Remotely Yours

After two weeks in quarantine, I was finally allowed to work from home starting last Friday. For many days I was anxious from waiting especially when our VP announced that we’ll only be paid for the first week of the ECQ, and for the following week onwards, employees who are not working from home or onsite will not receive their usual compensation. If we wanted it paid, then we must use our remaining earned leaves.

Enter Week 2

It’s been a week since the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) was declared which forced many of us to stay home. Days began to blur that I didn’t even realize that yesterday was Sunday — typically my laundry day. As the self-service laundry place I go to is closed indefinitely, I have to start tackling the pile of dirty clothes in my hamper (Silver lining: Laundry is mostly house clothes and underwear).

I don’t think everything’s going back to normal anytime soon.

Hoping for the best, expecting the worst

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines as of this writing: 230

This is only my 4th day of being confined at home (since I still went to work last Monday) and I’m already getting anxious.

My unease had nothing to do with boredom or restlessness but more about starting to dread the whole uncertainty of it. See, unless you are among the filthy rich who can afford not to work for the rest of your life, you’d be stupid to think of this worldwide health crisis as a momentary “sweet escape”. It’s arrogant to assume that this will not affect you one way or another.

When this is over

When this quarantine’s over, I will ─

 - Go to mass.

It makes me feel guilty how before all this, I don’t go to church on Sundays anymore. The reason being my utter distaste at some of the clergy’s strong, rather inappropriate stance on politics and current events and not because I have gone agnostic or anything.

- Travel.

I don’t care if it’s in or outside the country, but I will. It’s only now I appreciate how fun it is to be actually out there.

Quarantined

Metro Manila started a 30-day “community quarantine” midnight of Sunday, March 15, 2020 to contain the spread of the COVID-19.

An empty street as viewed from my bedroom window 

The initial quarantine involves a ban on land, domestic air and sea travel in and out of NCR. Police and military personnel were deployed to manage peace and order. No one can leave or enter the region except health personnel, authorized government officials and workers that provide basic necessities and food preparation services.

Classes in all levels are suspended for a month. Malls, public places and most business establishments are closed until further notice, while church services and masses are also suspended for the meantime. Curfews were enforced by many cities in Metro Manila.

But then since the first announcement, many have scampered to supermarkets that shelves had been emptied when panicked shoppers bought alcohol, toilet paper, canned goods, meat products, bread, etc. by the bulk. Bus stations suddenly had an influx of passengers racing to go home to their provinces to avoid the lockdown.

It’s just like Christmas rush all over again, only that the atmosphere is far from happy.

Rest easy, pogi cousin

Death is always difficult when it comes like a thief in the night, or when it hits close to home, or when it takes a person who was once so animated and full of life.

I lost my cousin Allen (known to everyone as “Pongky”) to heart attack last Saturday. He was 40.

Only My Love is Fiercer

When I was young, I used to tell my mom in jest that I will never, ever be a strict disciplinarian like her. That I will never nag, harp on at or hit my kids. Instead, I will be open-minded and almost overindulgent. I will be more like my  “cool” dad who has a permissive parenting style.

“HA!” — she interjects with a chuckle, “Akala mo lang `yun!” (That’s what you think!)

Fast-forward to today, I realized that I did end up like her. That I am more like my mother than my father.

The apple never falls far from the tree, indeed.

The Reluctant Miss

I believe I’ve mentioned in a post last year that I have an account on an online dating site. It was something I signed up for more than five years ago, highly likely out of boredom, curiosity and, yeah — maybe even out of loneliness over something I no longer recall. Sometimes you have to throw your caution to the wind and give everything a try.

I chose Filipino Cupid because it’s not location-based like Tinder where proximity is a key factor and not dominated by twenty and thirty-somethings like OkCupid. You might say it's counterproductive, but for someone who signed-up for a dating site, I’m not actually that keen to date.