The big 3-0 was big on different emotions... haha!

The day I said hello to the big 3-0 was an assortment of emotions. Haha!

I was happy, tired, frustrated, annoyed, shocked, sad.

Oct. 22 was the opening of an exhibit at SM City Iloilo showcasing the terracotta pieces made by some kids of a Gawad Kalinga village our company adopted. Ilonggo artist PG Zoluaga trained and continue to be a mentor to the kids. My assignment was to supervise the mounting of the exhibit. It was a simple setup, nothing new to me, except for the fact that it was in Iloilo and I was coordinating things from Manila. Because of certain policies, I couldn't get an Iloilo-based supplier.

Anyway, things started to go crazy by late Tuesday afternoon. We were supposed to ship the boxes and display panels to Iloilo, but our courier said they won't be able to do so because of the volume weight. Sea freight was an option but they weren't sure of the schedule.

I was already playing all sorts of scenarios in my head on the repercussions of this whole situation if I postponed, but I tried to keep things together and tried to figure how to solve the issue.

Things went well. I found a supplier who was super, and even with just one day to fabricate everything, my supplier was able to bring in all the panels and boxes and everything else that I needed by ingress time of Wednesday night.

There were more challenges along the way though. Uhm, I had difficulty with the work permit and I almost got into a heavy argument on the morning of my birthday because of some policies by an exhibit partner.

Despite everything, the exhibit happened. An opening reception was held in the afternoon and among those who attended were the vice-mayor, a councilor, some GK partners and colleagues.

What was most important for me was that the kids were happy with the exhibit. Most of them couldn't believe that they were having an exhibit. That was something for me, because I'm so used to mounting these exhibits that I sometimes forget how big of a deal it might be to our partners.

So despite being tired and with just a couple of hours sleep, I was happy that (almost) everything happened smoothly.

The past few birthdays have been spent with kids of YWCA. This year, I didn't get to organize one because of work. Still, I'm happy because the exhibit with the kids sort of became my birthday celebration this year. Haha!

Aside from the happy and exhausted feelings, there was also shock and sadness. Around lunchtime, I received a call from Manila. An officemate called to tell me that my best friend Tey rushed home because something happened to his father.

It was the phone call no one should ever receive. I called Tey, and I'm glad that we got to speak briefly. I feel bad though because I couldn't be there for the time that a really good friend needed someone. I'm just thankful that Tey has many friends who supported her at that difficult moment.

What a weird week. I started the week going to the wake of the dad of my college classmate Len, and I ended the week with visiting the wake of the dad of Tey. I hope there won't be any more wakes soon.

When I got back to Manila and things were starting to have order, I told Tey, "I had no idea which emotion to focus on during my birthday. I was tired and stressed. I was happy. I was sad." And we just both laughed at it.

There was really no one major celebration. I didn't have time to organize one big get-together for people I know. What happened was more of random several separate meet-ups with some close friends, although I haven't seen other close friends yet. Uhm, I also treated myself to a few small and simple things and that was it.

The reality that I'm now 30 still has to sink in properly. Haha!