I was a lunchtime loner at my first job in Singapore. I suppose penny-pinching on lunches made me pay a price in something other than money. I mean, for four years working in Makati, I always had lunch buddies and looked forward to these lunches-slash-bonding sessions as the bright spot in my busy days. When I lost them, I realized how important they were.
That is why I was so happy when upon starting my new job, my teammate Betchie invited me to have lunch with her friends Yves and Arlyn. Yves is also our officemate but from a different floor, while Arlyn is from another office which is also in UE Square, the same building we’re in. Yves was actually my officemate in P&G but we never knew each other because we were also from different departments there. My boss’s boss, who interviewed me, actually asked her about me, but she didn’t know me then. So on my first week at work she sought me out.
Our lunches are always fun. For one, we are free to converse in our native tongue, as we are all Filipinas. While English was my favorite subject in school and is my favorite writing medium, it’s not as easy to speak in it, especially when you’ve been used to speaking Tagalog (and Bisaya and Chavacano) your whole life. The second reason is all the food we’ve explored. We don’t stick only to the nearby hawker stalls or the restaurants in the walking-distance UE Square Mall or Liang Court. We take cabs to get to Plaza Singapura or Lucky Plaza or Ion Mall or Cathay when we feel like it.
Last Wednesday, we brought our passports so that we could get registered as overseas absentee voters at the Philippine Embassy, which was Yves’s idea. We were supposed to have a quick lunch at the mall near it, but when we saw the huge Chili’s signboard, we all yelled excitedly and obviously had to eat there. We ordered fajitas, buffalo wings and cajun chicken pasta. It’s one of our most delicious lunches yet.
The lunch was made happier when we heard Yves’s ringback, a really old Filipino song that goes “Mabuti pa, mabuti nga, mabuti ang hanggang maaga’y magwakas…” She did not sign up for it. She just suddenly got it for free after she came back from her Australia business trip. When she heard it, she hurriedly called Singtel and asked how to turn it off. She moaned about how many people must have called her and thought her weird to have such a ringback tone.
Arlyn laughed and commented, “ang kahihiyan!” (the embarrassment!) Then she wondered if she also had the same issue. Betchie called her and burst out laughing. Arlyn had the same ringback! What’s up with that, Singtel??
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| Sumptuous lunch at Chili’s |
After eating, we hurried to the embassy. We were led to window 1 where we got forms to fill up. Luckily Arlyn brought 3 pens as the rest of us had forgotten to bring one for ourselves. After filling it up, we were led inside the embassy where a woman collected our forms and verified our passports and employment passes. Then we sat around and waited for awhile before we were called one by one to get fingerprinted and photographed. Registration done! Now I have 9 months to do my research so I’d pick the right candidates who deserve my vote.
filling up registration forms for overseas absentee voters
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| Posing with the Philippine flag inside the embassy in Singapore |
Last night, we decided to attend our company’s TGIF event held at Ivory Kitchen in Clarke Quay. The event was supposed to start at 6om but we got there at past 9 already. We caught the last few minutes of free-flowing drinks. We left when they stopped playing Bollywood music and walked over to Hooters. Don’t judge us, we don’t necessarily enjoy seeing waitresses in their butt shape baring bright orange very short shorts, but it’s the only place they know where you could smoke. Yes my friends do, but I don’t, just in case you’re reading this, Isaac.
So over a platter of chicken wings and a pitcher of Heineken (for them, I don’t drink beer, am I starting to sound boring?), we shared our life’s stories. It was fun, even though in the end I was judged as the one with the weirdest experiences among us all. Hahaha. I’m so glad I met these girls. Looking forward to the next TGIF.
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| Free-flowing drinks at the TGIF event in Ivory Kitchen |