Perfect Timing

[1] Welcome to Cebu!

Mga binibini, ginang at ginoo, kalalapag lang po natin sa Pandaigdigang Paliparan ng Mactan Cebu. Malipayong pag-abot sa Sugbo! Para sa inyong kaligtasan...

(Ladies and gentlemen, we have just landed at Mactan Cebu International Airport. Welcome to Cebu! For your safety...)

Finally! Touchdown in Cebu! For the second time in my life, I've flown in an airplane and this time it's because I'm moving here for my first job as a Software Engineer - in a multinational company no less!

Grabe, who would have thought that I, a Manileña since birth, would suddenly decide to accept a job fresh out of university and move to a place where I neither have any relatives nor know one word of the dialect! Woohoo!

Can you guess if I'm excited? Hindi naman masyado noh?!

Oh, am I babbling too much? And I haven't even introduced myself yet.

I'm Dei Mendoza, 21 years of age from Singalong, Manila! And I believe... I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way, I thank you! Bow!

Ha ha ha! Did that make you laugh? No? Um, okay, moving on...

Seriously now, my name really is Dei and I'm a Computer Science student, oops, correction, graduate (how quickly I forget) of DLSU Manila.

Um, okay, back to reality. I need to collect my baggage already! The Cebu airport is like a smaller version of NAIA. The lighting, the pebble washed walls down to the marble tiles. There's lesser people here though (which is a good thing) so I didn't need to box out people just to get a luggage cart.

Ah! There it is! Grabbing my lone luggage off the conveyor belt, I headed towards the exit, looking for Miss A, our HR representative, who will pick me up from the airport.

So, why Cebu you may ask? Well, it's a long story; I'll tell you about it later since Miss A is already here to help me get to our apartment.

"Hi Dei! Maayong pag-abot! Ready ka na? Your housemates are in SM Cebu. They just transferred to this new apartment so they're buying items for the house. I'll bring you to the apartment first so you can drop your luggage then to SM so you can meet up with Sam and the boys." Miss A paused for a bit then asked, "Is that fine with you?"

"Opo, no problem. It would be nice to finally meet my housemates. Si Sam lang ang madalas ko kausap since I accepted the job offer e."

"Si Ben, Ryan at Rich yung mga boys; natatandaan mo pa naman sila di ba?" she asked.

"Si Ben at Ryan po, oo. Pero yung Rich po parang di ko matandaan. Magkakasabay po ba kami nung interview?"

"Oo, sila yung mas naunang batch sa inyo nila Tara."

You see, we were invited for an interview here in Cebu a few months back. 15 applicants from different schools were flown here and interviewed. Out of the 15, only 7 of us were fortunate enough to be given an offer and a chance to work for this generous company.

So it's just weird that one of my housemates is someone I can't remember from the interview - was he that unremarkable? I'll found out for myself soon, I guess.

In the meantime, the beauty of Cebu distracted me from my thoughts. The grand Marcelo Fernan bridge which connects the island of Mactan to Cebu; a glimpse of the sea while we passed over the bridge; the majestic mountains which are visible even when we are already in city.

"Dei, we're here." Miss A brought me out of my musings with a tap on my shoulder.

Wow! That fast? Considering it's the year 2001 and traffic in Manila is horrible, the lack of standstill traffic in Cebu is a refreshing experience for me. Imagine, it only took us 20 minutes to get from the airport to the apartment? In Manila it would have taken at least an hour to travel the same distance.

Hmm, I'm really beginning to fall in love with Cebu.

We had to wait for a few minutes for someone to open the red gate which secures the 3 apartments in the compound.

Pulling in my luggage, I was about to go into the first apartment at the bottom of the starts when Miss A started up the stairs.

Uh-oh, I guess I'm about to get a work out. Standing at 5' and weighing 128lbs., I'm already sweating like a pig in the sweltering heat. Things are about to get sweatier and greasier if I may say so.

"Dito sa taas yung apartment nyo. Sabi ni Tara iwan mo na lang muna yung gamit mo kahit saan; maglilinis pa rin naman kayo mamaya," Miss A shared while I huffed and puffed up the stairs with my luggage.

The apartment has three bedrooms, one bath, and a tiny living room and kitchen. One bedroom is beside the kitchen while the other two are side by side and situated near the bathroom.

The house is a stone's throw away from the main road where we can immediately grab a jeepney to --- oops, I honestly don't know where the jeepney leads to; it's something I still have to figure out one of these days.

"Punta na tayo sa SM? Nag-text si Sam, nandun daw sila sa home furnishings department. Hatid kita doon tapos uwi na rin ako pagkatapos," Miss A prompted.

"Sige po, Miss A. Pasensya na po talaga sa abala."

"Ok lang uy! First day mo dito sa Cebu tapos wala yung mga kasama mo. Bukas sila na magpapasyal sa iyo. Tara na?"

We rode a taxi once more to the mall. SM City Cebu is a 4-level shopping mall and the only SM mall in Cebu. Sam told Miss A that they are at the Home Furnishings section - 4th level.

I felt nervous all of a sudden. This is it! I'll be meeting my housemates soon!

Miss A kept up a running commentary as we rode the escalator up to the right floor. I honestly wasn't listening since I was thinking of how to best introduce myself and *blows breath on hand* if I need breath mints.

I was so distracted by my thoughts that I didn't notice when Miss A said, "We're here! O nandyan na pala yung isa mong housemate!" The next thing I know, I tripped over my feet as we reached the end of the escalator.

I almost fell on my face when a pair of arms caught me and pulled me away from the escalator of doom.

I slowly looked up and ended staring into bespectacled brown eyes. "O, ingat lang. Ako nga pala si Richard; Rich for short. Welcome to Cebu housemate!"