Bandar Seri Begawan — The world is a cruel place to find people to like and trust. There are too many posers, ingrates, swindlers, scoundrels, sharks, cheaters and tricksters. Name it, I have encountered most, if not all, of them.
And yet, in the midst of this crazy revolving earth we are privileged to call “home,” I see people who continue to open their hearts to other people whom they can trust; people for whom they can be happily engaged in a relationship called “friendship.”
My friendship with Alphonse, Inero, Ador, Marian, Shasha and JK started during an orientation activity on May 15, 2017 in Quezon City when we became delegates to the Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths (JENESYS) program.
We were among the 14 young professionals and college students chosen from more than 300 applicants to be part of a program which aims to promote a global understanding of Japan’s economics, society, politics and foreign affairs.
The Jenesys program — which is implemented by the Japan government, through the Japan International Cooperation Center (JICE) and the Japan Information and Cultural Center (JICC) of the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines — gave us the rare opportunity to visit Japan and learn about its economic partnerships, trade and investment.
I received the good news that I am going to Japan in an all-expense paid program on mid-April 2017. This was one of those applications that I filed in which I was really confident that I will make the cut.
Since my university days between 2003 to 2007, I often question my worthiness every single time I get chosen as part of a delegation in an all-expense paid program.
Why was I chosen? What are the reasons why I was chosen? How do I make my participation in this program count?
The college student version of myself would look at this program as a splendid addition to my curriculum vitae and a chance to travel for free.
Representing Cebu means I have the responsibility to excel and be the best delegate so people in this part of the world know that the Philippines is a country made up of talented and intelligent individuals.
Inside the orientation room of the National Youth Commission (NYC), the government agency under the Office of the President that implements the Jenesys program, I met these six young professionals and seven other co-delegates who were college students from various universities in NCR, Visayas and Mindanao.
After another orientation in Tokyo, the group was split up into two as the students went to Fukuoka and the young professionals flew to Nagasaki.
Our small delegation of six people from the Philippines was paired up with delegates from Brunei Darussalam. The next seven to eight days was all about learning how Japan manages their solid waste and the discipline it takes to make this system sustainable. We also visited the Nagasaki Peace Museum and learned about the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.
Reading about what happened to the city and its people was not my most favorite experience in the entire trip. But it gave me the other side of the story, which I have known through textbooks since I was seven years old.
In the days that we were in Japan, I swapped stories with six of my newfound friends. We talked about Japan’s aging population, career, love — and mundane topics such as weather and food.
It was in the hours that we spent inside buses and the moments we spent waiting for our lunch orders to arrive that sealed our bond as friends. I did not develop an instant liking for them on Day 1. But on Day 2, I knew I gained six more friends to love and cherish.
I keep only a few people close to me and those few are the ones I cry to, rant to and travel with.
I did not expect them to be part of the “few ones.”
But they are.
Inero is a professor for a state university and Alphonse is, if I remember it right, a sales/marketing leader of a water company in Manila.
Ador is a tourism honcho, JK is a lawyer, Marian is an accountant and Shasha is an engineer.
They all excel in what they do but they are way better in the fields of laughter and light moments. Since the Japan trip, I have always wanted to travel with them. Last month, we decided to visit Brunei, a country which intrigued us since we met the Bruneian delegation in Japan.
I refer to them my sources of unlimited laughter.
So here we are on a Friday (February 16) at the time of this writing, which is technically our fourth day in the “Kingdom of Unexpected Treasures.”
There are five of us here; Inero and Alphone begged off from this trip while Shasha arrived on a Thursday night a few minutes before midnight.
We are staying in an Airbnb accommodation called Whistler Lodge that features an artsy-industrial feel which involves climbing two ladders and the option to turn on disco lights.
Brunei surprised us with a population of about 423,000 individuals, which is not even half the population of my beloved Cebu. Walking around its capital city, Bandar Seri Begawan, was serene and quiet. This Islamic country is dotted with mosques. Listening to the Adhan (call to worship) is music to my ears. I end each day with two to three paragraphs to add to my travel story.
I have been spending the last four days taking pictures, talking and sharing about our respective lives and shared experiences.
We have been laughing like our lives depended on it.
Inside Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque last February 14, I prayed for laughter to continue and for peace to flourish.
I will be too selfish to ask for more.
Laughter is not the best medicine in our friendship’s case.
Laughter is life itself.
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