Learning thru the tummyache method

So today concludes my training where I learned about integration of databases, something which really interested me regardless of the fact that I really needed it right now for my work. This is a good sign, because it means I am still open to learning new things related to information technology even if I know that given a chance (and the same salary!) to shift to a career which is "more human", I would do it in a heartbeat. :P

But you know what, I enjoyed the training mostly because of the experience I had outside the classroom. Our class was actually very small, there was just three of us -- me (Filipino), another trainee (South Indian working in Qatar) and our instructor (Malaysian Chinese). On the first day of training, when lunch break time arrived, I jokingly said to our instructor that lunch break was my favorite part of the training. But what do you know, in the end I would really mean it!

The three of us went together for lunch. Monday was free lunch at Sizzler where we had American food (yummy steak and salad), courtesy of the training company. For Tuesday, we went to a foodcourt where we had Singaporean food - I had char kway teow while the two men had Ban Mian. My Indian classmate wanted to try Singaporean food and so he just ordered the same with our instructor. It was quite amusing to watch my classmate struggle with his chopsticks, but nevertheless I think he enjoyed the experience as much as we enjoyed watching him. And I made quite an impression on our instructor too when I unintentionally stained his shirt and pants with the flying squirts from the prawn from my food when I was peeling it off. I was so embarrassed of course and I thought our instructor would take it against me. But well, on the contrary, I think it even broke the ice, as he was just a nice and cool person, the same with my classmate. On Wednesday's lunch, our instructor suggested that we go to Little India to have some Indian food and also for my classmate to have some tour. I had reservations about this, because to be honest, I am not fond of Indian food. However, I actually enjoyed the lunch at the Southern Indian restaurant we went to because my Indian classmate showed us how to eat the Southern Indian way -- on a banana leaf, you mix the different viands on the rice and eat using your hands-- and I surprisingly ended up eating A LOT! Boy, I was sooo full and I knew I would most probably have a tummyache from all the spices and curry combination. My classmate even had us try some Indian desserts. I really had a great time this day, as I also was able to have a brief tour of Little India, which I have never done before in my 3 years in Singapore. I was quite amazed at how much culture there is in that place. Then indeed, that evening I had a tummyache, but which I didn't regret the reason for obviously. Today, Thursday, my tummy has still not recovered but for lunch we had....Filipino food! I brought them to 7,107 Flavors, a Filipino restaurant where we had a sumptous feast of Filipino food on a very rainy and cold day. We were so full and I was very much glad to know that they enjoyed the Filipino food.

So you see, I went for a training and I learned a lot in the classroom. But even more, unexpectedly, I learned more important things outside the classroom, and that is, that people may come from different places, have different cultures, but in the end, we are all the same -- we all have a tummy for food! :-P

(Ok, well, I hope you get the deeper message of what I meant ;-)

Burrrrp!