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Sunday, January 09, 2005

Nostalgia

Marilyn and Mark, my office mates, are stuffing their bags as they are leaving to the US and stay there for the next six months. I was chatting with Marilyn a few days ago about some tips on the things that should she bring, how to book her flight, and with the lifestyle that a PST (Phoenix Support Team) must do.

It’s been almost a year ago when I left to US for an onshore assignment for six months. I am working in a multinational IT company for the past 2 years and I was sent to support the application that I’ve been involved with in Phoenix, AZ. Every six month, a group of people from Manila is sent there to support the application that we belong to.

My onshore experience has been a turning point in my life and my career. It was my first time to ride an airplane and to travel outside the Philippines. It was big thrill because I was alone and I had to endure a 16-hour flight. For someone who’s traveling experience includes a 12 hour bus ride to visit my relatives in the province, it was not bad.

Living in the US tested my endurance. In our home, I’m not really involved with the household chores (a big shame for someone who’s 22 and who once lived in a dormitory in college). I depend on our house maid all the time. She’s also the one who packed my clothes that I brought for the trip (now I’m totally embarrassed). Since I don’t have someone to do the domestic work, I learned how to do my own laundry - with a washing machine (not bad for someone who haven’t washed her clothes yet); studied cooking and being creative with the ingredients; learned driving and how to read a map; and organizing my clothes and things. At first, I was ironing my clothes every week. But since it was not a big deal for the Americans not to do that, I skipped that chore and got away with it.

In Manila, my colleagues and I believed that an onshore assignment is one long team building activity. I couldn’t agree any less. These are the activities that we would usually do on weekend:

1) Shopping. There are 2 outlet malls that we usually go to when shopping in AZ: the Arizona Mills in Tempe and the Anthem outlet in Anthem Way. We would shop for clothes (Old Navy and GAP are my favorites), shoes, gadgets, accessories and toiletries. If we’re not on the shopping mood, you could still find us at the mall near our place (Desert Ridge and Paradise Valley Mall) and look for nice bargains (Read: SALE) where we could spend are next allowance with. We really love to shop in the outlet stores because its cheaper compared to the Philippines. The good deals that I bought includes an HP desktop computer, which I got for US$326 (normally, an HP desktop costs around $700 in Manila); a GAP bag that costs less than $5 (sold in Manila for $26) and some Victoria Secret body spray for $4 each (has a retail price of $11 in Manila).

2) Hang out. After a day of shopping or mall hopping, we would buy some drinks and cook any dish. We then would either watch a movie or play some games (our favorite: TABOO). When we get drunk, a couple of us would do silly poses on the camera (blackmail materials)

3) Dining. The onshore people would usually dine on Friday nights, Sunday lunch after hearing the mass or if someone has a birthday or leaving. Our favorite dining places in Phoenix:

a) Dirty Drummer - best known for its grilled chicken wings and has 3 variances: teriyaki, BBQ and hot & spicy. It is usually served with carrots, celery sticks and ranch dip. The chicken wings are sooo good, that the guys would choose their wings over Hooters‘. This place is known as our “last supper” venue because every time one of us leaves (to go back to Manila), we would always eat here. I’d like to thank Kirk for introducing this food.
b) Cheesecake Factory - a fancy restaurant that does not only serve different kinds of cheesecake but also sells main dishes. Hazel (my room mate) and I usually dines here on a Friday evening.
c) PF Changs - a fancy Chinese restaurant. Our favorites include lettuce wrap and spicy chicken with an eggplant.

d) Fire & Ice - this restaurant serves a bowl of Mongolian food and unlimited salad and rice for $8.50 which is the best deal for quantity and price.

4) Out of town trips. Here are the places that we’ve visited during our stay:

a) Grand Canyon, Sedona and Flagstaff, AZ (winter)- Living in a tropical atmosphere got us very excited with snow. We planned to try skiing and creating a snow angel/snow man. Since we have no idea how cold it is to be on the snow, these plans did not happen. We ended up getting frostbites instead

b) San Francisco, CA - our first out-of-state trip. We were crazy enough to travel 12 hours via car. But I used to travel that long so it’s not a big deal. Since it’s a weekend trip, we only spent one day for sight seeing.

c) Orlando, FL - the happiest place on earth. Our theme park galore includes Walt Disney’s Magic Kindgom, EPCOT and Universal Studios’ Island of Adventure. On our last day, we went to the Daytona Beach and Downtown Disney.

d) Grand Canyon, Sedona and Flagstaff, AZ (summer) - we planned to watch the sunrise at Grand Canyon but Hazel and I showed up an hour late. Good thing we’re there to see the sunrise and its breathtaking. Thanks to the skilled drivers and the luck that we didn’t get a speeding ticket.

e) Las Vegas - we got a clean, wholesome entertainment while we’re there (isn’t it ironic?). We planned on having a separate guys night out and girls night out but we got very tired visiting the hotels and ended up sleeping.

f) San Diego - There are 12 of us who went there and we used 3 cars. We had a lot of bloopers along the way and every one got lost except for the team who got the car with the never-lost system.

The most important thing that happened to me during these experience is gaining a lot of friends who served as my family for the past 6 months. These people are Hazel O, Hazel A, Issa, Marge, Candy, Vench, Iks and Jansen.

Every time a new batch leaves to the US, I get excited for them. Although the onshore life seems too good to be true, at least we had a chance to know what its like to live in that kind of world… away from bills, financial obligations and the harsh reality of life here in Manila.

posted by subhuman @ 3:23 PM

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