The end of the month of December signaled another change in my hectic-but-not-too-exciting work life. It is the time that we have to quit our special team, Juventus, to be displaced to another- hopefully refreshed and now more equipped to handle customers.I miss the one-hour post huddles that we did everyday. It was pure pleasure really, being able to breathe the electrified office atmosphere first, unhurried and not forced to start another day of sycophancy and haggling with strangers to be more agreeable and more understanding about the flaws of the cosmos in general, and particularly the product we provide support with.
It was good to say "How are you today?" and make small talk without being mindful of the extended amount of time one spent with a particularly angry customer. We were reminded everyday that quality must be married to quantity but in that team, quantity seemed inconsequential; the satisfaction of the customer always the top priority.
We celebrated the success of the month and our team by having a pizza party at Picobello at the the 5th level of Gaisano South Mall. Tired and having not enough sleep, I struggled to make it on time to take advantage of the pizzeria's Buy 1 Take 1 promo which was only available from 2pm to 5pm. The Quattro Formaggi (four cheese pizza) was good, but it was my favorite Calzone that made me remember why I think this is the best pizzeria in town. The place also a lot of excellent Italian meals but we were eating off my superior's pockets so no need to ask for more, really. For about P2,000, a group of 12 people's hunger was satiated and it even included the drinks.
We separated ways after that, with people going home to their respective families. Four of us were left to watch Twilight together at Gaisano Mall of Davao. Before watching the movie, we had coffee at Brewedcaster at the 5th level parking lot.Like most movie adaptations are wont to do, this one didn't quite reach the mark that the book version had achieved. It wasn't able to show the intricacy of the love-against-all-odds story that the book had, set fantastically against the mysterious and interesting legend of vampires. Admittedly, there were moments that Robert Pattinson sent my heart aflutter. I doubt he could ever reach the perfect godliness that the hero in the book was perpetually described in but he sufficed. Kirsten Stewart was also pretty but she came across too much as channeling Jennifer Love Hewitt's brand of angsty-while-being-annoyingly-cute acting. The movie focused on the fantasy of having a perfect vampire-boyfriend who could move at great speeds, climb at the topmost part of trees and sparkle-dazzle under the sun, and hence showed more of the action parts of the story. I wish though that the movie could have established the protagonists' personalities, the dilemma of being utterly different but essentially compatible, the humanity of these so-called monsters, of being able to transcend these differences (like vampires not succumbing to their animalistic urges) and to blindly and wholeheartedly fall in love- to fall into this purposeful abyss with blind faith and commitment. For me, the book's very human and is essentially a love story that could apply to everybody who thinks they're different and therefore is afraid to fall and lust and commit and get crazy (Hmm.. like who? Hehe). I can be easily pleased though and despite the obvious flaws of the movie, I'd still recommend it.
After the movie, we wanted to dance and drink so we went to our usual haunt at Yukemie, at Rizal Promenade. It got too crowded and getting progressively older, it made me want to just go out in the open air and drink my Redhorse. Some text messages were sent and pretty soon, our group of four expanded to nine and we decided to go to nearby Mia Piace (Italian for My Place but there's nothing Italian about the place at all, unless Italian just became the synonym for Davao's gays and bisexuals) for rounds of Margarita. We sang sappy love songs and tried to belt out popular power ballads while getting drunk. Pretty soon, our group got rowdy and much too noisy, at almost 4 in the morning, although it was all confined within our circle so it was all good.
Everyone got hungry so we ate at Dimsum Diner at Ilustre. As we were eating, I looked at people's faces. Everyone was tired but still animated, the banter flowing easily. To me, they represented another month of a job well done. Nothing too glamorous or big or amazingly great, but I'm just counting my blessings.
More pictures here. Twilight book cover from here.
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