This Friday, I drank beer and shochu (Japanese rice wine) like there’s no tomorrow and I eventually ended up drunk… very drunk. It all started at this company farewell party for B. It’s one of those usual Japanese drinking parties, i.e. beer… shushi… and more beer and shochu on the side. B has been a…
Category: insights
Happy Birthday, Rico
It’s my birthday and guess what? It’s my first birthday outside the Philippines. Well, everyday here is my first whatever day outside the Philippines. That’s not important anymore though. The important thing is I intend to celebrate my first birthday outside the Philippines with a blast. I never told anybody in Kagoshima that Feb 4…
Rethinking my Career
This week, I was supposed to finish my second project but for one reason or another, I wasn’t able to. It made me feel really bad especially that I had to ask for a week extension.
I Wanna Work in America
Training here in Japan makes me all the more excited to work in the States. That conclusion may come as a surprise to most of you but let me explain. I’ve got reasons that you might wanna know. I’ve been training here for seven months or so and so far, I enjoy every minute of…
I Saw the Sun
One morning, for some reason or another, I woke up at 5:00 AM. This is very unusual for me because I normally wake up at 9:00 AM. See the 4-hour time difference? Also, I couldn’t seem to go back to sleep. I tried to lull myself back to sleep by watching Japanese TV early in…
Japanese Mass
On Sunday this week, J and I went on to hear mass. Normally, when Filipinos in Japan hear mass, they attend the masses offered in English. However, things are different in Kagoshima. It’s either Filipinos attend masses offered in Japanese or they don’t hear mass altogether. Why you may ask. Well, it is rumored that…
Online Arguments
This week, I took part in what you might call “Online Arguments.” Our egroups have evolved from your usual online community of friendly chatters to the more mature online barkada complete with all the irks and quirks of the usual barkada. One can’t help but be amazed by what is going on inside these egroups….
A Day in the Life of Rico
This week, I would like to talk about my life here in Kagoshima. I am going to talk about small details that may seem trivial to some, but is very interesting for me. These would include, among others, my apartment, my way to and from the office and even the food I eat. This way,…
Justice for Onin
In a university where fraternity violence is more of the norm rather than the exception, it is not uncommon to hear news about some fraternity battling it out with some other rival fraternity. It is not uncommon to hear news about some neophyte getting killed during some initiation rites. But to hear news about some…
Anti-Frat
A friend of mine whom I never thought would join a fraternity, just did. It made me stop for a moment and think of reasons, why in all my almost five years in UP, I never dared accept the challenge of joining a fraternity. To justify my long term decision, I concocted fifteen reasons: To…
Hail the Lingua Franca Project
I commend the people, who are behind the Lingua Franca Education Project of the government. This project is in the end, an important yet difficult step towards the achievement of a better Philippines. There is wisdom in UNESCO’s statement that children learn best using the language they use at home. The use of the lingua…
A Well Deserved Death
The issue of whether Echegaray should be killed or not has somewhat enraged my insides. It is not that I am anti-discussion, anti-debate or what have you. I am all for freedom of speech, freedom in debates and freedom in discussions. What I am against is the indecisiveness of our fellowmen. 1994 saw the rebirth…
Enrico in Tokyo 