TeamAsia Chronicles

Be sponTAneous when things don’t go as planned

&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph"><em>by Johanna Amancio&comma; Media Relations Associate<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Like a singer losing his voice or a bride getting stuck in traffic&comma; nothing is more upsetting for an organizer than a plan going out of hand&period; When I was assigned to create a three-day program for this year’s TeamAsia geTAway&comma; I knew I had to make a foolproof plan&period; After all&comma; it was my first time being a part of the outing committee&period; After a few meetings&comma;&nbsp&semi;<em>meriendas<&sol;em>&comma; and revisions with my fellow committee members&comma; we came up with the theme &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Slip &OpenCurlyQuote;n Slide”—inspired by the huge inflatable island in our resort&comma; MB Cove&period; With the help of our directors&comma; the committee came up with an engaging plan&comma; even for a group of rest-seeking individuals &lpar;including yours truly&rpar;&period; But as they say&comma; the future is promised to no one&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph"><strong>No power&comma; no problem<&sol;strong><br>After three hours of travel&comma; TeamAsia made it to the MB Cove Resort in Nasugbu&comma; Batangas&period; Our bus&comma; however&comma; was too big to enter the resort’s parking space so we had to make a short walk to the place&period; Upon reaching the resort&comma; I had a sudden urge to dive into the sea and play for the rest of the day&comma; but being the supposed adult that I am&comma; I went to our designated room and began unpacking like the rest&period; Before I could even open my bags&comma; one of my colleagues came in and said that there was no electricity&period; Power outages are not that uncommon especially in a remote area such as our resort&period; From my previous family outing&comma; I learned that some areas in Batangas had a power distribution schedule so a brownout is nothing to me&period; But after three hours of travel and walking under the stupefying heat&comma; I knew that such slight inconvenience can come a long way for some&period; Upon stepping out of our temporarily aircon-free room&comma; to my surprise&comma; I saw an active crowd&period; The power outage somehow kept everyone from locking themselves inside their rooms&period; Everyone was out&comma; appreciating the place&comma; playing cards and beer pong&comma; and enjoying each others’ company&period; And just after enjoying our sumptuous lunch&comma; the power was back at one&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;old&period;teamasia&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2024&sol;02&sol;1-2&period;png" alt&equals;"Image1" class&equals;"wp-image-30188"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Letting nature take its course<&sol;strong><br>After a brief siesta&comma; we called everyone for a short game briefing&period; The game was a one-shot music video that each team can shoot in the afternoon before we play it during the evening program&period; In preparation for our President’s&comma; Monette Iturralde Hamlin &lpar;MIH&rpar;&comma; talk in the afternoon&comma; we took a personality test that would determine our temperament type&period; In a bright and sunny day such as what we had&comma; a destructive storm is the last thing you would expect—but that was exactly what we got&period; Just as everyone started to put their ideas into action&comma; a violent storm hit our area&period; Tents&comma; plants and even the inflatables were all over the place just as everyone was running aimlessly&comma; looking for a safe and dry spot&period; After the unexpected downpour&comma; everyone entered their respective rooms and tried processing mother nature’s stunt&period; But despite being disruptive&comma; I realized that a brief and violent storm was just what we needed after hours of scorching heat&period; It even gave way to a longer personal and rest time&period; Some even took this time to bond and share stories&period; After the rain&comma; the resort staff also put the inflatables aside&period; But even without it&comma; the team had an amazing afternoon swim together and had fun even with just each other’s company&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">In the evening&comma; right before dinner&comma; MIH gathered us for a brief session about the personality test we took earlier that day&period; I learned that there are four temperament types namely Sanguine&comma; Choleric&comma; Melancholic&comma; and Phlegmatic&period; I turned out to be a Popular Sanguine and just like everyone else&comma; I was surprised to discover how on-point my characteristics were&period; The night ended with a bonfire session near the beach with a few cold drinks and warm company of each other&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;old&period;teamasia&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2024&sol;02&sol;2-1&period;png" alt&equals;"Image2" class&equals;"wp-image-30189"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Improvising is the key<&sol;strong><br>The next day was filled with adventure&period; Vince&comma; Thea&comma; Althea and I from the Content Department decided to go island hopping with Abi&comma; Gena and Justin from the Experience Department and Enzo&comma; Clarisse&comma; and Joyce from the Marketing and Accounts Department&period; We went to the nearby islands&comma; which are owned by two prominent politicians in the country&period; That day was filled with many firsts–my first boat ride&comma; first island hopping activity&comma; and my first coral injury&period; But despite our wounds&comma; the fun must go on&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-full"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;old&period;teamasia&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2024&sol;02&sol;3-3&period;png" alt&equals;"Image3" class&equals;"wp-image-30190"&sol;><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">In the afternoon&comma; everyone was gathered to join the highlight of the outing– the obstacle relay in the inflatable island&period; But just as everyone got out of their rooms for the game&comma; a heavy downpour struck our area again&period; With that heavy rainfall&comma; it was almost impossible to go through the obstacle relay and the staff would not let us play in the inflatables until the rain stopped&period; But with everyone already by the shore&comma; people began to improvise and started a game of&nbsp&semi;<em>agawan base<&sol;em>&nbsp&semi;&lpar;stealing base&rpar;&comma; which brought out the kid in us&period; After the storm&comma; there was a go signal to use the inflatables&period; Though it may look easy from afar&comma; using the inflatables was no easy task&period; It was slippery&comma; bouncy&comma; and made everyone fall on their backs&period; But now that I think about it&comma; the short&nbsp&semi;<em>agawan base<&sol;em>&nbsp&semi;game became sort of a warm-up exercise for everyone&comma; with the team running around and jumping in the shoreline&period; Everyone enjoyed the inflatable island particularly the human projectile inflatable slide&period; By the evening&comma; everyone had a chill time over a fun trivia game&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Last Day<&sol;strong><br>As expected&comma; almost everyone was up late morning and had their breakfast&period; Some of us stayed in our rooms after and enjoyed an anime series called &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The Promised Neverland”&period; By lunch&comma; some of our colleagues were still swimming at the beach&period; I was so jealous and wanted to follow&comma; but I had to tend to my wet clothes and towels&period; By noon&comma; the teams were gathered just before our departure to declare the winners&period; And even if I enjoyed the activities from afar as a committee&comma; I still felt like a winner because I got the rest and adventure that I badly needed&period; Throughout the geTAway&comma; a part of me was consistently worried given that the outing did not entirely go as planned&period; Storms would come and go&comma; the power would be out&comma; and activities will be put to a halt&period; But at the end of it all&comma; I learned that just like life itself&comma; things won’t always go as planned&period; And sometimes&comma; the key is to not wait for the perfect moment&period; Instead&comma; let’s take the moment and make it perfect instead&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph"><&sol;p>&NewLine;

J Darell Sapin

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