I have recently discovered Ukkokei and their Shoyu Ramen. And am hooked. I spent my waking hours thinking about the soup. It’s that bad. Maybe it’s the MSG they added in the broth.

Anyway, if you happen to pass by old Pasay Road (currently Arnaiz Avenue), drop by Ukkokei and try their Ramen. I prefer the salt-based broth over the soy.

I love my job. On most days, I swear I do.

The people I share firewall and internet bandwidth with are the hazards of my occupation. On some days, they threaten to burst my arteries with the funniest jokes that weren’t meant to be jokes. On most days, they tug at my hair roots.

Una is in this stage of questioning — what is cooled and the difference from cold. Cleanse and cleans. Why does Giada say spaghetti as if she were a Bisaya? Is cooled the Visayan of cold? And papa does not know how to say cleans properly?

She wrote in her diary today, I went to Green belt. I walked walked walked. My foot is outchy. And on the next page, I am una and my mama is bad. She showed this entry to me and she laughed and explained that it is just a joke.

Internet, soon you will learn that she maintains a blog.

How come the good stories have unhappy endings. Maybe it is the sadness that makes for a good story.

If I were 25, I would have felt the same as Z. It’s a wonder how 5 years can change a person’s perspective. I am not saying that I have become an expert in relationships. Right now, what I want to do is tell Z to fight for that dorky Englishman.

Go get a copy of that book because I do not have the right words to re-tell the story.

I had this dream about what I should be when I grow up. I am all grown up and old but in this dream I was my younger self — in my college years and I don’t have cellulites on my legs. You know how in dreams, you can be both the observer and the performer and so I was looking at my happy self and at the same time feeling the happiness myself. Or maybe I felt happy looking at myself happy or maybe the cellulite-free legs made me happy. Confusing, eh?

Anyway, a truth of great importance – the key to the balance of my universe was revealed: I have discovered what I should be when I grow up – a PROFESSIONAL PESSIMIST. The logic behind the idea is this – but at this point my wits are starting to escape me and my fount has run dry so go get the FREAKONOMICS book and read it. No, this is not a book review. This is more of, a point in my life kind of review and not the full one.

I have wasted so many hours of my precious life being boxed in a room where men of massive self-importance come up with the most brilliant and innovative products and services. They sound too good to be true and the figures involved are millions of dollars. Everyone nods and cheers and I see the $ sign reflected brightly on their eyes. Everyone glows with positive energy while I struggle with my brain from veering away – away from the good vibes and into the land where everything goes wrong. I am sure that I am the only person in the room thinking about the things that could NOT go the way it was planned.

A typical work plan would go like this: X number of people over X number of workdays. Mine would have clauses for IF and ELSE and BUT. That makes me the Pessimist.

Anyhow, in my dream, a career counselor told me that I could monetize on this skill. The old man who looks a lot like the old man in Ziggy cartoon, told me that Wall Street and the Medical field would need my ability – this gift that allows me to look into the future and face boldly the THINGS THAT ARE NOT TO BE.

When I woke up, I know in PMBOK it is called RISK MANAGEMENT — such a common word! But anyway, I will go and update my resume and change my title to The Pessimist. The one person you go to when you want to know everything that could go wrong in your marketing campaign, in your project plan, in your relationship. Will also make a good companion on gloomy days when the world has turned its back on you. Or if you need some flogging.