be forewarned, this entry is going to be a long one. i know i had long entries in the past, but i think this one’s gonna be a bit longer. i was thinking of posting this entry in two parts, but with time constraints and unavailability of resources (posting an entry on a dial-up station gobbles up money compared to free internet at the office), i decided to put it all in one basket. although if the system won’t allow me to post my one big entry, i’ll be forced to make it a two-part story. so if i were you, i’d go get a glass of water or a cup of coffee or hot cocoa, plus something to nibble before proceeding.

this past thursday was my team’s first ever off-site team building session. of course we preferred to call it a team outing, being it summer and all, but for all intensive purposes, that’s how we ended up calling it. of course, we had a shift the night before, so everyone brought all their stuff in at work, including me, and we were all excited to end the shift and proceed to the beach. with my agents having spread out schedules, we had to wait for everyone to log out before we can leave. so that means, i have three-and-a-half hours more to burn after my shift ends. luckily enough, my ex, lei happened to be online through ym and initiated another chat session with me. contrary to what happened during the last session, this would change things a bit.

she started by telling me about her efforts to get in touch with donna and “whip up some magic” to try and turn things around. lei made up a surprise party invitation and texted donna about it. donna didn’t reply immediately, but eventually did asking lei what was that all about. grabbing the opportunity, lei told donna about me and lei being in a group back in college, and how we met last weekend, and ended up telling stories about her and how the group wanted to meet her on that “surprise birthday party.” donna said that she was not sure, reasoning an out-of-town trip. i then told lei the real story behind that trip. i explained about her boyfriend coming home that week (it is described on my previous entries, so i won’t elaborate it here further. just check it out) and that she’s going up to clark to meet him. i also told lei about what kind of a boyfriend donna has and how his work “hampers” him from making any sort of communication with his girlfriend back home. being a woman, i was expecting some sort of agreement response from her regarding a boyfriend’s attitude in a long-distance relationship (which i honestly and truly believe that never works). instead, she just felt sorry for me about that and the topic came to a screeching halt. i told her that it’s ok and told her about my “project” (which i won’t be describing here until it has been rolled out). i was so excited when i told her, but her response was the opposite. she told me that it’s not worth it for someone like donna. i defended my would-be actions, explaining that i need to do that for myself and that some of my other friends suggested to have “the talk” with her and i’ll be using that to incorporate what i have in mind. still defiant, she persuaded me to not proceed with what i’m planning and move on. i was surprised and saddened with her stand that our replies to one another slowed down. i then told her that if this changes her promise to help me out with donna, then i’m asking lei to stop texting donna altogether. with the last of my agents soon logging out, i pleaded with her just to “back off” from donna if she really disagrees with what i’m planning and not text her about what my plan was. with that, our conversation ended.

excited to get out of the office, we raced towards the rented van and waited for the others. some brought handycams and started filming, and others (including me) who brought digicams started taking pictures. with one of my agents bringing a car, we were quite comfy sitting on the van (13 of us, including the driver) and we were off 30 minutes after stepping out of the building. we stopped for supplies at a gas station near the highway, and some bought lunch to eat while on the way. the ride was smooth all throughout, except for one portion which was really, and i mean really smooth that the van spun 180 degrees on the road. everything happened so fast. we were all laughing, joking around, teasing while the van was cruising at about 60kph at the main road in tagaytay, just past the highlands. suddenly, i just noticed that the van was already sideways, eating both lanes of the road. all of us became quiet instantly, as the van spun on the open road, 45, 60, 90 then 180 degrees and we suddenly stopped on a grassy portion just beside the road on the other lane, just beside a house. no one said a word for a full five seconds as the driver started the van and continued on our way. one of us then uttered, “thank you Lord” and all of us soon followed suit. the women were all shaken and the guys were just quiet as we contemplated on what just happened. the good things about that were (as if there is any “good” thing from a near-accident) there was no vehicle on the other lane, and behind us, the driver had excellent control over what was vehicle as it was spinning, we didn’t hit the house, or anything on the side of the road, and the van didn’t turn turtle as it was spinning. if any of those had happened, then you would be reading this in some newspaper. still reeling from the experience, all of us in the van were then talking about what they were thinking at that exact moment. but, being the wacky bunch that my team is, jokes and teases soon came flying again. i guess we’re just covering up what happened so that we could still have a good time at the beach.

after about an hour and a half more of travel, we finally arrived at our destination–safely, if i may add. we started unpacking and headed to our cottage. some of us rested, changed clothes, while some continued down to the beach, handicam in hand, filming away. we then prepared the food we were about to have for dinner. as some already owned up to what they want to do, with nothing else left for me to help out on, i went down to the beach to see the ocean. it was already dark, and all i saw was black water, with white waves coming in. some of my agents already helped themselves and went into the water for a dip. i breathed the salty air and listened to the relaxing sound of the waves while i sat on the sand as my agents frolicked and played in the water, occasionally inviting me to join them. i politely declined, preferring to swim in the morning where i can see the water more clearly. a few more minutes after, we all had dinner. as usual, laughter and teasing filled the dining hall as we feasted on grilled pork, rice, chicken and pork adobo. after dinner, some still insisted and went on swimming, others just rested, some took pictures left and right.

well into the night, we then had our team drinking session. all of us were there, as it also served as an open forum of sorts. each agent went around the table, telling what he/she thinks of that agent. there were positive comments as well as negative ones. the session ended up with me telling each of my agents how they are personally, and what i think they need to improve on. it was an eye-opening session for all of us, and i think all of us learned something new from the experience. of course, things were not all serious, as potential “hidden feelings” between agents were conjured up and became close to being known. we ended up close to around 3:30am as one by one, some of my agents went back to the cottage to sleep, tired from work the previous night and the trip to the beach. i stayed on, since there wasn’t enough room on the cottage for me to get some shut-eye. i just rested my head on the table and got 15-minute power naps, occasionally waking up just because i suddenly woke up.

at first light, with almost everybody still asleep, and around three of my agents still swimming (they just spent their time in the water after the session), i started cleaning up the mess from last night. we had breakfast shortly, and as some of the others were waking up, i asked them to join in. coffee and hot chocolate was served, together with bread and leftovers from last night. after eating, i decided to go down to the water for a dip. some of my other agents who still can’t get enough from swimming almost the entire night last night, joined in. the water was cool, and the waves were high and sturdy. we played and swam for a couple of hours until the sun’s heat rose and i had to get out of the water, lest i end up changing skin color. i then took a shower and changed clothes since we were leaving at around 12:30pm. i then spent the rest of the morning wandering around the beach, taking pictures with some of my agents and checking out the scenery. before we left, we gathered all in one room and told our “closing comments” on film which was being done by an agent. after a few more picture taking sessions, we were off to manila.