that it felt like so close to my childhood life way back in Antipolo, Rizal where I was born and raised. The extensive green and gold rice fields, the vast open azure sky with white cotton-like clouds, and the beautiful trees, I really loved looking at each one of them. I noticed that there are so many rivers in North Luzon.

We passed by Pampanga, the birthplace of Gracia’s parents. It was so beautiful there. I couldn’t help but felt proud of my country. It started raining when we were already in Olongapo City. I didn’t know that Olongapo is in fact located in North Luzon. I thought it was part of Visayan Region. It was so funny that now I had already finished school when I am starting to learn more about our geographical structure. It felt like I was in a field trip. Interestingly, the jeepneys in Olongapo City are color-coded. Whenever you want to go to a particular place, they would direct you by telling you which color first you need to take and then what would be the next colored jeepney until you get to the place you are looking for.

We spent our first night in Playa Papagayo, a Filipino-Mexican Seaside Restaurant which also had rooms for lodging. We didn’t know that there was a storm that day that it was no surprise there were no other visitors there aside from us.

The next day, I woke up so early to a rainy morning. I went out and strolled around while admiring the beauty of the Subic Bay. There were many parking, or should I say floating cargo ships somewhere near the horizon. They looked so beautiful. They were like floating cities to me. Even if it was a stormy weather, that never stopped the beauty of the ocean.

We had our ‘free’ breakfast which we really did enjoy. There were updated magazines and newspapers which you could read from. There was a young couple who, like us, was enjoying every part of the place. And after that, finally we got ready to visit Ocean Adventure.

From Playa Papagayo, which is located in Brgy. Baretto, we took the blue jeepney to the city proper where we took another jeepney which was yellow. Surprisingly, the taxi fare was suffocating to my financial pocket! It was like one-way trip to Ocean Adventure from there is already P450.00. So unfortunately, only Taxis are the medium of transportation to get to Ocean Adventure.

But, mind you, the expensive trip was so relaxing and, should I say…pleasant. I couldn’t help but kept on admiring every detail I was seeing. The stormy sea, the gray sky, the zigzag road, the forest, the trees, the big expensive-looking houses, and so many more.

Finally, when we got in Ocean Adventure, we quickly bought our tickets. Because the first show for the sea lions already on its half of its schedule, we decided to check out the animal stuff toys and other souvenir they had in their, ehem, Souvenir Shop. We walked around and we visited the Discovery Aquarium. It was really impressive and I noticed that there was always something, or rather a message, about saving the sea and every creature in it. There were so many interesting trivia about the sea and fishes.

There was something there posted that said:

...a world devoid of trees, rivers choked with rubbish, lakes poisoned by toxic waste, once thriving wetlands drained to make the way for new developments, mountain sides eroded, lowlands flooded, forests felled, oceans plundered and the air itself polluted with dense smog. Sadly, this is not very difficult to imagine is it?

"If we do not arm our children with the best knowledge possible, they will make the same mistakes we and our parents did in fulfilling our stewardship over the plants and animals with whom we share the earth. We know that our forebears lived in harmony with nature. We need to re-learn this ethic of living with the earth, not just living off the earth". (Victor O. Ramos)

I liked the most when in the end of it there said, “You will be surprised how much you can do to make a change.”

Next stop was the Learning Center which seemed to be designed for children. Still I enjoyed it. And finally we went to El Capitan where the Dolphin Show is being held. Surprisingly, there were so many visitors that day, even if it was a little stormy. There were even foreigners. I was just secretly praying that there was no one infected by the aH1N1.

The place was like an open theater which was supported by a sound system. I thought it was simply an eating hour for Dolphins but was innovated to an exciting and educational entertainment. I believed that the Dolphins were linked to every sound they played from the Sound Booth behind us. There was a female host who was introducing every dolphin; I still don’t know how they could recognize each of the dolphins who has name for each. Everything was scripted but still, it was enjoyable.

For the rest of the story, let the pictures do the telling.

The Selling Game

>> – Life at Sykes

Aside from the fact that the previous shift was our last day for the week, which finally it’s another rest day for us, (I could hear almost everyone’s plans for the rest of the day.) the selling game on the floor in our system is making our lives more exciting and…challenging. For the benefit of those who are not working with me, aside form the super quality customer service that we provide, laughs, part of our job description is selling. It is not hard selling anyway but we are required to sell whatever products or service a particular account has. We are working for a credit card account, a financial account.

About the selling game, everyone present that day in each team should have at least one sale for an authorized user which means, if there is an offer for that, we need to convince our caller to add another person on his account as an authorized user. If the caller agrees, just process it and there, you have a sale. Another qualifier for the stomach-yearning prize of Yellow Cab Pizza, as if we rarely eat pizza, laughs, is that each team should have at least one sale for Credit Inform or ID Alert, some kind of Identity Theft Insurance service which is not easy to sell. But thanks to JR, the former member of the famous dance group Abstract Dancers, who easily sold one Credit Inform that day.

As each hour passed by, Ms. Shee, our beautiful and sweet lady supervisor, was so consistent in ‘bugging’ us, laughs, to check on our sales tracker. It was so funny that whenever she did the fanning of the money bills on our computers and Avayas which according to her, it invites financial luck towards the team, laughs! Everyone felt the thrill and pressure on the floor. Good thing I was able to have an AU (Authorized User) sale by the first half of the shift. After lunch, only Trish and Elve Jane were the ones who did not have a sale yet. Elve Jane should already have one, she just accidentally mis-pegged the product which is instead of pegging it as accepted, she pegged it as declined. A sigh to that.

After lunch, when Trish was already taking her calls, on her first call, Elve Jane and I were watching behind her. Before Trish pressed the Mute Button to acknowledge the call, Trish put her open palm before the monitor and as if praying, she said it’s a sale call. And it was! My eardrums felt as if an atomic bomb exploded on the floor when Trish and Elve Jane screamed at the top of their lungs together at the same time! So much for excitement, huh?

Sir Ivor dropped by our team bay to tease Elve Jane, their team which is The Bulls (We are The Spurs, for those who don’t know yet.) is one of our competitors. It was funny especially when Elve Jane was defending herself with her funny witty lines against Sir Ivor. Ms. Shee was shooing him away. IT was really funny. Only to know that even The Bulls was feeling the pressure.

On the last hour, Elve Jane still had no sale for AU. I could not imagine how pressured she was feeling that time. She was even joking that she would buy us the Yellow Cab instead. Ms. Shee went to her and fanned the money bills all over her, laughs! Half of that hour was Elve Jane’s PEP. It’s a half-hour talk between an agent and his or her supervisor to plan out how to improve our performance. We are required to take that. Elve Jane wished to take calls instead. But she still needed to go on PEP with Ms. Shee. But they only took it like less than fifteen minutes! And Elve Jane suffered again the pressure of waiting for a sale call.

On her first call, Ms. Shee and I were crossing our fingers behind Elve Jane. She began the call smoothly as she always does. We easily saw that it was a sale call. Elve Jane started offering the product. The caller didn’t get it, err! What a slow…whatever, can’t say a bad word here, laughs! Elve Jane tried again…our hearts beat in unison. Then we heard Elve Jane said, “That was great to know.” She quickly pressed the Mute Button for she knew everyone would be screaming for success and we all did! She had a hard time regaining her composure because of too much excitement. We made sure that our happy noises would be heard by The Bulls on the opposite far end of the floor, laughs!

We are so happy that it was a successful day. Then Ms. Shee revealed to us that everyday we would be doing that. Err! But I have faith that we will always win, as well as The Bulls.

Choosing Business Cards

When I attended the Seminar for One Life To Live in Victory Christian Fellowship Calamba Center, I got a chance meeting old friends and meeting new ones. I was proudly inviting them to visit my sites and it was really awkward when I needed to write my site addresses on a piece of paper for their reference. I wished I had ready business card to provide them that time. From that experience, I made myself busy to create my own-styled business card. It was not easy but then I came up with three designs. Maybe you can help me choose what would be the best among them. They are the following.

Let me know of your suggestion. That will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Gingerly Sad

>> Monday, June 22, 2009 – Ginger Allergy

I wanted to sleep, a long time to sleep.
I felt so exhausted.
I wanted to go home.
I wanted to stay there until the world forgets me.
I wanted to think nothing.
I wanted to feel nothing.
I wanted to take a rest.
I wanted to have a break.
I wanted to see my old friends.
I wanted to be a child again.
I wanted to be there again where I used to be.
I needed rest so badly.
I needed to sleep.
Please let me sleep.
Please...

Just What I Did

Recently, in just a very short period of time, many things in my life are changing. In a snap, I felt like I needed to slow down and reflect on so many things. I needed to check on my pulse and feel if my heart is still beating the long-time dream I always have. Anyway, enough of it. Let me share what I had been doing these past two weeks in simplest way that I could.

Last week I was with Dian, Daphny, Cristy, and Dong to celebrate Jasmin's birthday in Club Manila East in Taytay, Rizal. I didn't know that it was actually a resort that I didn't bring any trunks (as if I could wear one,laughs!) or swimming shorts! I ended up with me just wearing my underwear in the pool and around the pool, err! The best part I enjoyed so much, aside from the fact that it was all free, was that I did Kayak and it was my first time. I felt so proud of doing Kayak because it was like I already had an experience doing that.Let me put it this way...I felt like a professional at that,laughs! Part that I didn't like was that it made me darker. Sigh.

That birthday celebration had a part two which was held in Subic. Quick fact: I didn't know that Olongapo is actually in North Luzon, I thought it was located in Visayan Region, not that I had a secret dream of changing our geographical formation,laughs! Best part of it was that it was free and the dolphins in Ocean Adventure. Good thing it was free because the prices of everything were like suicide! It was stormy which was okay because it made the sea more exciting to watch. Bad part of it was that I am getting darker and darker. Finally it was over. I can now concentrate on having special moments with my lovely Gracia, and oops, Comy's birthday is coming up...

Just recently, I received an email invitation from another blogger. When I asked for his location, guess what, he is an Israeli! I got so excited to have a new friend who is an Israeli. Perhaps he doesn't know how I envy him just him being an Israeli. His name is Ronen. Check out his cool sites listed in my blogger friends which is located on the left side of this blog.

The Spurs is still fighting to survive the numbers on the floor. Hopefully I wouldn't end up as a red agent for the month of June. That's it for now.

A Test Of Love

Last Friday, it was my rest day, I had a bit of my ginger allergy. I just watched Confessions of a Shopaholic. It was really entertaining and I love the way it was written. At first I felt inspired to write again. The hullabaloo of emotions in my soul was becoming painful that I could not take them anymore until…I got my ginger back. So that Friday I was so upset. But, somewhere in me, I knew I could manage. Gracia and I were supposed to meet that day. I texted her that I wanted to go mall-hopping, wanted to buy a book. I think the way I sent her my text messages were not compelling enough that, err, she misunderstood them. She thought I wanted to go alone. What I meant was that I wanted her to think of the plans because I needed to be cheered up or something like that. I felt rejected one more time. I know it was not her fault, part of it was mine. I could have explained to her what I really wanted to do but I just let it go that way. I just did not have the energy to explain. Actually explaining is the ultimate hate-thing to me. And perhaps, she wanted the same thing from me.

I also thought it was part of any relationship that both parties are seeking for the same thing from their opposite at the same time. Ending is that both of them are waiting. I just realized that it is important that one of you could sacrifice the evil ego which refuses to surrender. Find a way to explain, even if, like me, you don’t like explaining.

So we decided to meet up the next day instead after my shift. I was rushing to get to Dela Rosa to catch the bus to Lucena City. I was waiting there for like a lifetime and the grey clouds were threatening a storm was coming. I felt my tummy was twisting in hunger so I decided to order two hamburgers. I watched the store crew fry the two patties when the bus I was waiting finally came. That was a test for my quick decision skill. Since the patties were already on the frying pan, I couldn’t cancel that anymore. So I let the bus go and hoped that another bus would come in few minutes.

Finally before I got soaked in the rain, another bus arrived. All the seats were already taken so I had to stand on the bus which was okay with me...at first. The traffic was unbelievable. It was actually a series of traffic, you know what I mean. When the bus was already enduring the traffic on South Luzon Expressway, I rummaged into my bag with my both hands for my cellphone. All of the sudden, the bus driver pulled the break real hard that I lost my balance that if I was lucky or not, I am not really sure but I almost kissed the floor while the man from my right did try his best to catch me. Everyone was looking at me so interestingly. And take note of this, they were laughing real hard that I just wanted to die that very moment. Worse part of it was, you know the feeling of being locked up in a place and there is nowhere to go? So terrible! I tried thinking something else, making myself believe that I was not there, that it didn’t happen at all. And when you think that was it, you are wrong. Worst thing there was that I needed to take in the swelling embarrassment on that bus for the next two hours! So much for embarrassment. My feet felt so tired and they felt so thick that seemed I couldn’t feel my shoes anymore.

It was almost eight already when I arrived in San Pablo City. When I saw Gracia, my tiredness just went away. I put my arms around her right away when I realized that she was actually with her father. Arg, I didn’t notice her father! I quickly pulled my arms away from her and said good evening. What was that? Embarrassment part two? Give me a break, please.

I was so tired already and, ehem, sleepy. I tried my best really to satisfy Gracia but it was like we were working against time. We talked about many things. About marriage, where to buy a house and many other things. I know she was disappointed but I still had a shift the next day so I really needed to go around ten because I needed to travel another one and a half hour from San Pablo City to Calamba City. Anyway I couldn’t imagine a life without her. I just needed to get there, to my security.