Leaflets and Free Stuff

One thing nice about walking to and from my office in Yeouido is I get a lot of free stuff that can complete any student’s back-to-school wishlist. Haha. In the mornings, even if I am already late for work, I personally have been on the lookout for those corporately-dressed people in paper sashes who distribute leaflets that come with free pens, a lot of free post-it’s, fans, and even notebooks! The handed leaflets usually offer a variety of securities investment packages, not surprising in a place where most of the securities companies and research centers are located. They’re usually the ones that come with the free items. Then there are those usual leaflets on new restaurants in the area and probably a few yoga or dance class leafltets, this time handed by older women.

I remember then how I’ve always avoided those Chinatrust loan leaflets along Makati when I was still working with a BPO company. Had they given maybe even a gum piece along with those little papers that they distribute to passers-by, then I would’ve been their avid leaflet supporter. Tee hee.

Anything that is free is worth grabbing, in these especially hard times when even push carts that you use in the supermarkets have to be paid for. Yes, that's how it is in their supermarkets here. That's why I've always sufficed with carrying baskets instead of pushing cart rollers...

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Worst Place to be an OFW in

Well, I have Economic data to prove it: It is worst to be an overseas Filipino worker in the country where I am currently in. No wonder I get all this nostalgia. Haha.


It’s a print screen view of just one of the gazillion types of data that one can get from a Bloomberg station computer. And in the light of the global recession that every nation is slowly admitting to happen, South Korea is being hit the hardest in all aspects of the economy.

Even without going so technical and fully understanding what the data presents, seeing South Korea at the bottom with the longest red line and the largest negative rate will already give you hint that the country is not doing well.

Add to that is the fact that the Philippines is among the ranks of the mostly affected currencies in the current credit crunch and the general financial crisis.

And in its most practical sense, without fully understanding how the daily currency rate is derived, the very fact that I have to lose more won value to buy a lesser dollar value, it means that my same amount of salary in won is worth much less in peso now.

That I'll need longer time to pay all my credits. That I will have to work my ass much, much harder. That I need to curb unncessary consumption. That I am just plain lucky to at least have a job that pays for the time being.

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High-Breed Brain Cells

A few minutes before lunch time today, one of the PhD Economist in the team that I am in approached me to correct himself.

"Remember the lecture that I gave to you a month before?"
"Oh yes, of course. What about it, Mr. Lee?"
"I said it's just a global slowdown, right? But I think it's a global recession already."

I saw three small dots at the end of his statement, waiting for it to be filled with an equally witty remark. "Oh, really?" And that was all I was able to say. Wahahaha.

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Why Hot Chick?

No, I am not expecting anything from this. I did it for the plain favor that it is.

Not that I feel confident with how I translated the song, I am posting my translation anyway for anyone who can come up with better suggestions. Go ahead and drop me a comment. Especially the "Bebot" song. Haha. Translating a rap song where even the words used seem to be just taken from the great pot of "anything-filipino" for the heck of branding the song by a Fil-Am as patriotic is plain hard. I just can't figure out the nipa hut line. Explain it to me, anyone.

I added music videos from You Tube, in case you're not familiar with the songs. I don't know if it's a bit of an embarrassment to admit that I really do not know Rachelle Ann Go's song until I google-d it, and a Korean likes it so much. Hehe.

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Bakit Bebot?

A colleague came up to me in the morning and handed me a sheet with a printed message on it. It read:

Magandang umaga
Hi, ------
Let me introduce myself.
I'm -----
I saw you on TYBS.
You work with ---- in Global Research Team, don't you?
He's my friend.
When I first saw you, I didn’t feel you are strange.
I stayed in the Philippines for one year.
I miss all about the Philippines.
It’s my second home.
I like to listen to Philippine songs.
I like Kitchie Nadal, Rachelle Ann, MYMP, and Orange and Lemons.
But I cannot understand some Tagalog songs.
So… I have a favour to ask of you.
Would you mind translating from Tagalog into English?
I am sorry to trouble you.
But I really wanna know what it means, and I will just ask two songs.
Is it OK with you?

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2008 Asian Song Festival

This night marked the 2008 Asian Song Festival, held at the World Cup Stadium in Seoul. After the Koreanovela tour that CJ and I went to in the morning, this is where we ended the day. I found out about the said concert from a Filipino newsletter distributed weekly in Hyehwa Catholic Church, where I hear the Sunday mass. It is a free concert that I just had to register myself into at the Philippine embassy a week before the actual event.

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Full House Tour

I sure did not go here to Korea for pure leisure travel, but I think I deserve a breather from some corporate beating that I recently got, haha. So much about “saving faces” (just take this word as a great lesson from me, it would be too hard to explain), let me tour everyone to my first, out-of-Seoul trip. Yeeeha!

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Drunkard, Again

I might want to start a photo collection of Korean drunkards. Haha. This one is oh-so OA (Philippine term and standards, teehee). It's a man who's obviously knocked out by drunkiness, sleeping and sitting with his puke. Way to go! Can somebody actually help him get up on his feet? Sheesh.

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