The place that made me wanna go corporate again.

Tuesday saw Ane and I in Ortigas Center early in the morning. I had to wake up early so we won't be stuck too much in rush hour traffic. We should have gotten to our first activity at 8am but since I asked for a few more minutes of sleep, we got there just before 9am. Which was fine because the person we were seeing arrived at 9am. Hehe. Our little meeting ended a few minutes after 10am and we were strolling Megamall by 1030. We walked right away towards Chocolate since I planned early on that I will buy this month's Havaianas fix. But guess what? They're closed for renovation when I was there last Friday and they were still open. Sigh, I hate disappointments. We paid some bills and then we were off to Mami C's office right behind the mall. Ane and I were scheduled to collect payments for the Avenue Q tickets.

So the title of this entry really pertains to the place Mami C works in...that is ADB. The minute we walked in the reception lobby, that has AC btw, I felt different. It doesn't matter that they have x-ray machines for bags, just like in the airports, I simply liked it there. Mami C met us there, we were given guest passes with our names printed on them...and then we entered a totally different world. I may be exaggerating but I do love order, and that's what they have there.

We entered the building and passed through another security check (for "pre-boarding" as Mami C says heheheh). Mami told us to wait while she withdraws from the ATM and my eyes grew big when I saw that they actually have their own Citibank and Metrobank inside! They even have payment windows for Globe, Smart and others! Whoah! We then took the stairs and up there, I saw a well, a nice lobby and a Figaro! Their cafeteria looks like a hotel, even with low ceiling, the lighting fixtures are beautiful. They have a full meal worth 100 bucks, because the food is subsidized yet you can have other options if you have more budget. We ate Mongolian BBQ. We had a happy chat during lunch. Mae was there (Oh I suddenly missed our lunch sessions in Makati) but Mitch was kinda sick she failed to show up. After lunch, Mami toured us around a bit, showed us where they play badminton. Going there, we passed by the seminar rooms and when we peeked inside, the rooms may pass for hotel ballrooms. Do they rent it out for weddings?!?! Hehehehe. They even have big staircases perfect for pictorials, haha. They have a zen-like garden just outside the cafeteria and the fountain near the ADB Ave entrance was huge. Later, Mami showed us her workstation and it hit me. I never really had a chance to work in a corporate setting. The corridors and offices overwhelmed me. I actually liked it there. But going corporate is not in line with what I currently want. I wanted to go back to school and study something related to the Arts.

Given the chance, I would want to be employed there. It's a totally different world in there (they have their own gasoline station for the blue plated cars, for Pete's sake!). It's like when you go out of the compound, you're stepping off the street gutter and you suddenly get hit by an incoming vehicle! To sum it all up, the experience of visiting the place is, as Mae put it "nakakaCulture Shock" :)

Ps. Thank you Mami for treating us to lunch! Can't wait to go back!