Well, they gave me a break, allowed me to buy
a car, the projects sharpened my c/c++ skills,
I had new friends, meet new people, see japan,
learned japanese.

To anyone and everyone who contributed to my
growth -thank you. I hope I was able to contribute
something to you too…

–> Whats your most memorable experience during
your stay here

Here is my top sixlist (btw: most of them happened
in japan)

5. I ate sausages, and nothing but sausages for the
whole week. I only stoped when my eyes started to
go blind.

4. I tried to buy a prepaid card.

I was explaining the concept to the store attendant,
and after about 10 minutes of silently listening to my
japanese explanation, he very slowly said (in english)
- “oh, so you want to buy a prepaid card?”

3. I was PL of a very large project. Problem was,
there were only 4 of us. The resulting bug list took
5 minutes to open. The reset bugs alone numbered
nearly into the hundreds…

After that project, the japanese manager was promptly
re-assigned and was never heard of again..
(I think he might have killed himself)

*So ye gads, please, please, always do proper estimates*

2. I passed an english document to a client, and some other
japanese rose up and explained why the document’s grammar
was bad, etc.. etc.. I was boiling in anger inside and it was a good
thing my manager was near me because I was nearly tempted to
say “Oh, so you know english? I didnt think it was supposed to
be funny”.

1. So I was sitting in my chair teaching an impressionable
young engineer, when I felt the need to discharge some
uh… gases. anyway, the resulting smell was so putrid I nearly
fell off my chair… But get this, the engineer pretended not to
notice and decides to hide his disgust by pretending to scratch
his nose. (I guess he didnt want to offend me. )
If I look close enough, I can even see tears starting to form
from his eyes.

After that I excused myself and went to the bathroom to die
in uncontrollable laughter…

Good Times!

btw: the engineer was not a “he” - it was a “she”.

Okay, before i say anythings, let me say that I have had
my share of defects. I’m inherently lazy. I tend to just do the
minimum requirements of the job and not much else.
However with that said, there is one thing I’m not guilty of.

This -

Some engineers, PL, JS, S, EM go to work everyday,
day after day after day, and show no noticable improvement.
Neither in technical, nor in japanese, nor in management.
Sometimes, not even in their interpersonal skills…

I mean c’mon, If youre doing something everyday for
the last five years, wouldnt you at least become proficient
in it? Its counter-intuitive, but it happens all the time.

To give a specific example, raise your hand if you

I dont know - Maybe you think the good times wont change?
Maybe layoffs and the likes wont happen. No? No chance of
that happening? Really? Okkaayyy… but dont say I didnt try to
warn you.. *whistles*

(Anyway, And this really gets to me - worst of all, you show
nothing, zilch, zero, null, 0×0000h, maru, rei, nada. But you have
the gall to expect promotion… As some of my lady  friends used
to say “The nerve…”)

But anyway, to each his own i guess…

–> Why did I do it

a) Its all about the benjamins
(or in this case the hirohito’s)

c) I wanted to be be able to come back, wearing
a white hat, unbuttoned flowery shirt, and yellow
large necklaces. I will then proceed to say loudly
“And init naman dito sa pinas”, while wiping my
forehead while my face is contorted in a picture
of genuine disgust.

–> No really, why did you do it?

I just have this wanderlust. This need to travel.
To see the world, to read another page of the book so
to speak.I want to wake up one morning and be able
to say to my wife - “Come on baby, pack your bags,
we’re going to the bahamas”. You know, that costs money.
The only way I can do such a thing is if I cut my spending
and save everything till I have enough - or I can try to find
a job which will allow me to earn the money necessary to
finance such activities.

Guess which way I chose?

Anyway, I hope we see each other again.
Some more than others.. haha..
(just joking 2x)