believe

I am a proud Filipina, born in St. Luke's Medical Center,  lived in a squatters area in Botocan, Quezon City and raised in a quaint seaside of  Barangay Lumbocan. I love the Philippines and its rich culture and lush greens. Filipinos as we all know are hospitable and can smile at the verge of the storm and find joy in the simplest things.

Foreigners might question us these days yet I am quite positive with how we are. I've read of honest taxi drivers returning a bagful of money to the unfateful owner. I would feel proud hearing these unsung heroes of today. I asked myself what would I do if I was in that situation. And I asked myself that yesterday (August 25, 2010). I went to take a leak at Ayala's comfort room. When I went over the middle cubicle I caught a glimpse of a phone.  Thinking it was a chinaphone I ignored it for a moment, then I saw it was a Samsung and flipped it over; it looked Korean and it was Korean. First instinct was to turn it on, that way the owner can call when she/he realizes the phone is lost.
Samsung Eternity, also known as Samsung SGH-A867
WTH!? 

We waited til 10pm and decided to go home. We reached the old bridge then she called. Spoke in Korean and I looked and sounded like a retard talking to the phone. "can you say it sloowly please?" We reached to the arrangement that we'd come over to the resort where she was residing tomorrow by 8am (that's today). By morning, we were running late and since she got my phone number with my name and called me. She was saying she can't make it til 10am and I couldn't quite understand what her reason was. I promised we'd get there before 9:30am. So we traveled from 8:30 til we reached the resort by 9am. 

We waited by the resort lobby and since I took a camera with me, I had the liberty in shooting some pics for remembrance. Its not everyday that you get to come to Costabella Resort. :)) 


Whilst reading the latest newspaper the familiar face came walking by. I stood up in the hopes that she might take notice that I was holding her phone but she didn't, "that was odd", maybe we got the wrong person. Koreans look just the same by any other Korean if they sport that shoulder-length hair with bangs. She strolled along with her luggage passing us again. This is getting weird... Then her friend came over and smiled. She followed suit and I reached the phone from my bag and handed it to her.

Me: Here is your phone.
Lee Jo Yun: Thank you! You work at Bo's Coffee?
Me: No, you left it in the comfort room in Ayala. Rest room. CR. (I have no idea why I said those but I think it helped her understand what I meant.)
Lee Jo Yun spoke in Korean to her friend, who scampered out of the scene.

I summoned Febbe that way we can head to NBI to get my clearance. I was well aware that we'd be traveling for the next 30 minutes so we had to get going as soon as possible. Lee reached for her wallet and pulled out some bills. "There is no need for that..." I was not here to get rewarded in any way. "No, no, it's okey.." she handed me some bills and I said "Thank you." and bowed like she was Japanese then I asked Febbe what was the equivalent form of thank you in Korean - "kam-sa-ham-nida" and I hoped I was able to say it correctly. We then started to head to the exit when her friend came running at us handing us 3 cold mangoes. Aawww these Koreans are far too sweet?! she smiled and I bowed again at her saying my appreciation and she headed to their bus. Guess they'd be going back to Korea today.

We started walking out til we saw a nearby tricycle. Head to the city and realized we needed to eat. 


GINABOT!! yum!! :D

Then we went to NBI to get my clearance, stopped over at Capitol to take some pictures. 

I was raised by my parents well. I was told that if it ain't yours then you should return it and  I did. I can say I am a bit proud of myself cause amidst these times there are still those few ones that still have their conscience intact. We do make mistakes sometimes and we could make the worst decisions that will be etched on our names forever. I am not a hypocrite, I have had my own misbehavior and I can say that I can make small gestures of kindness possible. I can reach out to homeless people by giving them my old clothes and some leftover food. I can make someone smile and make sure that she ain't alone in these cruel world. Yes, we make these planet cruel to some people: by the things we think, we do and those that we have put to action. Lapse of judgment or lack of the ability to make sane decisions but nonetheless these faults make us more human. They create the sense of learning, we try not to do it all over again: which might be hard but the least is that we try, and boy do we try hard.

To sum it all up: I still believe in us Filipinos. If I could return that cellphone I think you would too. 
By the way, she gave me 5 paper bills. The amount is for me to know. ;D

1 comment:

  1. good to know that you have this avenue, where you can express all your experiences..... Kudos! you did a good job!!!


    seph

    ReplyDelete

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