Whirlwind of a Day

I think, it would be enough to say that yesterday was quite a whirlwind of a day. A quiz in science, an exhausting maths class, a report in SEA History, and a project in the afternoon. 

My friends, Jica, Joan, PL, and I rushed to Makati for an interview/meeting with ILO-IPEC (International Program on the Elimination of Child Labour) Project Manager Mr. Giovanni Soledad to interview him about child labour, specifically child soldiers.

We have this project in JRN, you see, and we are to interview politically-involved people or organisations to be able to write a story about them. The deadline's close, and since we don't have sufficient connections with people in the political world, we took on UN's ILO-IPEC to deviate from most of our classmates' work.

Right after class, we changed our outfits, hopped on an FX to get on a train, and then rode a jeepney (an air-conditioned one!) to Makati. It was our first time going to RCBC plaza on our own. I have been there several times in the past, cos my pa works in that building, but I've always went there by cab or by car, so we were pretty much lost.

Just as we were running out of time, we finally arrived at RCBC, had lunch, came up with our questions, and met my pa, who would assist us through the UN security. He also oriented us on how Mr. Soledad looks and all - they're friends, by the way.

After surrendering our ID's, we headed to the office of ILO, and we were led by the security to the alternate door of ILO. I've never used that entrance before. My pa and I usually pass through the main entrance. We were then contained in a meeting room, and we waited.

A few minutes later, Mr. Soledad came in, shook our hands, and we proceeded with the interview. It took us about two hours. Yes, two hours. There were so many things to ask, and so many things to know that we did not notice how much time we've spent. Mr. Soledad was kind enough to entertain us past our 1-hour agreement despite his busy schedule. So, thank you!

At around 5pm, I took the cab to MOA with papa, EK, and Jica (she'll head back to UST from there) to drop by the 33rd Manila International Bookfair at the SMX convention.

Gosh, there were a lot of people! And a shitload of books! With all those page turners surrounding me, I was simply on high. But the thing is, I get easily overwhelmed when I see a million books. So what happened was, I purchased just one book - Palo Alto, by James Franco. I've been waiting for it for some time now - a year, really - since the day I read an excerpt of it in an issue of Entertainment Weekly. So, no bad feelings.

We had dinner at Bistro Ravioli.

♥Andz