Mixing business with pleasure 2 (How to become a successful Mystery Shopper)

Mystery shopping has given me the opportunity to travel to places I've never been before while earning. I actually thought that I finally had found what I was looking for. Every visit has become an adventure. However, one of the facts in life is to have a balance in everything. Yin and Yang, hot and cold, adventures and misadventures.

Although I mentioned that I get to travel while earning, don't expect much on the earning part. You will earn if you're able to plan ahead. Remember lesson number 1. Be prepared. Plan ahead. Have a budget and stick to it.

This is the part where the misadventure but still adventure, I guess, starts.

Of course with Mystery shopping, you don't just visit the stores assigned to you but you have to report them afterwards. Since we're exhausted with Day 1, I was only able to submit my report on just 1 store. I had to rest because I had to wake up for Day 2. Yes. I scheduled them consecutively which leads me to Lesson Number 2. Do not make the same mistake that I did. Do not schedule visits the day after the other most specially if there were a lot of stores assigned to you. Allow a rest day in between for you to be able to complete your report and also to recuperate from the long travel.

So on Day 2, I woke up late. I had to finish my 3 other reports which I did and we still had to go to the bank to get some funds before we could go to the stores. We were able to get moving around lunch.

Our destination? Nueva Ecija.

Nueva Ecija is the largest province and the biggest rice producer of Central Luzon and the Philippines, thus, often referred to as the “Rice Bowl of the Philippines.”

Courtesy: http://lakbaynuevaecija.blogspot.com/p/tourist-spots.html

We still had to go to Cubao to board a bus going to Nueva Ecija. It took us almost 5 hours to go to one of the stores which is in Cabanatuan.

Gen Luna Statue and Marker (Cabanatuan City)

A statue of Philippine hero General Antonio Luna astride a horse stands at the plaza in front of the cathedral on the exact spot where the brave general was assassinated in 1899 in the city that adopted him subsequently.

Courtesy: http://lakbaynuevaecija.blogspot.com/p/tourist-spots.html

We arrived there around 5pm and we got confused because the place where we alighted was still under construction. As it turned out, it was actually SM Cabanatuan, not the Megacenter where we're supposed to be headed. So we still had to get on a tricycle to go there which meant additional expense which lead me to Lesson Number 3. Stick with the address on the assigned store. Tell the bus driver or conductor where exactly you are heading so that they can guide you.

And we still had 3 stores left to do.

After visiting the one in Cabanatuan, we headed to Talavera, Nueva Ecija.

Municipal hall of Talavera, Nueva Ecija

courtesy: youronevoicecanmakeadifference.wordpress.com

It took us almost an hour to arrive to our next destination. It was already dark. We were supposed to be headed to San Jose but noticing how high the fare was, we figured that it would take us a couple of hours to go there so we decided to just go the nearest store in Talavera and just spend the night there. Yes. We had to find a lodge in a place we haven't been to without any shirts or toiletries. So we still had to buy them before finding an inn where we could spend the night. Haaay.

Lesson number 4. Expect the unexpected. Always bring with you an extra shirt, an extra underwear and some toiletries if you're going to some place you haven't been to. Always bring extra cash too.

So we're like, Lugi na. We spent more than what we could earn from this trip and we still had two more stores to visit. I was thankful though because I had my boyfriend with me and realized that if I wasn't with him, I would have gotten in trouble. I was really upset with how things turned out but I didn't have anyone else to blame but myself because I didn't learn from Lesson Number 1.

Our dilemma during that night was how to find an inn that would suit our budget. I was wary to ask the people there because they might lead us to some other place where we would get in trouble so we had to walk and find a person trustworthy enough. We were able to ask a couple who recommended an inn that was actually kind of far from where we were so we still had to board a jeep then alight where we were instructed to do so.

The street where we alighted didn't have any signs so we just walked into a very dark street and saw a lodge. We tried to knocked and called out people but only dogs were responding. I was really losing hope and thought about going home to Manila but my boyfriend saw a person standing near the lodge and asked him the supposed inn where we were heading. The lodge was actually for Masons but there was a nearby inn and that we just had to keep walking until we see it. We finally saw that inn and got checked in. 

Another dilemma was the food. The food there was pricey and I didn't think it would suffice for the both of us. We could have bought food earlier but we didn't do that because we're more concerned on where we're going to spend the night. Since we didn't have any other choice, we ordered their food. The food was, well, it's not impressive but we're hungry so talo-talo na. We could have gotten a more decent food with the same price outside but there were no food stalls nearby.

After eating, we just drank liquor while watching TV even if the TV had a really bad connection. Yes, we were able to buy liquor but not food. Talk about bad decision making which was what made this adventure a misadventure after all. Haaay.

A lot of if onlys. But no one can ever turn back time so we could only learn from these misadventures. Anyway, they were still adventures if you just look on the brighter side of things. We were able to see Nueva Ecija from different sides. We were able to handle each dilemma without quarreling which was a good sign for me since I was able to successfully handle my emotions. We were able to realize that planning is everything and that when you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

The same with life. I kind of concentrated to mystery shopping these past few days for me to have an excuse to travel and to ponder on things that trouble my mind. I realized that I had to apply these lessons to a bigger scheme of things which is life. I have to plan ahead but still be able to expect and embrace the spontaneity of the unexpected. I have to be able to face whatever life throws at me.

So Day 2, for me, was still successful.

Life on a quarter

"We have nothing to give you except education."

I can still remember this being said by my parents to us. I can still remember their constant reminder that they didn't have a business or a house or cars that we can inherit from them but they'd do even the impossible so that we could have education. So that we could graduate from a university and later on, land a job that's better than what they're doing.

Six years had passed. Six years since the Dean forgot to call my name during our graduation resulting to my mother going to the stage furiously to have them rectify it.

And they rectified it. After the magna cum laude said her speech, they called me to go to stage and receive my diploma before hundreds of graduates looking at how embarrassed I was. But that's what mothers do right?

Anyway, moving forward.

I can't imagine that it has been six years since I graduated. It still feels like I've just gone out from college. So you could imagine that in six years, I should have accomplished so many things.

I wish I have.

But I have no business. I haven't stayed for any job longer than a year; the longest would be for ten months and the shortest would be for a week. I've been with more than ten companies already. I've had three occupations: I've been a nurse, a teacher and a customer service representative. A failed relationship. A miscarriage.

So, what happened? Why all of these?

I don't know. But I have four guesses:

1. Being a millennial- Those born in the 80s to the early 2000, who usually have a sense of entitlement and narcissism 

"Some employers are concerned that Millennials have too great expectations from the workplace.^[35] Some studies predict that Millennials will switch jobs frequently, holding many more jobs than Gen Xers due to their great expectations."- wikipedia

2. Quarter life crisis- "is a period of life usually ranging from the late teens to the early thirties, in which a person begins to feel doubtful about their own lives, brought on by the stress of becoming an adult."- wikipedia

3. Both

4. Or maybe I'm only justifying my laziness and stubbornness with being a millennial and having a quarter life crisis.

I don't know. I guess being in my 20's made me an idealist and made me think what I really want.

I just don't want to settle with just anything there is. I wanted a job which not only pays the bills but something that will make my life more meaningful. Something that will nourish my soul and not leave me burned out. A job that will not feel like a job because I enjoy and look forward doing it.

But we can't have anything that we want without going for it. That's what I realized. I got tired settling with a job that I didn't really want while waiting for my dream job.

Yet the dream job has been elusive like the most wanted criminal.

Fast forward to six years after I graduated, I came nowhere near to where I wanted to be. I just became more jaded with every job that I leave, became acquainted with more people then forgot them afterwards, cared less with the people I served.

But there's still hope, I believe.

I don't need to have it all figured out all at once. I just needed more time to mature, to know which path I should take, to decide if I'll be turning the lights off on my dream.

For the meantime, I'll keep treading on this murky sea of life.