Les Miserables Has Been Part of My Life

I was on a break from work and ended up looking at some Lea Salonga videos on YouTube.

Les Miserables has always been one of my favorites. From my dad's fully memorized bedtime story (about early to late 80s),

Once You Cheat, There's No Turning Back

It was considered cheating.  I was caught flirting with other people through text messaging, while in front of my loved one.  So be it.  I was given another chance...

How Christianity Separated My Family

     Many people claimed to have benefited when Christianity was introduced to their town/country/family.  That was about a long time ago.  Not many of them talk about what disadvantages they got out of it.  Not in my own experience, but my ancestry, have one example of a disadvantage... when they were given christian names.

The Last Of Your Last Name

     Recently, I attended our first clan reunion.  It's supposed to be a gathering of all my relatives from my father's side.  Some showed up, some didn't.  But one of the main purpose of this gathering is to know the huge family tree.  Our ancestry, our lineage, our legacy, whatever you call it. When I got back home, there was one thing that shocked me.  My dad and his brothers are the last ones to carry the name "Man-a".

Filipinos, you're proud of that?

Korea = leading in Robots
Philippines = leading in Social Media Use

Who Could Come Up With Such Stories?

So let me get this straight...

     A man sleeps on the top bunker and had some "nocturnal emissions".  His semen fell on the woman sleeping on the bottom bunker.  How it got there, I don't know.  How it got the woman pregnant, I can't tell more.  But she did!

When Friends Turn Homophobic

     It's not that I keep my preference from anyone.  Just that I don't talk much about it because I don't want to make a big deal out of it.  However, I get transparent sometimes.  A little hint here and there.  I often do so online because words are the only means of showing who I am.  Should someone meet me in person, he/she would be able to tell just after a couple of minutes.  I don't really need disclosure.  Well, most of the times.

Laugh At Your Own Mistakes... Yeah, right!

In Elementary and even up to Highschool, we have the tendency to openly laugh at someone’s error.  A classmate would verbalize the wrong answer, or perhaps a blooper in delivery, and we almost automatically laugh at him/her.  Some would even go as far as pointing fingers, mocking the poor learner.  It is here where most of the bashful students refuse to speak his/her opinion(s) and join the discussion.  The fear of getting mocked, ridiculed, or teased.  All because of this, somehow innocent, reaction towards another person’s mistake.

Complimenting On English Comprehension

     In my experience, it isn't hard to find a Korean person who speaks English at a decent level, in Seoul.  Some with a strong Korean accent, some could pass for an "international Asian" (as I heard some people say... whatever that means).

I Am Still The Golden Child

     Sunday night, I called my superior to confirm if I'm needed for work the next day. I was told there won't be much work to do but I still had to show up, just in case.  Monday, I was called to do some errands.  Pretty much worked an hour for the whole day.  Late afternoon, my superior knocked on my door.

Please Watch Over Your Kids

     I think it was in Paran, Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do.  I remember I was just new in this town and I was roaming around to familiarize myself with the area.  It just got dark and it was rush hour.  I was walking by a cross-road when I heard a child called, "Ajuma!"  I saw the kid and she was across the street from me.  I thought she was calling someone else so proceeded to just looking around.  At the edge of my sight, I noticed the child risked her life crossing the street.  There was no pedestrian-crossing sign nearby and she was lucky that the street was empty for just a couple of seconds.  The sight of this scared me a lot.  I remember I got hit by a jeep when I was young so this little girl running across the street really shook me.  But there's more.

When The Truth Is Harder To Believe

     Some things have been bothering me for many years.  This thing happen to me once in a while but whenever it does, it makes me think for a month.  It bothers me that much.

It's about when the truth seems quite outrageous, people find it hard to believe.  Oddly enough, most of the times, when I lie to cover up something, people seem to easily believe it.

Does Age Come With Reason?

     Two nights ago, someone asked for my age.  Me, not paying much attention to the passing of time, can't answer such questions without much thought.  No, I'm not in denial.  I just really don't count my years each time, and I'm terrible at math.  The best thing I could do was come up with a reasonable number: 35.  Did I just say I'm thirty-five years old?

     As I mentioned before, I'm about to suffer some salary cuts on the coming months.  Earlier last week, it didn't bother me as much as my co-workers.  The way I live my life is more on a day-to-day basis and I don't really like thinking too much about "future" and what not.  But something hit me lately.  I'm about to reach 34 this April of 2013.

You Will Always Be Dispensable

     Winter season has always been a hard time for factories.  Sales go down or absent.  I've seen companies seasonally close after Autumn and reopen during Spring.  I've also seen some companies that open only during Winter (calendar making factories, especially).

     My previous years here in Korea taught me a lesson not everyone accepts:  You will always be dispensable.  Many of my acquaintances got their head too big, claiming the factory will not last long without him/her.  Or at least the boss will go through a difficult time without him/her.

     Again, I have to keep telling this to everyone including myself:  You will always be dispensable.

Drug User: Do I really fit the stereotype?

     I bet the real illegal-drug users would say, "no" if they see me.

     I admit, I'm an addict.  An addict to cigarettes and an addict to coffee.  I know these and I'm not ashamed.  But one thing I know well is that I have never been, nor do I intend to be, an illegal-drug user.  The truth is, I hate drugs and that includes marijuana.  No matter the argument, it is still currently illegal.  No matter how many statistics or intellectual debates are shoved down my throat, it is still illegal.  Therefore; I hate it.  I hate it so much that anyone I know who's involved with such things, I'd definitely ditch them.  They make me really angry.

     But why such anger?

Winter Death

     I remember one of my dad's friends (who used to work here in Korea) slipped on ice and bumped his head.  He went into comatose and his family had to deal with a lot of expensive procedures, along with sending someone to pick him up from Korea to Philippines.  I believe he worked in Korea for more than a decade.  Probably close to 18 years.  But I don't think his family saved enough to cover half of the expenses.  I wonder, though, if he's still alive.  That was years ago.

     This afternoon, my co-worker was distraught after receiving a call.  His mistress slipped on ice and is suffering from hemorrhage (as of writing this blog).  He knows there's a big chance either she'll end up dead or "stupid"... I think he used that word just to make me understand him.

     Personally, I couldn't care less about how he feels.  It's his mistress.  I met her and her family several times, and I don't like how they talk and look at me.

     I'm more interested on how my superiors reacted to this.  I've been complaining about ice forming in front of the public bathroom but they just joked about it saying I cold learn ice skating on it... until now.  30 minutes after hearing the news, they scraped the said ice (it covers about 10sq ft) and spread some sand and some sort of gravel over the place.  They didn't even ask for my help.  And as I pass by, I hear them mumbling, "... scary... Jackson could die..."

Phone Etiquette Is Dying

     If there's one thing more annoying than a call from a telemarketer just as when you're at the peak of the busiest hour (there should be a law restricting their hours of business), it's the people who calls you first then asks who you are first.

     Dialing the wrong number is understandable.  It's a common error especially with the touch screens nowadays.  But I hate it when you get a call and immediately asked, "Who are you?"  I mean you're the one who called me, be it wrong number or not, I should be the one asking that question.  There are two things that makes this worse:

1.  Strong/impolite tone.  In English, it's all about how you say it.  The tone of voice delivers the question politely or not.  In Korean (and most Asian languages), there are honorifics.  "Eh, nuguseyo? (에, 누구세요?)" sounds a lot better than, "Nuguya!? (누구야!?)" 
2. Hanging up without a word.  Not even an apology.

     This is why I entertain telemarketers as much as their effort.  What they do is mostly a nuisance to me, but they're just doing their job, after all.  They open with a cheerful voice, you could see them smiling while talking.  And end up with a nice apology after telling them I'm not their target customer.

As for those interested on what I usually say, this is the common dialogue:

"Hello?"  (I always open with English greeting)

"Anyeonghaseyo blah blah blah"

"Chamkamanyo, cheon waegoogin yeyo (잠깐만요 전 외국인예요)"  (Wait, I'm a foreigner.)

"Ah, chueseonghaeyo... (아, 죄송 해요...)"  (and the rest of it towards hanging up)

It's Special Because It's Far?

     One of the things I don't get from Korean people is their fondness of going really far for just a meal.  It wouldn't matter to me if it was really special.  Or really delicious.  And by the way, what is Korean's definition of "delicious?"  They keep saying that when they offer some food but most of them taste the same to me.  I would have agreed if it was spicier, or saltier, or have a different ingredient than the rest.

I am not a celebrity. I don' have thick skin.

     For days, my work from one of my blogs was appreciated and praised by a few people.  I posted some of the pictures as an entry to some photography forums.  It was well accepted and I was thinking of doing the same process to make another entry for a different theme.

     Tonight, the latest comment on one of the forums talked about some convoluted ways using a mirror to do what I did.  I feel insulted.  It's like saying my photos were fake.  I would have done that mirror (theory) thing if I had known about it.  In fact, using a mirror never crossed my mind until it was mentioned.

    Now, my creative flow is blocked.  I'm too upset to think.  It may be just one comment (who knows if there will be more) and I might just be over-reacting.  But that was my work.  Something I made honestly and worked quite hard for it.  So for someone to bash on one of the highlights of my photography life, it hurts.

     I'm trying to get rid of this feeling right now, and I'm hopeful that writing about it helps.

Galaxy S3 Extra Batteries

     Usually when I get the weekend off, I maximize my time outside. I often start my long trip at Friday night and come as late as Monday morning; back to my boring and robotic life.

     I suffered too much hassle from losing battery life very quickly with my former smart phone, HTC Desire HD.  I tinkered with it a lot and done a lot of things that could make the battery last a bit longer.  But most of the times, upon plugging it out from the charger, it lasts for only 3 hours.  I thought of buying 2 extra batteries but then I lost the phone before I finalized my payment.

     Enter Galaxy S3 with its very nice battery life.  The time I tested, it lasts for about 6 hours outdoors.  That includes quite a hefty usage with it constantly having WIFI/Data enabled.  It is a huge improvement from my lost HTC.  But I'm still not satisfied with its length of service.  As I mentioned, I mostly use it 48 hours or more, unplugged.  So I decided to buy extra batteries instead of tweaking it again and again.  I think it's just a smarter move.  Besides, carrying the charger just defeats the purpose of its mobility.

     In every smartphone shop I asked, none of them sells batteries only.  I asked 10 random smartphone shops, to no avail.  Then I checked out some phone accessories stores and still got nothing.  2 smartphone store owners demanded to check my phone and records and my spare battery.  I think they suspected I stole my unit, that's why I was asking for another battery.  Some of them can't believe I needed extra batteries.  To me, I'm a potential customer.  My purpose shouldn't be their concern.  Meh.

     My last option was to go to Yongsan.  It is the electronic store of Korea.  They must be selling extra batteries, right?  3 buildings, 3 floors each, about 5 or 6 shops from each floor.  None of them sells batteries.  I do wonder why they just dismissed me without some excuses.  They just say, "we got none of those."  So at the last store, I asked where could I avail such items.
"Samsung service center." he said.
None of them sell even a third-party battery for this.  I guess, it's a new item so Samsung didn't make spare batteries for sale.  I can't be bothered to personally go to Samsung.  But this is really frustrating.

     Until then, there's GS25 store.  At least they're scattered around.  I don't know if 7-Eleven or Family Mart or the rest of them chain stores, do the same.  But GS25 could charge phone batteries at a small fee (as of today, it's 1,000 won or $1).  They've been doing this even before the age of smartphones.  I think I'll settle for that until I can get spare batteries.  It's not as convenient, but good enough for now.