My First Day

(Innove and Keppel Building at Cebu Business Park)

March 24, 2008 - Monday. I woke up early that day. It was my first day as a trainee and I was scheduled for my orientation at 8 a.m. I rode a jeepney to Cebu business park where the LRDC offices were. Not really knowing the routes of the various jeepneys, I ended up riding a jeepney with a 13C route. Because of that, I had to walk a long way before I could get to Globe - Innove Building where my orientation would be. Cebu business park was a nice place. I saw Ayala Cebu for the first time, though it was still closed. Then I went inside Innove building. I was issued a temporary ID by the security at the security desk. My orientation was to be at the 8th floor. I almost got lost. There were several elevators there and I wasn't quite sure which one to take. Then I noticed that above the doorway of each elevator was a sign that identified the floors on which the elevators covered.


I got to the 8th floor. The floor security asked me to sit for a while in the waiting lounge because the HR personnel were not ready yet. And so I sat. Someone else was also there. He was there before I was. Suddenly he asked me why I was there. I told him that I was scheduled for my orientation as a trainee. He said he was also in there for his orientation but as a new employee. He was Christopher Tan. He is an Computer Engineering graduate and had worked in Japan for 5 years. He said he came back to the Philippines because the work ethics of the Japanese took so much of his social life. He is a married man though I wasn't able to guess that because he only looked slightly older than I was. Anyway, after a while someone else arrived. It was another new hire of Lexmark. She was Zyra Mae Canto. She was a very friendly person. It wasn't hard for Chris and me to get to know her. She is an Accountancy graduate and she had worked for a semiconductor company for 2 years. She also turned out to be a graduate of MSU-IIT, the school where I'm currently studying. It was nice to know that graduates from my school were really fairing well in their carreers, and Zyra proves that. Later in my stay at Lexmark, I was to find out that there were in fact several MSU-IIT graduates working there. A few minutes after Zyra arrived, another new hire came. It was Anna Marie Bautista. She was a very charming person. Pretty and dimpled, she caught our attention right away. She and Zyra turned out to be acquaintances as they shared the same degree. Soon after she arrived, the orientation started.

The orientation was held in one of the 8th floor conference rooms. It was my first time in such a sophisticated conference room and I admit I was pretty much amazed by what I saw. After our introductions, I was a bit nervous because I was the only trainee to be oriented at that time. All the others were new hires. There were 9 of us and only Chris and I were the only males. But as it turned out, all of them were very nice and I even had lunch with them. Obviously, I was the youngest in the group. Our first day of orientation ended around six p.m. I asked my new friend Chris if he could tell me where I was supposed to get my ride back to my dorm. Kind Chris accompanied me all the way to the jeepney stop and told me what jeepney to ride. Soon, I was on my way.

I arrived at the dorm, still feeling, well, blank. i wasn't feeling anything. I wasn't happy but I wasn't sad also. I just felt nothing. I went to my room and changed my clothes. After I went straight to dinner, still at the cafeteria.

I couldn't recall much of what happened after. I didn't keep track of what was happening. I never thought that I would be wondering about it in the future. I'm not sure whether what I'm about to share next did happen in my first Monday. All I'm sure is that its one of the things I couldn't forget.

I think it was when I was about to have dinner. While looking at the food being displayed at the counter, I bumped into Jobert. I can't remember what we talked about but it was brief. We greeted each other and he asked me something, I just can't remember what. Then he left. as I said, the conversation was brief. But despite the brevity, it was nice to have someone to talk to. I felt I had made a new friend. Somehow my spirit lifted. I now had another friend.

As usual I went to my room alone again. Soon after, I fell asleep. Thus my first day ended.

The Arrival

(Alicia Tower Residences at Brgy. Banilad, Cebu City)

(Laughing Buddha inside the dormitory)

I arrived at Cebu City around 7:30 a.m. on March 23, 2008. It was easter Sunday. There, waiting at the dock was an old acquaintance of mine - ate Glenda. She was our neighbor at Linamon, where I grew up. My mom, knowing that she was also in Cebu, contacted her and asked her if she could accompany me to my soon to be dormitory. I was relieved to have her. I couldn't imagine how I would find my dorm alone. But then lucky for me, miss Mimi was also there to fetch me. Miss Mimi by the way is the Human Resource (HR) person in charge of my training at Lexmark. She had booked a company van to fetch us from the ferry and bring us to the dormitory.

We reached the dormitory quickly for there was no traffic. After all it was easter Sunday. When we reached the dormitory, it was still too early for me to check-in. The clerks weren't around yet. So miss Mimi decided that we should get some breakfast first. We ate at the Chowking - Gaisano Country Mall branch. I ordered beef chaofan, ate Glenda had coffee and so did miss Mimi. After finishing my first meal at Cebu, we went back to my dormitory - Alicia Tower Residences. There, I was received by the clerk and some procedures were done. While waiting for the clerk to finish, some OJT's saw miss Mimi and went to greet her. There were 3 of them. I was loosely introduced to them and them to me by miss Mimi. For some strange reason, the only name I could remember well was "Jobert". I thought that the reason was because his name was quite common and that it was fairly easy to remember. He seemed to be a fairly friendly person. Funny though is I couldn't really remember the faces nor the names of the other 2 who were with him. Lack of sleep maybe? Yeah, that would've probably been the reason.

The clerk finished my papers and it was time for me to bring my things to my room. After putting my things in my bed, I asked ate Glenda to come with me to SM Cebu because two of my friends had arranged a meeting with me there. We had lunch at McDonald's. A few hours after that, I was on my way to my dorm again. My roommates weren't back yet so I had no one to talk to.

I spent all my afternoon doing nothing. I can't recall how I made it through that whole afternoon without even talking to anyone. I kept to my room and only went to the store to buy some junk food and I went straight back to my room again. The thing is, even though I was alone that time, I didn't feel depressed. I even felt indifferent. I didn't really care.

Evening came and my roommates still weren't back. So I decided to have dinner at the cafeteria. That was pretty much it. I didn't really do anything else. I waited for my roommates and it was around 10 p.m. that they finally arrived. Both turned out to be from manila and had a hard time understanding Cebuano. Lucky for them, I was born in a Tagalog family and that I was fairly OK with speaking in Tagalog despite the fact that I grew up in Mindanao. One of my roommates as I found out was at the same age as I was. And that made me happy. I now had a potential friend to make.

Tired as I was, after our introductions me and my roommates went to sleep. Tomorrow would be a Monday - March 24, 2008. It would be my first day on my training. I was excited. I didn't know what to expect. I was very optimistic. I was very much eager to prove myself worthy of being chosen as one of the selected few engineering students to have their training at Lexmark. The time to take center stage was near. I was ready.

Start of Journey: Departure to Cebu

(Iligan City's Maria Christina Falls)

(Tribu Iliganon Dance Troupe)

March 22, 2008. It was black Saturday. This was the day that I was to set off to Cebu City for my On-the-Job training. Even though our school year hasn't officially ended yet, I had to go to Cebu for my OJT as requested by my host company. Luckily, I was accepted in one of the best companies in the country - Lexmark Research and Development Corporation.

March 22, 2008. That day marked many firsts for me. For one, it was my first time to travel in a ferry boat for a long distance domestic trip. It was my first time to travel alone too. I admit, I was a bit scared of the thought of traveling alone but somehow, the thought of adventure and the pride of being on of the "lucky chosen ones" overwhelmed that fear. I was very much excited. After all, some friends of mine are also having their OJT's at Cebu so I wouldn't be totally alone. Cebu, for me at that time, was just another big adventure waiting to be made.


Departure time was 4 in the afternoon. The trip was via Ozamis so it would take until early morning the following day before I reach Cebu. Most of the trip was plain boring, though I didn't sleep most of the trip(because I am not accustomed to sleeping as I prefer to be pretty much awake and enjoy the world). But after many hours of travel, the ferry finally reached Cebu City. It was around 6 a.m. and all I could say was "WOW". Cebu looked very nice in the sunrise. I could see some very tall buildings jutting out here and there. (The only thing that was disappointing was the polluted seawater of the ports). On the other side of the boat, the mangroves looked heavenly. Backdropped with a majestic sunrise it was a scene to be awed. That sunrise somehow symbolized new hope and opportunity for me. It made me more excited to go on this new "adventure" of mine.