VILLMA...a history.

Yes, I'm still on full reminiscing mood. :) I think I'll be a lot busier at work next week, so I'm taking advantage of my free time now by updating my blog. Anyway, I wrote this entry because I had lunch with Apple, Leslie and Louie yesterday. It was our first get-together in over a month, so I couldn't help but feel sentimental.

VILLMA is a mnemonic for six gorgeous, driven and talented females whose paths crossed in Sun Life Financial. It started with just Van, Les and Mich, who all worked in Sun Life as programmers in 2004. They were known as the Scrabbled Eggs back then, because of a team name used in a scrabble match. Or sometimes, as Charlie's Angels. Even then, they were inseparable. And even though they were assigned to different teams, the three proved their worth by all being promoted a year and 3 months into their employment. This incident only brought them closer.

Apple, was added to the mix when she joined the GL team and Van became her "Sun Life buddy". Incidentally, her first impression of Van was that she was "plastik" for being too cheerful... Tama ba naman yun? Anyway, Apple's quirky ways, entertaining stories, and borderline green comedy quickly endeared her to the trio.

Mich, Apple, Leslie and Van at SLF Funtasy Xmas Party 2005

Louie first came into the picture when she and Van became teammates in a badminton tourney. The Orange team finished second and the two got to know each other through the team's constant practices. Louie, as a Regional Accounting (RAC) manager was also an end user for the GL group, so Apple and Van got to know her more because of production support. But they were merely friends at this point and will only truly bond later in this story. :)

Irene was the last to arrive, joining the GL team in late 2005. Her strong spirit and independent demeanor earned it's place in the group. They really bonded during their lunch breaks and especially during the CMG Scheme Transfer project for reasons I can't put into this blog. Irene also took over the "ate" role of the group, which Apple was not fit to provide, in spite of her "age advantage" over the others. :)

Van, Leslie, Irene, Mich and Apple at SLF Funtasy Xmas Party 2005

In the meantime, discontent, pressure and god-knows-what-else, drove Apple to apply for an opening at RAC. She was accepted and she left Central Systems, going back to her Accounting roots. This became the catalyst for Louie's crossover from friend to really close friend.

But if there's something that all of us had in common (aside from our key traits mentioned above), it was the genuine care we had for each other and the trustworthiness of each one to keep personal things private. You see, what really bonded us was our chikahan moments, either during lunch, during CR breaks, at Starbucks, at DQ, in Red Box, at our favorite lunch spots, Teriyaki Boy and Pancake House and even at the spa. We talked about everything under the sun, and provided each either support, advise, encouragement or even reprimands when it was called for. This type of friendship/candidness doesn't come by every day, and I was just fortunate enough to be part of this group.

Sadly, as the song goes, all good things come to an end. Leslie was the first to leave, she joined Navitaire late 2006. Irene soon followed and was the first to leave the Philippines, having been accepted for a job in the US. Two weeks later, Mich left for Malaysia. And a month later, I left Sun Life.

And unfortunately, VILLMA only came about when Irene filed her resignation to go to the US, because it was the only time that we realized that we were really going to be apart from each other. That's the reason why we never got a picture with all 6 of us in it at the same time. Since Leslie was already working somewhere else and couldn't join us for lunch often.

Irene, Mich, Apple, Louie and Van at Red Box - March, 2007

Although it's not really the end, as we still keep in touch thru e-mail/YM. It just can't replace the face-to-face contact we usually shared every day. But we all know that VILLMA will always be there for each other, and that sooner or later our paths will cross again. :)