Flying to and Being Stuck in Amsterdam

I left Manila for yet another company-sponsored trip to Germany. I decided to take my chance onboard the KLM direct flight to Europe, instead of taking my chances with the Lufthansa flight which stops – and takes passnengers – at Guangzhou, China. It’s quite sad to note that there is more traffic between China and Germany that it leaves no chance for a waitlisted passenger like me to be onboard that flight (perhaps because of the Fraport shenanigans of Terminal 3 that affects business from Germany?).

I hate these trips. It takes me away from Nina and Matt. And to leave on a Sunday somewhat makes me feel shortchanged. And to leave in the morning…. oh, well. I left Nina and Matt still asleep, since we had a long night at Mall of Asia. 

The flight left on time, with the Captain declaring that we may be able to arrive earlier that predicted. I need that exta time, though, cause I’m going to dash for my connecting flight to Frankfurt. Oh, and I’m waitlisted on that flight as well – the last KLM flight to Frankfurt that day.

Even though I’m in Economy, I’m really glad KLM has AVOD (Audio-Video on Demand) for all the seats. I usually take this time to brush up on movies Nina and I didn’t get to watch.

Music and Lyrics

I really wanted to watch this movie with Nina, but time for us is a bit scarce since we have to ‘book’ Matt with his lola (Nina’s Mom). By the time this movie was shown, we weren’t that much thrilled and so decided to forego it altogether. Now, I want to get Nina a VCD or DVD of this movie, not jsut because of it’s love story (althought we both agree that Drew Barymore is way too young for Hugh Grant), but because of Drew’s strugle as an author and from someone who has power over her.

I liked the movie, so much so that it made me smile at times and miss Nina so much. (Gosh, I get so emotional on these trips, I often times find myself holding back tears and frantically get a grip of myself).

And who can forget the song?

Way Back Into Love lyrics

I’ve been living with a shadow overhead
I’ve been sleeping with a cloud above my bed
I’ve been lonely for so long
Trapped in the past
I just can’t seem to move on

I’ve been hiding all my hopes and dreams away
Just in case I ever need them again someday
I’ve been setting aside time
To clear a little space in the corners of my mind

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can’t make it through without a way back into love
Oh oh oh

I’ve been watching but the stars refuse to shine
I’ve been searching but i just don’t see the signs
I know that it’s out there
There’s got to be something for my soul somewhere

I’ve been looking for someone to she’d some light
Not somebody just to get me through the night
I could use some direction
And I’m open to your suggestions

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can’t make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart again
I guess I’m hoping you’ll be there for me in the end

Oh oh oh

There are moments when I don’t know if it’s real
Or if anybody feels the way I feel
I need inspiration
Not just another negotiation

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can’t make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart to you
I’m hoping you’ll show me what to do
And if you help me to start again
You know that I’ll be there for you in the end

Oh oh oh

 (It’s sort of the song before Nina and I met…)

Children of Men

 This movie was suggested by one of our managers who recently went to Amsterdam for a business trip with KLM.

Remeber how Marlin, Nemo’s father, together with Dory, followed the light bulb at the bottom of the ocean, and then saw it was attached to a fish with gigantic fangs that wanted to eat them?

“OK, good feeling’s gone.”

It’s so emotionally draining to watch this film about a grim future, where humans are unable to reproduce and civilization is plunged into depression and consequent chaos. The only hope – a pregnant woman -  hold the key to Humanity’s future. Admitedly, I like the premise, which is actually a very very scary possibility.

Every scene is actually depressing – from the main character’s loss of a son a few years back, to the different group’s motives of obtaining the pregnant woman. You’ll just be relieved a few seconds before the credits begin to roll.

Everyone dies here… except, of course - Hope. (I recommend that you watch something happy after this, much like what I did – watch an episode of Friends!)

Back to Reality…

I arrived in Amsterdam to find out that my flight to Frankfurt is full and that I have to stay the night here. Good thing I was able to spend some time here last year, and know an affordable hotel nearby. I apologized to the company that arranged my pick-up at Frankfurt (since I’ll be travelling to Schwabisch Hall, a 2-hour ride from the airport). Our contact assured me that it’s OK.

Got to the transfer desk of KLM and was comforted to learn that I’m assured a seat on today’s 4pm flight to Frankfurt. Thank God this hotel has wifi… (it costs some money – in Europe, the Internet ain’t free).

Parenting XP: The Case of the Missing Cookies

When was the last time you listened to your kids? 

Last Wednesday, while I was hurrying to get ready for work, my three year old son woke up. My usual routine for these types of contingencies is to let the little kid feed on his ‘mamam’ (milk) and leave him quietly while he watches his favorite shows on Disney Playhouse. This sometimes happens a lot that I know I may be running late for work if the third Pocoyo is on.

But this time, since he was up much earlier, and Nina and I have a growing concern about his scarce diet, I decided to leave him breakfast before I left for work. I prepared a small tupperware container of 2 Chips Ahoy, 3 of the new Spanish Cookies with Cookie Monster in the wrapper (which, it turned out that Matt liked), and 2 Stikkos. It isn’t the most healthy breakfast, I know, but when I left him with the tupperware, happily munching on the smaller, Cookie Monster cookies while watching the TV as the intro to the 3rd Pocoyo started to play… (needless to say, I was 5 minutes late for work).

When I was at work and talked to my wife when she woke up, I asked about the container of breakfast treats I left the kid.

“What food?” She asked. I told her I left the small container on the bed with Matt. She said that it might be there, only that she didn’t seem to notice it. She thanked me for leaving food for the baby.

I returned from work early, and was still wondering how much food young Matthew was able to gobble down. I asked Nina again where the leftover food was, and she said she didn’t see the container I left. Hmmm…. NOw that’s strange.

Where can a three-year-old put the container of food without his mom ever finding it?

I checked the bed and under it, thinking that there might be crumbs and food all over the floor. Nope. Not there. Maybe he left it in the other room. Nope. Nada.

I finally decided to ask the kid. “Matt, where did you put your food?”

“Throw it. Down there.” He pointed to the window of the room, near the bed.

Impossible, I said. But could the kid actually do it – throw down the food from the window?

I went down stairs to check. And true enough, there at the back of the house, was the tupperware on the ground upsidedown. a piece of a stikko can still be seen on the wet ground. I was mad.

I was going upstairs and told Nina what I saw. She couldn’t believe it too. Matt was playing in our bedroom when I asked him why he threw the food down.

“No!” was the only thing he said. I asked him again. ”Matt-Matt, Why did you throw down your food!” I was angry, my voice was becoming louder and deeper, scaring the poor boy.

“NO!” He went to hi mommy for protection. I asked a third time.

“Feed the cats!” Matt said.

I was dumbfounded. He actually had a reason why he threw down his food! We have stray cats  that have become residents of this Ballesteros abode (the house and lot is my mother-in-law’s). We occassionally feed them with what leftover food we have. And this, Matt always sees and likes coz he can scare out the cats. We always tell him not to do so and leave the cats to feed.

So, how do you react to this kind of situation?

By now, Matt was crying since he knows I’m angry at what he did. Little did he know that there and then, I was sorry for my actions. My heart melted with every tear he shed.

I picked him up, said sorry, and told him that if he wants to feed the cats, he should tell mommy so that mommy could do it for him and he can watch. “It’s OK.” He continued his cry. I hugged him and looked at my wife, who was laughing at this ‘classic’ moment in our parenting life.

If only I asked earlier why he did it. Kids do make sense. If only us parents would listen to their reasons then maybe we can look at the world in their eyes and finally understand them a little more. 

Visual DNA, Page Updates

On searching through ranking.pinoyblogosphere.com (i recently joined Pinoy Blogosphere… wala lang), I came across this blog from an engineering student (wonder if we come from the same university?). And then, thanks to his blog, I discovered my Visual DNA. You can check it out in my “About Me” page by clicking the link at the top part of this blog or on this link.

[Reading on, I found this guy to be a good writer. Easy reads and full of content. So, I hope he doesn't mind if I add him to my blogroll.]

I’ve also managed to update some of my pages, minor updates on my Travels page.

Weekend’s coming up. Let’s see what will brew in the couple of days to come…

In Praise of the Filipino Worker

Labor Day has been bleak this year. With re-hashed ‘benefits’, what’s the average Filipino worker going to look forward to? 

I thought I’d give all those who are working hard and live from paycheck to paycheck a little boost by saying how proud I am of Filipinos when it comes to their profession. Filipinos have passion. They have what it takes to get the job done – sometimes at the cost of great personal sacrifice. Our OFWs are a testament to this. And this is what I attest to ever since I started working.

I’ve been working for the past 7 years of my life. Starting out at a semi-conductor plant in Carmona, I was exposed to the dedication of everybody in order for the company to reach its goals. It was a downturn for the industry back in 2000-2001, where there was a glut in supply of chips in the market due to the less-than-spectacular Millenium jitters. So everyone in production was hardpressed to minimize wastage and improve quality. being a cadet engineer, I regularly worked with the operators of the machines and the maintenance technicians. These people were fathers, mothers, husbands, wives. Yet when the need arises, there was little hesitation to go the extra mile – overtimes or just to stay behind a while longer to finish checking a batch.

When the industry was at its low point, I decided to move on and landed at an insurance company. Being a management trainee at a relatively medium-sized firm, I got to know the ins and outs of the insurance business. Here, dedication and care for customers was what I learned and what I observed to be a trait we Filipinos are good at. naturally malambing, although at times mambobola, we see to it that service is given to those who need it – from quotations to sample forms to the policies themselves, people would go out of their way to really finish a job.

Fast forward to today. I’m in the airline industry and have been exposed to the different cultures of Europeans and Americans. I have nothing against working with American firms – particularly because they have lots of Filipinos working for them too. Hmm, maybe that’s the reason why they’re succeeding…

But for Europeans, that’s another matter. I just can’t believe their arrogance and utter lack of concern.

Here’s the scenario: A European company is now late with their deliverables with our project, thus jeopardizing its on-time completion and ultimately cost our company millions of dollars. The only reason is that the Euro company can’t quite get the hang of the American company’s data transfer scheme. What do they tell us?

“I’m doing all I can in the 8 hours of work…”

“May is a vacation month here and it may be hard to get things done…”

BS. I can’t believe that some companies are still arrogant enough in a global environment.

You won’t expect to hear that from us Filipinos. Our passion to get things done will be our key to success.

Leave the old bone to the old dogs, I say.

Taas noo, Filipino!