Thursday, June 7, 2018

Lodi

For sure meron na kayong naexperience na magaan agad ang loob nyo sa isang tao kahit bago nyo pa lang sya nakilala. Yung swak agad kayo ng personality.

Sa kabilang banda, meron din naman yung hindi pa lang kayo naiintroduce sa isa't-isa ay ambigaaaat bigat na ng loob mo sa kanya e wala pa naman syang ginagawang masama sayo. Marami akong ganyan pero hindi yan ang topic ko ngayon. Makakadami tayo ng part para jan.

Eniwey, meron kaming bagong kawork at itago na lang natin sya sa pangalang Lodi. Ako agad ang nakagaanan nya ng loob kasi ako lang naman ang cool sa team, hehe, at isip bata, bagay sa edad nyang 26. Sya ang pinakabata sa amin at marunong akong bumagay sa mga trip trip na ganyan at hindi naman mabigat ang dugo ko sa kanya. Kumbaga ok naman syang maging kaibigan sa work so go. Lalaki pala to so parang nakahanap sya ng abnormal na ate sa akin.

Young blood pati, kita mo talaga ang eagerness nyang magwork at bilib din ako sa nakikita kong honesty nya at bravery na din na magconfide sa akin sa mga napapansin nya sa paligid ligid. Kiber nya ba kung iiisqueal ko sya sa kinauukulan diba? Pero hindi naman ako ganung uri ng insekto so safe pa din sya. Parang nung mga ganong edad ko medyo alanganin akong magbigay ng kuru-kuro. Sabagay ibang bansa naman kasi kaya siguro mas open ang mga kabataan. Emeged para namang ang tanders tanders ko na magkwento.

Patol ako sa mga trip nya, mga fuck you fuck, mga shit na lagi nyang bukang bibig - ganun lang talaga sila parang comma at period lang ang paggamit. Sa isa sa mga lumang post ko nabanggit ko ang kultura sa peyups na normal lang din magmura so walang problema sa akin yun. Hindi ako naooffend. Hindi ko sinasabing maganda magmura lalo na kung mababasa ng mga taong hindi pa ganun kalawak ang pangunawa - regardless kung bata o matanda - so ang babala ay nasa sa inyo at bahala akong magpaliwanag sa anak ko.

At sa workplace makakarinig ka talaga kahit kagalang galang tignan na napapamura pero hindi naman talaga yung nagmumura? Ganern ang setting ng kwento natin.

Ang tipo nyang tao yung uri ng matalino na mahilig mambara. Siguro sa talento ko sa pagkilatis ng tao, hehe, alam ko na agad na ganun sya kaya binasag ko agad ang pambabara nya. Binara ko din sya. It was a signal for him that I understood him kaya simula noon, mga more than a month ago, naging katropapips ko na sya.

So araw-araw na ginawa ng Diyos barahan lang kami, yung mga walang kwentang kwentuhan, pati nga kung san magtatago kung magkaroon ng zombie apocalypse napagplanuhan na din namin. 

Kanina, nagtanong sya kung ano daw ang masasabi ko sa plano nyang pag-uwi ng two days sa Indonesia para bisitahin ang girlfriend nyang magbibirthday at paggastos ng tumataginting na wantawsend AUD sa pamasahe.

Opkors napakawagas na NO ang sagot ko, I won't like it. Madami pa syang iniba sa mga variables. Teka wag mo isiping may asawa ka, isipin mo na girlfriend ka pa lang ng jowa mo, hindi ba yun romantic sa yo?

Syempre kelangan din natin iconsider ang stage ng relationship nila kasi sa lablayp naman namin ni c gumastos din naman sya ng limpak limpak na salapi chos para magkasama kami pero hindi sa ganung levels ng binabalak ni lodi na minsanan at sa tingin ko e hindi worth it. Pero sa akin lang naman yon.

Sa gitna ng pagpapaliwanag ko, natigilan ako. Teka sabi ko sa kanya. Bat ako nagpapaliwanag sayo? Gusto mo talagang pumunta no? I kinda want to sabi nya. Ayan na yung sinasabi ko, you were hoping i would push you to go. But i won't coz it's borderline stupid spending. At naalala ko yung nabasa ko dati na flipping coins are effective to make up your mind not when it lands on its head or tail but when it's in mid-air and you decide to go with your preconceived choice.

In his case I can see he knows how stupid it is and he recognizes how much happiness it could generate. Nasa pipti-pipti sya. So sabi ko sa kanya you know what to choose even before you asked me so go for it. As for me and because this is who i am, i don't like it.

Hindi ko na muna sya lelecturean ng mga chever chever ng mga magjowa para lang may maipagmalaki sa mga kakilala at sa social media kasi parang hindi naman sya ganun. Note to self, gawa din ako ng post about sa ganito.

I know how LDR works because we were like you before kako para may mapagdiskusyunan kami. Nagkainteres ang bruho at nagkasunod-sunod na ang tanong. Mahaba-haba pa ang byahe namin bago makarating sa Flinders at magkaharap kami sa tren so imaginin mo yung hot seat ni boy abunda ng slight.

Lodi: so how often do you see each other?

Mas Lodi: about once a month, over the weekend.

Lodi: that's not once a month, doofus (parang tanga to sa salita natin)

Mas Lodi: ok, twice a month nincampoop (shunga din ibig sabihin neto). We didn't have a proper valentine's date. There's once when we almost had it but while i am preparing he got recalled on duty so we weren't able to.

Lodi: We didn't have one as well. What does he do back home?

Mas Lodi: he was a policeman. And he had to leave his career when we decided to come here and i really admire that move because it shows how much he loves us. It was a career he loved, didn't pay much but he knew he's doing what's best for his family. That's why I'm giving him time to figure out what he wants to do here...

Lodi: (mukhang nagseseryoso na. Ginaganahan sa talkshow nya at napunta kami bigla sa buhay namin sa pinas)
Were you that rich in the Philippines before? Did your parents help you?

Mas Lodi: no we were not rich and no my parents did not help us. I don't have them anymore. Blah blah blah

Ganun tumakbo ang usapan namin na parang nakikita ko yung iniisip nya na nakasubtitle : akala ko easy go lucky ka lang teh iba din pala ang mga ganap mo sa buhay. Yung tipong lodi na nya ako, choz.

Lodi: So it's good to know that you all became successful, was it hard?

Mas Lodi: yeah, we slept on the streets.. And i was laughing.

Lodi: I'm not even gonna laugh.

For a while I saw some pity cross his face but then it was pity for the young me. It had been ages ago and what happened, whatever we went through, are just pieces from a big puzzle we are still solving. It's good to see that they have settled in the right place and that I can casually tell its story with a friend who could pick a lesson from it.

I know I earned his respect the moment we started thrashing each other but after that train ride it was a whole new level of respect he had for me and I am so fired up to take advantage of it for the rest of his working life.

This morning when we were about to enter the office,

Hey Lodi, open the door for me. And I stood there sa gitna kasi alam kong may mga nakasunod sa akin.

Fuck you he barked back and can't do anything anyways but to open the door for me.

😁

Thursday, April 12, 2018

Oh my G Blogger has an App

I did try to google last year if Blogger has an app and there was none so imagine my happiness when I saw just now that there already is! So cheers to blogger, you just made the blogger me happy.

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Riding my first Uber in Australia

I have been a fan of Uber way back in the Philippines and because I was left behind by my bus this morning, I had to take it despite the repulsive idea of paying $35 more than I should have if I went to the bus stop 1 minute earlier. Haha!

So, it was the same drill, hailing it via the Uber app, and 3 minutes later my ride arrives. The difference with Uber in the Philippines is I pay there in cash whereas here I had to register my debit card before hand to be able to book the ride. For the sake of making this post I went into the receipt details and learned that a booking fee of .55 is charged. Made me wonder how much is charged in the Philippines.

My driver was Md Abul B- - - -r and he was a good one. For the 10 minutes we spent driving to the city my first Uber ride was a memorable one. I just wanted to write it here because I felt good today - meeting him, and meeting Giles and Zoe - and having just a good time.

So he sort of guessed why I took the Uber saying "did you sleep it in?". Of course I did not, but I miscalculated the time so that's quite sleeping in the details. I shared to him how it was my first time riding Uber here in Australia and so we talked about us being migrants because he's from Bangladesh and he's been here for 16 years (which the accountant in me calculated that we're about the same age because he migrated here when he was 16) and I'm here for 2 months.

We talked about how I arrived here on a summer and him sharing his winter arrival and understanding when I said I have yet to experience a hard rain like how it goes in the Philippines because they used to have it in Bangladesh as well. According to him, it seldom happens in Melbourne. It was good hearing about how he shared feeling miserable having arrived on a winter when it's cold and windy and dark and being far away from his family because it is very relatable.

And how after all these years when I asked if he still goes home to Bangladesh he talked about how his family only did twice because it is expensive it could amount to around 10 grand a trip. He talked about when going on a holiday that the Melbourne expenses do not stop - rent, insurance, etc, - so they just invite Mom and Dad to come over because it is much cheaper. We had a good laugh when he said that their place is much cleaner when Mom is there. I added - yep, and the cooking! Not that I still have Mama Merced to invite over but yeah, moms are the best =)

It was just days after new year's eve and we talked about how the Melbourne fireworks was better than Sydney, and that he was working that night although he didn't feel working at night normally because there are more drunk and loud people during those times and it's not just his cup of tea. I learned that he works the 4:30am to 2:00pm shift which he prefers because there's a lot of daylight left from 2pm until the sun sets at 8-9pm so he can do whatever he likes.

Up to this part of the conversation which I am enjoying because I am talking with a local, I am noticing how good his accent actually is. Plus going into how he spends his day, his experiences, his thoughts is a joy ride in itself - it is a very good opportunity to learn about this city I am spending the rest of my life in. I can see that he is a good person even with the limited time we conversed.

Then he asked me how I am liking Melbourne so far and I shared how we also thought about going to Sydney when we were choosing which state to land. I am liking the life I have in Melbourne now although I still can't compare because I haven't been to any other state. I commented about how Sydney prices are around half the price in Melbourne and they say it is more calm here. Md Abul also shared his insights saying that Melbourne actually is a good city and he's finding it the best from almost all of the states he visited. He said that Melbourne is more tolerable of migrants and as you go up north where most original settlers are that honestly they are more resistant of migrants. He shared about his three classes - original settler, migrant, convict and that it is common knowledge to not like other classes as you have.

As to the comparison with Sydney we agreed that it is more busy and that it is ok to go visit there take a holiday but still live in Melbourne. We liked the word "chill" in association with Melbourne way of living and how people here just take each day in stride and in a que sera sera whatever will be will be way. He liked the fact that there are more concerts here, more sports to attend. He also shared how his house would have costed him 2 million had he bought it in Sydney so setting inflation, interest rate increases and the time when he actually bought his house aside, it's a good insight of how even in one country there's a lot of difference going on.

I guess it depends how people perceive the place they choose to settle in. We share the same sentiment  maybe because we are both familymen but I don't really mind if others want to settle anywhere else other than Melbourne. Some thrive in a busier environment so...

Then we talked about retirement, I'm not sure how the conversation got stirred to that topic but we talked about how going back "home" is an option when we reach our golden age. Not like go "home" go home but just spend some time overseas and come back to Australia again because it would start to not feel home overseas when you've spent so much time in Australia it becomes your "home" home. I understood this part of our topic specially when he shared that his older kins are doing the same - because we all have our built in homing device and sentiments ready to kick in. For how it goes, it works as we grow older and hear the North Star calling.

Then we arrived at 500 Collins Street and thus the end of my first Uber ride in Australia. I am writing it here to document how even the mundane things as taking an unexpected Uber ride could end up giving me a lot of thoughts to reflect on, how meeting a random driver could give me a lot of insights, how deciding to converse with him to while away the time could make me feel good because I could just have used my phone and shut up all throughout right?

So when the app asked me to rate him, I gave him 5 star.




My TwoScots Recruitment Experience

I just came from an interview with Giles and Zoe from TwoScots Recruitment and wanted to take the time and write about the whole experience.

Relocating to a whole new place, inching my way in to a very busy and competitive and a whole new job marketplace is a nerve wracking and most often daunting task. But once in a while the sun shines and makes the state of mind a little bit better.

Finding a job here in Australia is as competitive as anywhere else and having come from the Philippines where not much recruitment agencies play in the middle, actually meeting recruiters is as good an experience in itself.

I have been seeing TwoScots in Seek posting jobs for quite sometime now but yesterday was my first time calling the number listed in the ad and getting an interview schedule the day after.

Turned out that their slogan "Partner with us, we're a wee bit different", which I find very catchy, is true.

They're a wee bit different because from the time I announced my presence in the reception until the interview was over I felt very welcome in their office. The consultants I met knew their strings and there's that feeling of knowing I came to the right place. There's no assurance that a job is on its way because they just consult for their clients but putting faces to the job ads and validating how recruitment agencies do not totally ignore the rest of the second best pile and just meeting people to hear what you are capable of and acknowledging them is itself a good use of time.

I guess what I wanted to say is, there are times in our job hunting season when we feel a little better because we find something a wee bit different happening in it. Knowing that there's something happening, albeit not necessarily ending the season, makes us feeling inspired and focused and hoping.