A tale of two interviews, continued

interview #2: beverly

departure time: 930am, 1.5 hours prior

mode of transportation: shuttle bus to mrt station, mrt to toa payoh bus interchange, bus # 145 to tanjong pagar road

background research: i was asked to visit five portals/websites for women and be ready to discuss what i liked or disliked about them. it was a surprisingly easy task -- at some point, i've actually have been a regular visitor to three out of five of them: glam, daily candy and ivillage. (remember those superfun virtual makeovers? those were from ivillage.) one was a fun new discovery, fab sugar, and the last was the beverly site itself. it was, i think, the most reading i've ever done for an interview -- and i have four legal sheets of notes to prove it.

i also had to put together a writing portfolio -- i laid out and printed most of my pieces from the star (i rarely kept up with my articles when they came out in print, so all i had were soft copies), plus the things i wrote for penshoppe, wedding essentials, manila bulletin, candy and gma, and stuffed them into a clearbook.

outfit: cream, brown and pink printed wrap dress from folded and hung. i love this dress, it's so comfy and easy to wear. wore it with my vintage rose pendant and leopard-print heels.

took this photo in the only clean corner of the closet (on marlon's side nonetheless!). in fairness mukhang may blue filter!

the proceedings: after half an hour on the bus, i started to worry that i would be late. so i brought out my trusty street map to try and figure out where i was and how long it would take me to get to tanjong pagar. the skinny, reserved-looking chinese man sitting next to me seemed to notice. he leaned over and mumbled: "are you going to chinatown?"

"sorry?" i said politely, as i could barely hear him. this was to become an often-repeated word in the course of our conversation.

he repeated his question. "no, i'm going to tanjong pagar," i replied.

two-minute silence. then he mumbled something.

"sorry, what?" speak up man!

"half an hour," he repeated.

"oh, it'll take me half an hour to get there from here?" darn, i was going to be late.

we rode on in silence. "is the weather ok?" said my seatmate suddenly.

"what? uh, yeah it's fine," i said, mystified.

"if it's too hot for you, it's ok with me to swap seats." i had the window seat.

"no, no, it's fine, i like the sun," i replied, giving him a little smile. silence again. then -- "do you always take the bus?"

"huh? uh, no, this is my first time to take the bus to tanjong pagar," i said distractedly, as i riffled through my notebook for the number of my interviewer. i had to tell them i would be late.

"oh." he fell silent. "do you take the train?"ano ba 'to, twenty questions? animal, mineral, vegetable? i gave him a small, tight nod. pause. "mumble-mumble-this-mumble-train."

"sorry, what?"

"we can do this again on a train," he said.

ano kamo? i must have misheard. alam mo naman ang ingles ng mga taga-rito. "yes, you're right, i can do this again on a train," i said, somewhere between forced politeness and complete befuddlement. "maybe next time i'll take the mrt coming down here."

our charming little chat was interrupted by a call from my interviewer. after i hung up, my seatmate shook his head. "we can do this again on a train," he repeated, louder this time.

i believe i frowned at him. "do WHAT?"

he smiled a little turtle-like smile. "what we're doing now."

aym zorehhh! bakit biglang may "we"?!!! hindi ka cute!!! at may asawa na ako!!!

by divine intervention, the bus had stopped at the landmark indicated by my interviewer. i grabbed my stuff and quickly got off the bus.

and he followed me off! he walked toward me, calling, "this is not your stop! this is not it! this is not it!"

che! paano mo alam! ikaw ba si madam auring?! i quickened my pace, dialing my interviewer as he gabbered on behind me, and just praying that he would leave me alone. i couldn't believe he got off the bus with me.

when i looked behind me after getting directions over the phone, he was gone. thankfully.

when i got to the office, it turned out that the man i had been talking to over the phone the wasn't person who had set up my interview. and the man who set up my interview had forgotten that he had set it up at all. in fact, he wasn't even in the office -- and wouldn't be back that day!

ganda.

so the only interview i had that day was from the creep on the bus! i do not want to know for what position that would have been.

the verdict: that did not go well at all. let's try that again, shall we?