Our company felt the Christmas spirit starting the first Friday of the month, when our Christmas bonus and baskets were distributed to every eligible employee. We got a trolley jampacked of food, a couple of hams, and a bagful of P&G products. I was wondering how I was supposed to get all those home to Zamboanga because for sure I would be overloaded, but luckily, my dad was going home via boat, which had no baggage weight limitations, so he was the one who took everything.
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Then P&G Asia or GBS had its Christmas party last December 10 at the Hotel Intercon poolside. Our new director wanted a light program, and so there was none of the usual per floor competition that jazzed up previous events. In its place, there were performances from three outsider bands, a Christmas presentation from the leadership team, and the usual renditions from the wellness circles Himig and Galaw. The raffle prizes were the center of the event. I won a Powerbooks GC for P300. we had pictures taken with Santa. In the end, though the venue was nice, everyone said that of all site events they attended, this has got to be the least fun.
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P&G is a contributor to Gawad Kalinga, and for this year, I was the assigned 19th floor SPOC for the children’s toy drive. I managed to get more than a hundred pledges. Since we were able to get a lot, we not only paid for the kids’ toys, but for some operations as well.
Last Dec 16, the company held a Christmas party for the kids of the P&G village in Baseco, Tondo. There was a program with performances from P&G and the Baseco moms and kids, games, prizes, and food.
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We had another company party last Dec 20, this time for AP + NEA GL, Bart’s people. The theme they cooked up was jungle/safari, since the event was held in Grilla. The hosts were supposed to be new hires, Manny and Jenelyn, but my teammate Jen had this wicked idea of begging off from her responsibility by asking AP who they wanted to host alongside Manny, she or me, Manny’s supposed ka-love team? In the end, the people chose me. Argh. Hadn’t I hosted the department Christmas party as a new hire two years ago? And hadn’t I hosted enough company events this year? But then again, that is why they call me the default host.
I was a peacock that night in my brightly colored blouse, and was the center of attention because of that, thanks to all the peacock jokes that everyone kept cracking all night. We had the new hires perform, in true tradition, and they did a dance number led by two dance divas, Ami and Repri. Jek, a known vocalist in Cebu, also regaled us with a song. We also gave away fun jungle awards (GOrilla, most enDEERing, king of the jungle, and bibong bibe) and raffled off prizes. Everyone present won a prize, and some even won twice…me included. I won a Starbucks GC and the second ‘critical’ prize – a portable DVD player with slots for memory card and USB. We wrapped up the event with pictures with the peacock and gathering to dance and sing infront of the Magic Sing.