TRAVEL WITH JAJA

November 2005, I came in early to work to take advantage of the paid overtime. I went up to the 14th floor pantry, and there she was, reading some pharmacy book. I came up to her, she said she’s just refreshing her memory. Because you know, that’ll help her sell credit card protection once she hits the floor. At that time, I don’t know, but I thought I’d get along very well with this girl.

But then, she became my agent.
Joyce or Jaja to her friends came at a time when I was still handling teams for a call center in Ortigas. To say that she’s a performer would be a bit of a lie. She was rarely on time, much rarer to see her awake on the floor during calling hours. And it’s only on very rare occasions that you’ll see her name on top of the performer’s list. I’m not saying that she’s a bad employee, because I can always count on her to perform whenever there is money involved. But I guess the call center industry is not really what she was born for.

Hers is a face that should not be confined in a four-walled office space. It should be seen by the world. I guess the heavens heard and she got lucky, a few months after she left our industry, she was chosen to be a flight attendant for a very good international airline.

Joyce has been a good friend of mine ever since. She’s one of the handful of people that I get to talk to even after we’ve separated from our previous jobs. One that I decided to keep whether she likes it or not. Well, for one, she does bring home some very tasty chocolates from abroad.

For that reason alone, I decided to introduce her to you guys. I’ve written about her once before, but I think you need to know some of my friends much better. Hence, she’s my first featured friend.

Her figure doesn’t show, but she’s actually into sports, tennis, badminton, kayaking and jet skiing. She’s always game for a good road trip, specially if at the end of that trip involves food. She’s… what’s the term… kaladkarin.

More importantly, is she single? Ermm… hmm… “technically, yes I am.” She’s a girl, go figure.

Her love life’s a long story, and I only have a few spaces available for this post on my blog, so I shouldn’t be wasting space. I kid. But if you’re interested to know what she likes in a guy… “he should be smart, has a good sense of humor and someone who can make me fall in love with him every single day… someone who is true to himself and to other people.”
Asked about Joyce’s travels so far:

"Tunis, Tunisia: my first layover. I went out and had fun with newly found friends. we did a lot of things, bought some stuffs, went for shesha, argued with a psycho cab driver, walked under the rain, had coffee, had lunch in a nice looking resto where the food didnt taste good, had dinner in a not so nice looking resto but the food really did taste good, took lots of pictures, saw the country's president, but the funny part is everyone thinks i'm japanese.

Paris, France: Seeing the Eiffel tower gave me a very nice feeling. I almost cried, it was a dream come true. My stay in Paris was very short so I didn’t have time to visit the Louvre or walk along Champs Elysees.

London, UK: there's a lot to see and do in London yet the only places I went to were the Big Ben, London Bridge, and the famous London eye. What a pity!

Berlin, Germany: my favorite, so far! Everything is extraordinary!

Nairobi, Kenya: my advice to you is go to this restaurant, Carnivore, with an empty stomach!

I've been to other places like Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok, Shanghai, Maldives, Manchester, New Delhi, Trivandrum, etc. but because of the lack of time i either just went shopping or stayed in the hotel. My travels could have only been better if I was with friends (aww how sweet)."

Asked about the craziest thing she did: “I watched a colleague have sex with an older guy for about 5 seconds (talk about being curious).” It was a long story, but unfortunately there were no juicy parts. So we’ll just leave it at that.

Unfortunately she hasn’t caught anyone doing the dirty deed in an airplane yet, but she’s looking forward to it. Apparently, she’ll just let them carry on with what they’re doing. She’ll probably get a phone and record it.
I’m fortunate to have Jaja as a friend. It’s not really hard to get along with her. These days, because of her hectic schedule, it’s difficult to catch her. But what I appreciate is that when you’re with her now, she makes up for the time that she didn’t spend with us, her friends.

She is worthy of being my first featured friend. I don’t have a best friend. I have best friends. And she’s one of them.