Differences

After a long day from work, this anonymous note on my door surprised me.

I was speechless for a minute or two. Not again, I thought. Why on earth I have overly sensitive neighbors and all the sounds coming from my room were closely monitored? Since that complaint I received last March, I have been very cautious not to disturb my neighbors again. From that time one, even how inconvenient it is, I use earphones while using my PC or listening to music, especially at night. And for the record I am not even watching television since most of the times I cannot understand Japanese shows. Though at certain times, I listen to my ipod without earphones but it is on a very minimum level. And I cannot imagine how that sound would actually bother them. And I don’t sing along. The vibration of the A/C or of the exhaust, even the water from the faucet is way louder that the ipod’s volume.

Perhaps, maybe because I am a foreigner and they can easily assume that I am the source of that noise. Or maybe because of what had happened before, making me an automatic suspect. That note (though maybe be written nicely and in English) really left me wondering. This is an apartment, and not an asylum or any music-restricted place, if there’s any. I wrote a reply on that note but decided not to post it to avoid further misunderstanding. Literally, I am living in silence at night.

If only my neighbors knew how I understand their situation when they wash their clothes in the middle of the night. Or when their dogs bark in the middle of the night. Or when they listen to some Japanese shows and get excited late at night. Or when their kids start running around in the wee hours. I did not complain to the building administration or our company’s admin thinking that these are inevitable and they have all the right for it. And I respect that. But here they are complaining right away to the littlest sound coming from my room. We all have cultural differences and as much as possible we should respect and understand one another as long as it doesn’t spell abuse.

I already informed our company’s administration in order to help me with this one. They told me that if I continue to feel uncomfortable, I can move to other apartment. But what if I’ll have the same kind of neighbors again? Same old story.

For the meantime, I decided to stay in my present apartment and will be more extra cautious not to upset them again (but I didn’t do anything). I am afraid though that next time someone will post a note outside my door that I cannot walk around my room after 9 pm.

That will be a different story.

totomai
11/12/10

Update

Two days after I posted Unmasked, a blog entry / rant about not receiving my prize 5 months since the winners of a local photography contest were announced, I received an email from EPSON REP (ER) that my prize from NIKON is already ready for pick-up. I am not sure if any of those two firms read my blog that prompted them to do action or just purely coincidental.

April 14. Part of the email says,

I received a text message from Nikon yesterday stating that the check is ready for pick-up. Thus, he said that the winner should be the one to claim it. I informed him that you are not in the Phils.

Now, NIKON wanted me to claim the money personally. I replied citing that I already forwarded my bank information late last year to them (EPSON) since NIKON plans to deposit the money.

April 15. Got two emails from ER.

I just found out they will surrender the check to us here in Epson. Let me get back to you regarding this.
-------
I'm waiting for feedback from Nikon. They initially want someone to pick-up the check. We'll see if we can just be the one to do the bank transfer. FYI.

Everything was still unclear. I didn’t reply this time.

April 20. I received an email from another EPSON Rep (AER) stating that they already brought up the issue again with NIKON. I thought, it is not yet settled.

I was informed regarding the prize from Masskara Photo Contest.My apology on this matter.

The prize comes from Nikon(Columbia Digital) and not from Epson. I have already brought up the concern to them and in order for this to be settled immediately. We have asked NIKON to deposit your price today. Again my apology.

I replied, asking them to inform me if they have deposited the money already.

April 22. I received another email from AER

My apology for this incident sir.I will arrange it personally sir for this to be resolved immediately. I will accompany them to deposit your prize. I personally thank you for the patience you have given to the situation. I assure you that these things will not happen again.

I told AER that my brother informed me that an additional 16K were entered to my account. I asked AER to confirm if this money came from NIKON and to inform me if the prize money was deducted by some tax or something, and by how much.

April 23. AER told me again that the prize came from NIKON and not from EPSON. In the email, AER included NIKON REP (NR) for them to answer my query.

Dear NR,

Kindly ask your staff to email (me) re the details on how did you compute the deduction of taxes.

AER

No reply. Nothing. Last April 27, 2010, I followed-up again and told AER that maybe the tax deduction was 20% (4000 pesos) that is why I only got 16000 pesos. But no reply from both parties. Until now. Or perhaps they are still calculating it.

Anyway, I am still thankful to have received the prize money I fairly won five months ago. The hassles brought by this contest in claiming the prize money won’t be forgotten easily.

Of course, I would like to thank everyone for the support and for sharing my blog post to their personal sites / blog sites. I still believe that this not-so-immediate action done by the sponsor was due to the fact that they were able to read my previous blog as well as your comments.

totomai
05/01/10

Unmasked

I won a local photography contest, ranked 2nd out of 179 entries. Winners were announced last November 5, 2009. But until this very moment, I haven’t received the prize money of 20,000 pesos (equivalent to US$450 or 40,000 Yen).

behind smiling masks
inner colors dimmed and dark
emotions unmasked

Last October 2009, I went home to attend my brother’s wedding and at the same time, to experience the revelries of MassKara Festival. I saw a poster about a MassKara-related photo contest. To make the story short, I joined and submitted my entries and other requirements before my flight back to Japan. Bodyshot Photography is the contest organizer (though on articles it says PhotoPROS, Inc) and informed me that all entries will be exhibited at SM City Bacolod from Nov 2 to Nov 8. Judging and announcement of winners will be on Nov 5.

November 7, 2009. My brother went to SM to check whether the exhibit is still on-going. And then he thought that one of the winning photos was mine. He went home immediately, took his camera and sent me this photo. It was my shot. I told him that maybe the organizers will send a notification mail or will make a call informing that I won. Nothing. No call. No mail. For the past 14 days.

I started to think that maybe it wasn’t my photo after all. Perhaps somebody submitted a very similar photo to mine. Since I didn’t receive any notification, I googled the theme and lead me to this site, Winners of MassKara Photo Contest. This is the only confirmation I have. My only evidence even with my name incompletely written. It was my photo and made me wonder why I haven’t received any sort of notice.

Moving on, I instructed my younger brother to call Bodyshot Photography for confirmation. After asking my brother loads of questions, they confirmed that I won but advised my brother to wait for the official notice / call from the sponsor since they didn’t have the prize money yet. After three days, my brother called again to follow-up the status. This time they told him to check the Negros Daily Bulletin, a local newspaper, since they will be publishing the names of winners soon. Since then, my brother bought newspaper every day for two weeks. Nothing. Negative. I told him, just call them one more time and asked them about the status. He obliged. The organizer told him to contact EPSON, the main sponsor, for the said prize.

Next chapter. December 10, 2009, I sent an email to an EPSON representative (ER) and after some introduction, I ended my mail with

“In this regard, I would like to know how can I claim my prize? Or will EPSON send some notification to the winners?”.

And within minutes, I received a reply from her, thanked me for participating and congratulated me for winning. That was my second evidence. A good start, I thought. A little later, she informed me that she contacted NIKON for my prize money. Come again? From EPSON to NIKON through Columbia Digital. According to her, NIKON is in-charge of my prize will be contacting me as soon as.

December 14, 2009. ER asked me for my account number and bank information as required by NIKON guy (NG). She ended the email with

“Maybe I'll just email you once Nikon has deposited the prize already”.

I was still hopeful and sent the required details immediately.

December 27, 2009. I inquired about the update. The next day, ER told me that she’ll follow up with Nikon and will give me feedback ASAP.

Then it was 2010.

January 11, 2010. I followed-up the status again to ER. She was surprised that NIKON hadn’t contacted me yet. She thought everything was settled.

January 18, 2010. Another follow-up was sent.

January 29, 2010. This time, she gave me the email of NG. I told her I’ll wait for another week before I’ll email NIKON. Still no word from the sponsor.

February 10, 2010. I decided to email NG, summarizing what has transpired between me and ER since December 2009. But I haven’t received any reply from him. Zilch. I emailed him again last February 15, 2010 asking for some acknowledgment. Nothing. I am not sure if its too difficult for him to hit the reply button or he is just too lazy to do it.

Feb 19, 2010. I informed ER about this (although she might very well knew since she was included on those emails). I told her that I am already getting frustrated. The EPSON rep told me that even she transferred division already she still followed-up NIKON every time I sent an email.

March 8, 2010. I sent another follow-up mail to ER. No reply from her. Sent one again last March 22, 2010. A part of her email, baffled me actually

“I really don't know what's happening. Epson gave the prizes to the others (the ones we were supposed to give prizes to last year already)”. So, all winners received their prizes other than me. WOW! "

March 22, 2010. A friend of mine contacted EPSON via its website and was able to talk to ER. She reiterated that NIKON was in-charge of my prize.

March 23, 2010. ER informed me that her colleague will have a meeting with NIKON and will raise this issue.

March 25, 2010. A rather disturbing email came from ER.

“We followed-up with Nikon and they said it's being processed. No date was given still. :(“

April 3, 2010. I expressed my frustration and puzzlement about this. And last April 4, 2010 I received an email from ER.

“I'm honestly personally frustrated as well. It is truly surprising that they cannot award this right after the announcement of winners. Epson has done it. We have awarded our winners. I'm truly sorry for this.

I really have no means of doing anything more. All we can really do is follow-up with Nikon. I don't know what to say. They have been telling us since the first time you emailed me that they are processing the payment already. “

That's it. That triggered me to write this blog entry.

From here on I don’t know how to follow-up anymore as more or less I will be receiving the same replies. In 6 months time, Bacolod City will be having its MassKara Celebration again yet my prize money is still in limbo.

And as mentioned earlier it seems that I am the only unlucky winner of this event as everyone else received his / her prize.

This is my first win in any photography contest and thought it would be special. But it turning out to be the other way around.

Who is to be blamed here? I am really disappointed and frustrated about how this contest was handled. As a participant I have done my share and organizers as well as sponsors should do theirs too. First, the organizers should have anticipated issue like this and have done any counter measures to avoid it.

To the sponsors, this is one of your marketing strategies. Your names are displayed on the posters and I guess that’s one way of returning the favor from your sponsorship. Once you commit, have your word to it.

I am not yet sure what would be my next step in order to claim the prize. Yes, that 20,000 pesos which I won fair and square.

Any advice?

/totomai
04/12/10

Ticking

I just realized that its already second week of December. I guess my workload is taking most of my time right now and I can’t actually blame it since it’s the busiest month of the year and everyone wants to finish his assignments and responsibilities before taking a well-deserved vacation.

I am going home on December 26 but before that I will be attending another supervisory work in South Korea on the 17th to 20th. I hope the job will be smooth so I can go back to Japan on the scheduled date and I can still have enough the time to prepare for my trip home.

Time

inescapable
my beats are heard by many
an ageless prophet

uninterrupted
others wish me to speed up
few wants me to stop

everlasting
my ticks will play ceaselessly
i am Mister Time

/totomai

Time, how can I control? You will always take charge of the pacing. Adding insult to the injury is the current atmospheric temperature. Winter is coming (or has it already arrived?) and I have to live with that.

Japan is on full-illumination right now. Had no time to visit parks right now but I hope I can before going back to the Philippines. These lights are seducing me every time I view them on the train. A sight to behold and reminded me that it’s the Holiday Season already. Time to receive gifts once again, haha!

Anyway, just writing some babbles. A way to recognize if I am still normal, existing or not.

/totomai
12/11/08

Roar

Allow me to rant a bit.

Cebu Pacific has a comparably lower rate than that of Philippine Airlines, be it a domestic or an international flight. And according to a newspaper ad, the former leads the latter when it comes to total passengers carried last year. Good job then, Cebu Pacific!

I am in Thailand and working for almost a year already. My friend is planning to take a vacation at the end of March and had requested me to do the online booking using my credit card. I tried, but my transaction was denied. Funny but my card had no outstanding balance or whatsoever. Zilch. I told my friend that I will buy her ticket when I return to the Philippines via Philippines Airlines, lol.

Anyway, 330 pm, Monday, I went to Cebu Pacific (lol, I won’t be mentioning the outlet here) to purchase the ticket. They had a separate queue for international flights, and I was lucky enough that my number was called at 4 pm. To my surprise they (Cebu Pacific staff) asked me to wait as they will check the availability of my friend’s preferred flight and called the next number. 430 pm, a little commotion took place as the guard locked the door even when it says they close at 5 pm. Perhaps they are expecting that at 5 pm, all who are inside will be finished so they can go their way. No overtime for them. Haha! 5 pm arrived and they said there still checking the schedule. WTF? 30 minutes after, they confirmed that there is still an available seat. I immediately asked how much and if I can pay by card. Its about 18K pesos and only a portion of it (60%, IIRC) can be paid by card and the rest by cash according to them. So I told them if I can withdraw since I didn’t bring enough money, lol, and an ATM machine is only on the other street. They said, they’ll just reserve the seat and I have to pay the next day. I said fine, I’ll just return tomorrow morning, its 630 pm already! But they said, wait! We haven’t confirmed the reservation yet, so if I can wait for a bit to be sure. WOW! Just wow! I insisted that I’ll just withdraw some money, but they said it won’t take long and they are already closed. Okay.

While waiting, I was able to ask a staff regarding the online booking. I told her my transaction was denied. She said that it needs a manual approval from Cebu Pacific (which means that you have to call the main offices – Manila or Cebu). So, what’s the use of online booking then? She answered confidently, its our policy. WTF? Its 715 pm when they finally confirmed that the seat is reserved and I’ll just pay tomorrow morning.

I went to the said outlet at 930 am, and of course they know me already after spending a couple of hours the day before. I was pretty pumped up that I’ll just spend 30 minutes the maximum but lo and behold, the staff asked me, sir can I get your preferred schedule??? WTF? I thought it was okay already and you will give me the ticket as soon as I arrive, of course, after paying. And here we go again, starting with the computation of how much I am going to pay, and this and that. It’s the policy, sir. De javu, anyone? They finally gave me the ticket at exactly 1230 pm. Fuck!

The next day my friend asked me if I can rebook the ticket on a later date. I checked the online booking and the price was lower than the original one. So I called Cebu Pacific and asked if I can rebook the ticket. The staff answered that its okay you just have to pay 1.5K pesos for rebooking fee and requested me to go their office and since its lunch time she can’t stay long on the phone. WTF?

I went there Thursday, 110 pm. I let them check the new schedule and was confident enough that the fare will be cheaper. They said that I have to pay an additional 7K pesos if I want to rebook the ticket since there are no more ‘cheap’ seats available. So I argue and showed the print out based on the online booking. They insisted its different from online booking and actual booking. I told them how can it be different? They told me, just because. WTF?

Whew! So I asked them what if I will just refund the ticket and they said its fine but I’ll have to wait for 2-3 months before they can return the money. Wow! I paid in cash, yes sir, but it’s the policy! I told them I guess you refer to the online booking since it will take time obviously. They showed the bulletin that for refund based on online booking, it will take 8-10 months before it will be returned. Amazing Cebu Pacific! I left the place at 430 pm.

I am not sure if they are properly trained or what? Management, look at your staff. Tsk, tsk.

And by the way, another friend of mine was able to rebook his ticket with a cheaper price. Must be their computers doing some random selections, lol.

I hope I won’t deal with this kind of people in the near future. Well, I guess I won’t as I haven’t taken an international flight via fucking Cebu Pacific!

Cebu Pacific Air - It's time everyone flies... after your patience had been tested. LOL!

/totomai
03/20/08

Frozen

I have lots of stories to tell, hundreds of photos to show and couple of experiences to share but the main problem is that I don’t know how to do it.

My creative juices have dried down dramatically. I can feel it and its not a good thing. I hate to imagine that my passions are turning into liabilities. I still like to write, to take photos, to travel but the fire inside me isn't same flame I had before. I am getting frustrated in all I do and instead of being satisfied, my stress-level is skyrocketing! And I don’t want to lose more strands of hair!

I’ve been bored lately. B-O-R-E-D. (Thanks to homesickness for the frequent visits!)

Here’s my current state –

On A Poet's Desk During Winter

The raspberry candle
melts the web from unexplored volumes,
warms the green tea in manila cup
--- now cold and stationary.

Paper balls fall from the desk,
avoid the slumber of cigarettes;
the quill remains silent
its ink --- frozen.

I still do read blogs, but I don’t have the words to leave. I still enjoy looking at the amazing photos in Flickr but I don’t know to convert my awe in words. They are scarce for the time being. I still exist though.

Perhaps, I just reach the saturation point.

/totomai
10/03/07

Waiting

I was scheduled for Thailand last Friday but due to some unknown interventions, it was moved to a not-so-specific date. I’m wishing it would be soon though as I can’t stay longer here in Metro Manila. Or I’ll go crazy. I went here in an instant after being informed last May 7 that I will be mobilized come May 11. I stayed in a hotel for 3 days but moved to my friend’s place after my flight’s cancellation.

Well, I just can’t go home yet to Bacolod City as I have lots of important things to do. Have a lot of papers to sign, as you know, the embassy just adds gazillion of documents to submit before they will finally give the much-needed stamp! Grrr. Got to have medical clearance too. I just don’t like the idea of running and jumping naked in front of the physician. LOL. But what can I do? It is a requirement. From blood tests, dental check-up, stool examinations and the never-ending psychological exams. I think I have taken the last exam a hundred times already with the same questions and varying answers of course. Haha.

Anyway, I missed two events while staying here in Makati and isolating myself from my friend’s place – Mothers’ Day Celebration and Election Day. I called my Mom last Sunday and the first words she uttered may pera ka pa ba diyan? She said that even before saying thank you! A lunch or dinner with our family would have been a great way to celebrate her day. Oh well. About the election, I couldn’t care less of who will win but at least I should have voted for XXX. Haha! My brother told me that my name is still on the voter’s list. I will never know if somebody voted for me.

This entry may be senseless but I just have to express my current state of mind. Time is gold. The clock is ticking very fast. The status will be known by tomorrow, its too expensive to stay here. I can go either way – to Thailand or Bacolod.

/totomai
05/15/07

Crash

Wow. What a way to start the day. Voices collided on air about unresolved issues since time immemorial. My uncle went to our house to get his share of the harvest. As he just came back from Iloilo, he reported to my mother and my aunt (his sisters) regarding the situation of their “small property”. It’s been always like this and I hate listening to money, land, tenant and harvest discussions. The exact and real scenario is always difficult to see since the supporting details are always blurry. Who is responsible? Who will pay this and that? My grandparents, an uncle and an aunt of mine are already gone but still no definite answers seem to appear. I am afraid that more chaos and misunderstanding will take place once only the second generation is left.

As these discussions continued, and thinking they will end after an hour or two, I went out of my room and directly jailed myself in the shower. It was good after all as I can only hear the whispers of the water. Though bordering in a deafening silence mood, I was easily comfortable. I was even able to recall the time when I told my mom that once I get a 7-digit monthly salary, she need not to worry anymore hehehe. How I wish I could land a job anytime soon. I just want to help my family so they can divert their attention to this never-ending-irresolvable problem.

The last drip of the water from my skin signaled that I have to get out of this temporary isolation. I find it funny that after their arguments; they always end up good and cool with each other. Why do I have to take notice of it if this is just a flashback of sort?

Well, I do hope this won’t be my wake up call again. Or else – where’s my gun? LOL.

totomai
04/09/07