I am going to first apologize in advance for the emotional post! I am sitting on the plane now en route to New York from Hong Kong and am reflecting back on this assignment. I have so many emotions right now – sad that the assignment is over and very sad to leave new friends. But I am also so very excited to get home to see my kids and husband. It’s been a long time away from them and I can not wait to see them all again! Only a few more hours!

I was telling someone the other day that I need some time now to actually sit and process everything that we did and accomplished during the course of the 1 month assignment. It went by so fast and every day was a new and separate set of experiences. In this post, I’m going to try to summarize some of the things that I learned during my stay in the Philippines. We also had the opportunity to conduct round table discussions at the IBM office yesterday. I was in a group with HR professionals and we discussed the Corporate Service Corps (hoping some of them will get to experience it!) and career progression, etc. It was a great discussion and it also gave me the opportunity to think about some of the accomplishments and challenges of the assignment.

I learned so much over the last month, but here are some of the things that really stick out to me.

1. To grow, you must step outside of your comfort zone. I think I found a way to somehow step out of my comfort zone every day of this assignment. From agreeing to do a live TV interview, getting comfortable with singing and performing in front of crowds, discussing recommendations on topics that are outside of my expertise, to trying exotic foods (balut!) – there was always a chance for a new experience. I chose to embrace the challenges and tried to tackle them head on. In order to grow and develop as a person, it is important to experience discomfort every once in awhile. In the words of the Ginni Rometty (IBM CEO)…Growth and comfort do not coexist. I believe I was able to grow personally and professionally due to this assignment.

2. Embrace new friendships and be open to making connections with people around the world. Friends can pop up anywhere and anytime. Despite vast differences in background, culture and life experiences, you will always find ways to connect with others over similar passions and values. I have formed some strong friendships with fellow IBM CSC team members as well as with our team at DOST. Don’t close anyone out. After all, we are all more alike than we may think.

3. Be flexible and go with the flow. I usually consider myself to be a planner. I like to plan things ahead of time and anticipate and plan for different possible scenarios. During the course of this assignment, we needed to be flexible and learned that it is not possible to plan out everything because you never know what will happen. No internet connection for our final presentations? Improvise. Asked to stand up in front of a convention to talk about myself and education challenges in my home country…with a 5 minute warning? Bring it on! A DOST Director wants you to dance to YMCA before indulging in a meal? Why not!

4. Keep a positive attitude and have fun! I talked about this one in an earlier post. Don’t forget to smile, laugh and have fun. A simple smile is contagious and can affect the mood of a room. Fun and laughter can and should be integrated into most situations. Life goes by fast and it’s important to not always take it so seriously.

5. Always allow time for reflection. I learned this from Director Richard, our DOST STII host during our assignment. He provided us with some many wonderful experiences that I will always remember. In his words “skill up while you are young, climb your volcanos and get your work done to great success, but never forget to quietly appreciate the way the day turns into night. It’s the stuff that makes us happy and fulfilled and a vital skill.”

I love this and will try to find more ways to slow down and reflect on and appreciate life experiences.

Roundtable with IBM HR:

Saying goodbye to friends at the hotel:

Saying goodbye to Manila from the sky:

Another sunset…from the plane somewhere over the US Midwest

Note: this is a post from Thursday that I am just now getting around to posting.

I can’t believe we are finished with all of our work here. It is starting to get really sad thinking about saying good bye to the amazing people I have met throughout my time here. I am currently sitting in our office at DOST with Malwina and Dmitry and we have been told by the STARBOOKS team to wait for the “thing that they are going to make us do.” We didn’t bring our laptops today and we have no idea what the day will bring. We were just told to come prepared…mentally and physically. Just going with the flow…is what this experience is all about! Speaking of…we are going a little crazy and trying on the hard hats in the room for earthquake safety. So instead we have decided to take a stroll around the DOST campus. I will save this draft and pick up again later…

I’m back and have a lot to share about the experience! While we were waiting for something to start, we strolled around the DOST campus and even went out to the canteen in the back for some coffee (we surprised the staff there since they usually bring food and drinks to us…everyone was scrambling around saying “the visitors are here”!).

We were eventually led into a room on the bottom floor of the building where the large team awaited us, all dressed in traditional Filipino clothes. The room was decorated for a fiesta and there was a long table in the middle of the room covered with banana tree leaves and coconuts. We were NOT expecting something like this at all! It was such a nice and touching surprise. We sat down and listed to some speeches and watched a video that they made with pictures of us and even some funny clips of DOST employees trying to pronounce our names (mine of course was easy…but that was just the first round, then they had to pronounce Dmitry Kleymenov’s name for the second round and finally Malwina Bajsarowicz for the final round). We were laughing so hard! We gave some final remarks to the group (all of us teary eyed) and then were ready for the feast. But not before we were directed to dance to YMCA while copying the dance moves from dance dance revolution on the screen! The feast was called a “boodle fight” which is a traditional Filipino style of eating where everyone stands around the long table and eats the food with their hands. The food consisted of lechon (pig…with the head proudly displayed at one end of the table), fish, shrimp, vegetables, rice, and more. Plus some fresh coconut water to accompany the meal. It was so much fun and so delicious. We had so many laughs with the team standing around the table, and loved sharing that experience with them! Definitely something I will always remember. This is something that would be so fun to do with a group of friends and family at home sometime. And it makes for easy cleanup since there are no plates or silverware, and you can just pick up all of the leftover food by just lifting up the giant leaves underneath the food. After the feast, Director Richard asked us to do some dancing with the coconuts to make a video (because…why not?) and of course karaoke at the end of the celebration before everyone needed to go back to work. It was such fun time and a really nice way to have a celebration and goodbye with the team before we leave. It was much harder than I thought it would be to say goodbye to Director Richard and the STARBOOKS team. We experienced so much with them over the course of the month and they have been so welcoming and really opened us up to their culture in such an amazing way. After our hard goodbyes, Malwina, Dmitry and I spent some relaxing time at the pool enjoying a beer and conversation and then went out with the whole group at night as a final group celebration.

I want to mention something about the phrase “it’s more fun in the Philippines”. This is something that I heard a couple of times before the trip…mainly from one of our IBM mentors form the Philippines who helped prepare us for the CSC assignment. I didn’t really understand the phrase and I figured it was just one of those slogans that are used for certain tourist destinations or something like that. But now I get it. It really IS more fun in the Philippines. The Filipino people seem to have an ingrained quality of light-heartedness and find a way to have fun and laugh all of the time. I have encountered so many situations on this trip where I thought people would be annoyed or stressed or bitter about something…but instead, make light of the situation and somehow have the ability to “laugh it off.” I think this has a lot to do with the resiliency of the Filipinos as well – this partly stems from almost constantly having to rebuild after natural disasters. From what I have seen, this resiliency is certainly true. This is a quality that I would love to take with me and practice more of at home. Let the little things go and focus on the positive. If something goes wrong, fix it and move on with a smile on your face. Of course I have already talked about the fun that is embedded in any social event (read: impromptu singing / dancing / performances) which I would also love to see more of back home! I have gained such an immense appreciation for the culture here, but more importantly the people.

On Wednesday of this week, we had our final presentations and farewell ceremony with IBM and the Department of Science and Technology. DOST Secretary de la Pena was in attendance and also IBM Philippines leadership team. The event took place at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) building in Quezon City. This is the DOST agency that monitors the earthquakes and active volcanos throughout the country. We got to walk through a little museum at the building before the event started…and even learned some fun facts about the Taal Volcano which is the volcano we hiked up (one of the most active volcanos in the Philippines!).

After some networking and lunch, we had the final presentations. This was a shortened version from our detailed presentation with the client, as we each only had about 30 minutes to present our recommendations. But I think it all went well and we also got to hear some nice remarks from the DOST Secretary, the IBM Philippines General Manager and also all of the DOST Directors. It was a nice event with lots of awards, photos and gifts all around!

The formal event ended around 4 and then we were invited upstairs in the building for a reception for a couple of hours. We walked upstairs and entered the room, which was a big room with a screen, karaoke set-up and chairs in a single row all around the walls. We are now not at all surprised by any kind of karaoke activity…it will actually be strange to go back home and NOT see this everywhere 😀 So we sang and danced for awhile and then Director Richard directed us all in some Christmas songs and also had a nativity re-enactment with two of my team members as Mary and Joseph and one of the DOST employees as Jesus. I have never seen anything like this – especially at a work event! But…you just never know what will happen here! We laughed so hard and had a great time. Lots of fun memories and good pictures to show for it! Then we made the long journey back to the hotel and I went out for some ramen noodles with some of the girls. It was a good day and I think all of us felt a sense of accomplishment since the presentations were complete.

Yesterday, I had the chance to represent IBM on a Filipino national news network. Live. On the Early Edition program of a news channel that someone told me is like the equivalent of CNN in the Philippines. It would be a huge understatement to say that I was nervous. I was picked up at my hotel at 5AM to drive to Makati to the satellite studio of ACN News. Director Richard (of Department of Science & Technology, Science & Technology Information Institute) met me there, along with the IBM Communications Leader and the Corporate Citizenship Leader.

The interview was about 15 minutes and it was about STARBOOKS and the work that IBM is doing to partner with the STARBOOKS team. The interviewer asked me about the recommendations we made to the team and asked about the work IBM is doing with Department of Science & Technology in the Philippines. My sub-team has just provide our detailed recommendations to Director Richard and the team on Monday so I was able to talk a bit about the recommendations (at a high level). It was a strange feeling to have the make-up artists and the cameramen…and very unnatural to sit still and stare at the camera. But I got through it and I’m so happy that I had that experience. It was something I have never done before. But I also feel like the only way to truly grow and develop as a person is to try new things and be pushed beyond your comfort zone. And this was definitely one of those moments I will never forget! Since it was live TV, we didn’t see the segment right away. But instead had to wait until it was posted on the Facebook sites later in the day. However, my husband somehow managed to live stream it and he watched it live with the kids. So he sent me these pictures that I saw as soon as I stepped out of the interview and I teared up seeing them! I was so touched that they were able to watch it and am just so happy to have the support of my amazing husband through all of this. And I hope that someday my kids will realize that the world is a pretty crazy place with so many things to experience and that they can do anything they set their mind to 😀

If you would like to check out the segment, you can find it by scrolling down on either of these pages.

https://www.facebook.com/ANCearlyedition/

https://www.facebook.com/IBMPhils/

Here are some behind-the-scenes photos from the interview (and my fan club in Connecticut)!

Oh and I almost forgot, we had our meeting to walk through our detailed final recommendations with the STARBOOKS team on Monday and everything went great! They were happy with our recommendations and the roadmap. We had our final presentations today with the bigger group…will write a separate post about that. But in the meantime, here are some shots from the meeting on Monday in the DOST STII office. Final recommendations + Polish chocolates + homemade Dinuguan (pork blood soup) and some other goodies too!

For those who know me well, giving back to the community is something I am very passionate about.  I used to think I would have a career with an NGO or a non profit organization. But I was offered a job with IBM after college and have never looked back.  Even though I have had a corporate job for 12 years, I have managed to find ways to volunteer with organizations I am passionate about.  For me, giving back to the community is like food for the soul. Not only does it offer some benefit (hopefully) to the community but it also fills me with a sense of purpose and happiness.

On Saturday, we had our community service activity at Taguig City University. All IBM Corporate Service Corps assignments include a community service day where the assignees participate in an activity to benefit the local community. Our project was to host sessions at Taguig City University for university students as well as Senior High School students. I was assigned to facilitate a session for the students on the ‘Internet of Me’ which is a topic related to cyber awareness (how they can protect their online identity etc.). Other team members were assigned to additional topics related to blockchain, analytics, internet of things, project management, English communication, stress management, etc. We were all split up and assigned a group of students for workshops on these various topics. Before dividing into groups, we had an opening ceremony with the IBM GM as well as a Taguig City University Vice President. The IBM CSC team got up on the stage and we introduced ourselves to the students. As we were walking onto the stage, the facilitator asked if we had prepared a group song or dance. Unfortunately, we had not (and yes this was a serious question). In retrospect, we should have prepared some kind of entertainment. But instead we went down the line and each of us said where we were from, and a fun fact or something that we loved about the Philippines. I’m not sure why, but I decided it was a good idea to mention that I love all of the singing that is always a part of every social gathering….and then before I could even finish my sentence, the crowd starting chanting “sample! sample!” I did not prepare for a solo singing performance on stage, so I politely declined and then was made fun of by the rest of my group afterwards 😀

The workshop went well and I was so impressed with the students in my group. They were all very young – most were senior high school students so around 16 to 18 years old. I facilitated a session on cyber awareness and then my IBM CSC colleague, Mary, facilitated a session on Internet of Things (with a lively game of Pictionary in the middle of the sessions). The students were asked to come up with ideas for products utilizing the ‘internet of things’ and we were so impressed by their thoughtful and innovative ideas. Most of the students were more comfortable speaking in Tagalog (Filipino language) so we had a local IBMer in the room to help with translating. Something that struck me about the students is the fact that they were so vocal and comfortable with being in front of the room sharing their ideas. It was inspiring to be around them for the morning and I left feeling energized (although slightly hot!). We even got a chance to have Jollibee for lunch at the school…which is the most popular fast food chain in the Philippines. I heard they are even opening one up in NYC!

A fun fact about Taguig City University – this university is going to be a part of the first P-Tech model schools in the Philippines. P-Tech schools are schools which offer a joint high school / early college curriculum (generally geared towards STEM subjects) with the hope that the students will be qualified for a technical job after the end of the program. I am involved as a mentor with a P-Tech school back home in Norwalk, Connecticut (Norwalk Early College Academy). The schools partner with IBM and they are expanding outside of the US to other geographies. So it is exciting that Taguig City University is going to be partnering with IBM to start a P-Tech curriculum for it’s students. You can find out more about P-Tech schools here: https://www.ibm.com/thought-leadership/ptech/index.html

After the community service event, Malwina, Dmitry and I met with Director Richard at a nearby mall which resembles the Grand Canal in Venice. We walked around for a bit and then he drove us to the Conrad Hotel in Manila for afternoon tea and sunset views. We really have been lucky to have him show us around the city and provide us with these amazing experiences. He drove us back to the hotel, and we were listening to loud music and watching the sunset light up the sky in so many different colors. It was one of those moments that will probably stick with me for awhile. It was once again another great day!

This has been a BUSY week! This is the 3rd week out of the 4 week assignment so all of the groups have been super busy preparing the final recommendations and final presentations for next week. We will have a presentation of our recommendations with Director Richard and the STARBOOKS team on Monday and then final presentations and closing ceremony with IBM and the Department of Science and Tech (DOST) Secretary on Wednesday. On Tuesday of this week, we went to the IBM office for a mid assignment review with the IBM General Manager which went well but on the way home we were stuck in major Manila traffic and it took us 2 hours to move 8 miles. We got back to the hotel around 9 and ordered pizza to the hotel for a big pizza party with some surprisingly good pizza (it was called Yellow Cab pizza but I don’t think I’ve ever seen this in New York!). On Wednesday night, the ladies of our team decided to have a ‘girls night’ in the hotel with some food, drinks, matching shirts and face masks. It was a fun time to spend with the group of 8 of us and we had lots of laughs together. On Thursday in the office, I started to appreciate the napping culture of the workplace here. Usually after lunch time, we see some lights out in the offices and some ‘quiet time’ for the employees. I could definitely use that every once in a while!

Part of the recommendations to the STARBOOKS team are related to IT infrastructure and ensuring they have a scalable system to support further growth. Now, neither Dmitry, Malwina or I are IT Architects (read: before I left for this assignment, I had to google search what a web server is)…SO this in itself has been a challenge and a major learning opportunity. Luckily, we have learned a LOT and have been so grateful for the local IBMers and fellow CSC team members who have stepped up and offered some incredible support. And have been very patient in explaining everything. Now I am happy to say that I understand most of the discussions around IT infrastructure. However, when the discussion turns to programming and coding then I feel like I am in a room with people speaking another language. Oh well…a little bit at a time I guess 😀

Apart from work this week, we managed to do a lot of strolling around the mall in the evening (it’s nice to have so many nearby but I’m also going to be ok with taking a break from malls when I get back home). It really is a social activity here, and you will see many groups of friends and families wandering around the malls all the time. Much of this has to do with the heat here…it’s much more pleasant to get out of the street/house/office and into a place with AC!

Tomorrow is Saturday and we have a community service event planned with IBM and Taguig City University which is a state-run university near DOST. Each of the CSC members is responsible for leading a group of 30 students (mix of senior high school and university age) in a lecture and activity on a specific topic. I will fill you in more after the event. Apart from that activity, I’m sure we will be enjoying the last full weekend of the assignment, in and around Manila. Time is flying! Happy weekend to everyone!

DOST office life:

Meeting at IBM with the full CSC team:

IBM Philippines to the rescue at DOST:

Yummy lunch with the client:

Jeepneys are used all over the Philippines for transportation:

Our amazing driver Medel:

When a group from USA, Brazil, Russia, Poland, India and Australia climbed up a volcano inside of a lake inside of an island in the Philippines and then finished the day listening to jazz with Spanish tapas and Japanese beer…you realize how small the world is! Let me tell you about my day yesterday (Saturday).

We had an organized group trip to Taal Volcano which is about 2 hours away from Manila. An IBMer from Manila organized everything for us which was so nice. So once again, we just had to show up for the van and then go with the flow. It was an adventurous and memorable day! We loaded into the vans at 6AM and headed to to the departure area for Taal Volcano. We parked at a boat launch and after a brief introduction and guide, we split into 3 groups and hopped into boats. It was about a 20 minute boat ride to the volcano and then a hike for about 1 hour to the top. The trails were dusty and the volcano is still active so they even provided us with some masks. There were some spots along the trail where you could see steam coming out of the rocks and the rocks were super hot to the touch. I’m glad that we went early because it was starting to get very hot, even that early in the morning. We were all extremely sweaty when we got to the top but the view was more than worth it. They give you the option to go up on a horse or hike…but everyone in our group except for one opted to hike instead of horse ride (I felt kinda bad for these horses who didn’t seem to be treated too well). When we eventually got to the top, we had some amazing views of the crater lake and all around. After the trek down, we hopped in the boats again but this time we were going against the wind and it took a very long time and I was soaking wet by the time we got to the shore. But at least it helped cool us all down! We then had some lunch and headed back to the hotel. I rested after a longgg day and wasn’t planning to do anything that night but then decided to join the group and go to a late dinner at a yummy tapas place near the hotel followed by an outdoor jazz festival which was a lot of fun. It was very relaxing and a great way to end a hectic week and an active day. Today has been spent relaxing…massage plus some pool time and then just catching up on things to get ready for a busy work week. We will need to go to IBM on Tuesday to present our work thus far and will spend the rest of the week finalizing our recommendations, presentations and roadmaps for the clients. Busy times ahead! Now I will have some room service dinner and then early to bed!

On another note, I am now more than half way done with the assignment. It’s crazy how fast time has gone by but at the same time seems as if I have been here forever. I am having such a wonderful experience and enjoying every minute but I miss my family so so much too! I am the person who is awkwardly latching on to any small kids I see…just to get my fix of being around kids. Luckily about half of the IBMers on my team also have kids at home so we can all relate. I can’t wait to give mine a big big squeeze in just 2 more weeks!

I spent some time with this girl who was taking care of her sleeping baby brother in the hammock. We couldn’t really understand each other but she liked sitting with me and I of course I loved it too 😀

Sorry for the long break with the blog posting. It’s been a super busy week and now I feel like the non-stop action is finally catching up to me. I’m not feeling so great today so it’s been a nice catch-up day. So now I can finally catch up and fill you in on everything that has been happening over the past few days! Most of the week days since we’ve been here have been spent working at the DOST campus and preparing for the recommendations for our project work. I mentioned in an earlier post that my small sub-group is focused on providing recommendations for what we need to have in place from a technical/support standpoint to enable the growth of STARBOOKS. There are currently around 3000 STARBOOKS kiosks around the country disseminating science & technology information to students and they would like to grow even more over the next few years – to allow students all over the country to have access to this information, either online or offline if they don’t have internet access. Over the course of this year, the team has conducted conventions to bring beneficiaries and learning partners together. We were invited to the first convention for the southern Luzon cluster (which includes the metro Manila area, but also many other provinces to the south of Manila..many in very remote areas and islands) on Thursday and Friday. The convention brought in teachers and librarians from school districts utilizing STARBOOKS. Many shared their stories about how access to science and technology information has allowed their students to accelerate their education. There were also learning partners there, who were the companies and institutions providing material for STARBOOKS and also donating machines to schools. It was a very inspiring event and I was so happy to be a part of it. I was even asked to give a speech to the group (along with Malwina and Dmitry) about the work we are doing and about educational systems and challenges in our respective countries. I am in awe of the work the STARBOOKS team does to ensure that science & tech information is accessible to students, especially in very remote areas. The team has had many deployments where they had to physically carry these kiosks over mountains and through rivers. This is not an exaggeration…some of the schools are so remote and the students have never even seen a computer in their school. It’s really amazing work and I’m so proud to be a part of it. The 2 main people we are working with, Alfon and Mavie, are a husband and wife duo who actually designed the concept of STARBOOKS (it was Alfon’s thesis) and they have seen it all come to life. They have 2 children and everyone jokes that STARBOOKS is their third child…they are so devoted to the work and it is really amazing.

Anyway, we had a great time meeting many people at the convention and taking an unbelievable number of pictures with various participants! And we also had the chance to do a lot of exploring around the area with DOST Director Richard. The convention took place in the Manila Bay area which is about an hour from our hotel so we stayed there overnight on Thursday (which gave us the opportunity for some bonding with the team over karaoke and balut which is probably the most disgusting thing I have ever eaten but I’m proud of myself for at least trying it!). The hotel is right in the heart of the historical part of the city…it was close to the Manila Bay and across the street from the US Embassy. And close to Intramuros which is the old Spanish walled city within Manila. So over the course of Thursday and Friday, apart from the time spent at the convention, Director Richard took us on a tour of Intramuros, took group photos in Rizal Park, went to Ocean Park, had a coffee at the old Manila Hotel (an old, grand colonial style hotel from the US occupation), and finally shopping and dinner at Barbara’s which is a heritage restaurant in Intramuros. Whew, it was a busy 2 days but I enjoyed every minute of it. The information we learned at the convention will certainly help as we finalize recommendations for the agency, and it was also wonderful to experience the historical and cultural tours around the area.

From the convention:

Group photo opp with all convention participants at Rizal Park:

In and around Intramuros:

Barbara’s Heritage Restaurant:

Alfon and Mavie…the dream team!

Today was a great day. We were invited just yesterday to a reception with the Filipino Secretary of Science and Technology, Fortunato dela Pena. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortunato_dela_Peña

Secretary dela Pena is an appointee of President Duterte and we were so honored to be able to attend a reception with him and the agency leaders. The reception started at 4PM on the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) compound which is where we work every day. Yesterday we heard that the Secretary likes singing but we weren’t 100% sure what that meant for us. Now we know to always be prepared with some songs to sing during some official meetings or gatherings 😀

I looked at the program when we first walked in and it looked pretty standard for this type of event – starting with registration, then ice breaker and speeches and the some photo opportunities and networking (whew, it seemed like karaoke was not on the agenda). Immediately once Secretary dela Pena entered the room, the reception started with the ice breaker portion of the event. We were divided into 4 groups (probably about 10 people each) and we had to compete for various things. One example – we had to line up according to our waist size and the first team to get in order correctly won. Yes, you heard me correctly – waist size. So everyone was quickly scrambling, looking at each other and calling out numbers (presumably the size pants they wear). This was definitely a first for me, and I guess a pretty good way to break the ice! Lots of laughs and getting to know one another quickly. We then heard some speeches from the IBM Philippines General Manager who was there, as well as Secretary dela Pena about the importance of innovation and the work the IBM team is doing here. It was an amazing experience to have some face time with a senior government official and for him to acknowledge the work we are doing for DOST. They had a pig roast for us…which is usually only done for fiestas and special occasions. It was a special event with lots of colorful decorations as well. After the speeches were completed, they called up 2 DOST employees who were asked to sing. They were amazing singers and then of course we all were encouraged to jump in as well. Now, we all got pretty comfortable with karaoke last weekend…especially after a few drinks. This time, we were in business attire with no alcohol. So a slightly different environment! But it was great and we had such a wonderful time. The STARBOOKS team sang a song with our Director and everyone was just jumping in and singing whenever they felt like it. I really love this…I think I need to bring back karaoke to IBM meetings in the US (and perhaps to our meetings with government officials / politicians as well!). Maybe the world would be a better place if everyone just sang together and laughed more 😀 Once again, another great cultural experience and just one more thing to make me love the Filipino people and culture even more. Here are some photos from the reception today as well as some from the DOST flag ceremony yesterday which takes place every Monday morning at 8AM on the DOST compound.

Secretary dela Pena and Director Richard singing together

Flag ceremony on Monday mornings. Monday’s are “white” day so everyone wears white shirts. The flag ceremony consists of a prayer and a civil servant pledge plus a song. It was great to be a part of it.

After a productive non-stop work week, we had an organized trip to a beach area this weekend which was about 3 hours from Manila. IBM / ABV sponsored the weekend so all we had to do was show up outside the hotel at 9AM on Saturday. (Side note: sometimes this trip feels like a long field trip where everything is organized and all we have to do is show up and go with the flow…nice change of pace from real life!). We had a windy and hilly ride in a van through various hill and coastal villages. We were heading to the south west of Manila, on the southern end of the island of Luzon. Once you get out of the metro Manila area, the ride is mostly small roads winding through the countryside…even though there is still traffic for most of the way! We started off with some lunch and down time at a nearby beach close to the hotel. It felt really really good to escape the crowded city and breathe some fresh air. I took a walk along the beach and then we loaded into the van to head to our resort, Club Punta Fuego. It was absolutely beautiful. We arrived later afternoon, so the sun was starting to set right over the pool and we all hung out there before a night of dinner and karaoke. We had our own room for dinner and there was a karaoke machine set up when we arrived. At first, the group was slightly hesitant to sing anything (especially with the bright lights and quiet setting). But after the ABV Filipinos started us off, we quickly warmed up…and I must say the Red Horse beer may have helped a little bit too 😀. I unfortunately don’t have great photos and I will spare you the videos on this blog post. But we did have a great time. Karaoke is a big part of Filipino culture and it doesn’t matter if you are a good singer at all…it’s all about the confidence and having fun. Hopefully we will get a chance to do it again while we are here..it was a lot of fun! My throat is a little sore today from all of the singing and laughing.

Today was spent at the pool and another beach. We had lunch near the beach with a fresh coconut to help hydrate for the day which was delicious. On the way back (which was much longer than Saturday AM because of traffic), we had some fun group discussions on lots of things…including most memorable moments in life, favorite travel places, how we met our spouses, sharing pictures of kids etc. It has been so wonderful getting to know everyone and sharing stories. So many different experiences and things we can learn from one another.

Ok, I’m off to bed now. I was able to catch up with my husband and kids, parents and sister all in one night which was so great. It will be an early morning tomorrow because we will arrive at 8 in time for Monday flag ceremony at the office.

Leaving the hotel:

Drive to Punta Fuego:Beach near resort:

Club Punta Fuego