We’ve been talking about this trip for several months. Zack was graduating from high school and we’ve been figuring out where we will be going by way of our graduation present for him. A trip to Hongkong was considered but we wanted our hard-earned pesos to go back to the country so a trip to Boracay shot up in the short listed options. After a short discussion (or no discussion at all), Boracay was cast in stone. Schedules when to buy bathing suites, sunglasses, sun block lotions and all other items an occasional flyer going to a paradise resort was done. That last minute surge to put the best foot forward so that the bosses can take pity and say yes to an application for leave was also accomplished.


But what does a creature wired to work 24x7, 365 days a year, year in year out for 20 years do for a vacation? Much less for recreation? Well, the day before the big day, I had to take on a double shift (read: 24 hours of work with no more than 5 trips to the rest room while camping out in front of the computer to make sure that there’s enough crap for all my more than 100 team members to be busy with for the next 4 days.

There was a last minute option to leave my Precious (no, not my wife, but yes, she is very). Precious is aka my new Dell laptop with a keen sense of smell for sniffing wireless networks. But leaving it for four days, unused, in my office was unthinkable. My wife, as always, wanted me to be in the airport half a day before the plane departs. And every time I have a plane trip I cut it as close as I can (yup, a cheap thrill) and I’ve been successful to keep the streak going, missing only one flight in the process (and I’ve already logged several thousand miles)

Its been ages since I’ve been into our domestic airport and it was a sight to behold. There was organized chaos, a doublespeak perhaps suited only to what we Filipinos have perfected without effort. I cringed at the site of a lot of foreigners, What must they be thinking about us? Here am I, trying my darnest best to do a Quixotic job in my own little patch of green called the office to tell my non-Filipino colleagues that we are at par and even better in most situations than the rest and in one setting get floored by the site of non-organization at its best! Oh well, I consoled myself and just thought that they seemed to be enjoying themselves. I had a quick thought that they will all be going to Boracay. Okay, so more green bucks being pumped into the sputtering economy.

As I was lining up on the check-in and into the terminal fee counter, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was only me who was lugging a laptop and that the rest of the universe was looking at my laptop case as if I was sneaking some contraband in Bora (Mo Twister, eat

your heart out) . I smiled at them but deep inside I was sneering with the thought that they probably don’t know my job – that I help the country in its fight against unemployment or more nobly my efforts were directed at holding the fragile economy together (I can easily run for senator!). Our flight was delayed (no surprise) so I managed to squeeze in 45 more minutes of computer time -- this despite having not able to sleep for 24 hours. Pure nirvana for me. The flight was only 35 mins and I felt a little bad that I couldn’t type a few words. No worries, I had four days.

So what does this fish do when out of the water. Of course, breathe! Day one was fast as I tried catching up on sleep. Day two promised to be the same except for the whole day boat trip. We were a little late so I tried to clean my emails in the morning. But suddenly, the gates of heaven opened and a wandering unsecured wi-fi signal crept announced in our cottage. My ruthless Dell laptop caught it like it was its first gulp of fresh air in days, the result – connection!. The downside? It was unbelievably and painfully slow. However, as I was connecting to it, its name in a way (Bamboo 4), reminded me why I was taking a vacation. To be with family as well as to hear the bamboos squeaking when the wind blows, a sound one cannot hear in the urban jungle and a sound that cleanses the soul and spirit. And so it was, that my I was slowly letting go of my laptop keys in exchange of my morning juice while savoring the white sands of Boracay. It wasn’t actually bad and I vowed to return soon, looking forward to the time that I can make the trip without my Precious teether to the online world. Soon . . .

Eagle’s Eyes
By day, the author gets some work done as a director in one of the world’s top business process outsourcing which hires thousands of Filipinos every year . . .

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