>I’ve been to a two-day live-in conference from Department of Health which was held at CityState Tower. It was a gruesome ordeal for me. Let me tell you why.
The invitation letter we received from DOH a month ago, said it would be held at Atrium Hotel in Pasay. Come October 29, I asked our laboratory’s secretary to verify my registration and if I will be sharing my room with someone. I was thinking of bringing T and P with me. Secretary called back and told me it was indeed a shared room. So, we decided that I would live-out instead.
The next day (Oct. 30), I had to leave early because the Conference starts at 8AM plus I had to ride MRT from Ortigas to Taft and transfer to LRT and get off at Gil Puyat. Please note that it’s been ages since my last MRT-LRT ride and I’ve never been to Gil Puyat Station. I didn’t know where to go, where’s my exit. So finally, I was at Atrium at 7:50AM. The hotel staff told me DOH Conference was at the 16th floor so off I went. When I got there, the room was set-up but the tarpaulin displayed was totally not my conference topic and I was the only person there! So I went down at the front desk and showed them my invitation letter explaining 16th floor isn’t the one. Turns out there was another DOH conference going on at the 15th floor. Off I went. When I got there, true enough it was a DOH seminar for spa and massage therapists- not my conference again. Went down at the front desk again and explained for the second time. The manager called sales and verified the conference. IT was taking them too long so I decided to call our secretary to contact the DOH secretariat instead. By this time, the sales officer explained that they never had a reservation from any person incharge with our conference. Whhhhaaaaaaaaaat?? And I was never informed? Didn’t our secretary verified my registration a day before?
By this time, I was dizzy from heat, exhaustion and hunger!!!! I had to walk,ride, walk, ride, walk and walk for nothing??? And why was our secretary taking too long to call back? I decided to go home instead.
When I was already at EDSA Shrine, it was 9:45AM and the mall was still closed and I was dying to drink my favorite fruit shake. I bought water at Mercury Drug instead.
My fone rang and it was the secretary telling me that I shouldn’t have left Atrium because it would be nearer. WHAAAT?????? it was my fauuuullllttt?? “Just tell me where it is and pupuntahan ko!!!!!!!! Gusto nyo ba nang license or not?”
“Sa CityState Tower po sa Mabini. Sa likod nang Robinson’s Ermita.”
Click. Line dead.
Whatttt theeee fudddgeeee???? Why didn’t they inform us?
I didn’t have a choice. My certificate of attendance is a requirement for the renewal of license from DOH. I walked, MRT-LRT to Pedro Gil and at that was nearing 12NN and I had a terrible headache, bad mood and aching feet. I decided to take a cab going to Mabini. When I finally got to the conference, it was already starting and there was a sign posted “Late comers are not accepted”. Whattt the fuuudddddddgeeeeeeeeeeeee????
I went in and looked for the person in charge. I demanded to be “accepted” since it was their fault they didn’t inform us that the venue was changed! and told her I was at Atrium at 745am!
I didn’t care if she was the inspector who was assigned at our laboratory. I was angry and felt deprived!
In the end, they let me in but they were never apologetic. When our secretary inquired why we were not informed, they reasoned: ” We called you and no one was answering”. HALLLEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR….If it was office hours it’s impossible no one would answer. It’s a friiiigggginnnn laboratory!!!!
One good thing about this entire thing?
I learned that MRT is also called LRT 3. On one of the stations I kept wandering where MRT was because the guide map only showed LRT 1,2 and 3. It took me 20 mins to figure it out.
