Once Upon A Time

KCC Mall of Gensan. Photo Credits.

I was previously employed to one of Gensan's biggest shopping malls, the KCC Mall of Gensan.
As an IT guy, I belonged to the Management Information Systems (MIS) Group who is in charge of the company's computer systems. And that's where I met Jeffrey.


Okay, let me describe to you this good friend of mine.

A happy-go-lucky guy. This would be everyone's first impression of him. You can always see him smiling and laughing out of nowhere especially when he has his headphones on(he's fond of watching cartoons on his laptop). He's not crazy but he is only taking things as they come without worrying too much. That makes him very fun to be with. He also eats a lot of food and he doesn't seem to get fat. There are a lot of girls and gays who admire him.

Jeffrey(holding the camera) and Me.

Jeffrey is also the kind of guy who is always on the go. If you are out with his company, expect that you'll end up somewhere else with just a little planning or even without. I remembered waking up one morning after a party at one of our friends house. I thought we were already going home but instead we went to another place with the same clothes we wore the previous day and ended up enjoying the thrill of white-water rafting. What an experience!

One thing I like about Jeffrey is that he is very generous and kind. I never remembered him getting angry at anyone or anything. Also, he'll let you borrow almost anything he has. Camera, cellphone, tent, motorbike, laptop, clothes, watch, shoes...you name it. He's simply that generous. Oh, and did i mention his wallet? Yes, we frequently borrow money from him too whenever we came short of our budget.

And you know what? The guy doesn't seem to mind. He's got a lot of it and most of us envied him for that.

A netbook. Photo Credits

One afternoon, he came in to our office carrying a brand new net-book. I can't really remember if he bought it for his sister or for his girlfriend. But the thing his, he bought in the middle of the month. I know you know what I mean. During those dates, we usually pay a lot of bills and we hardly have anything left to buy something for ourselves. Well, that was in my case.

But clearly not for him. And so I asked, "Where do you get all of your money?".

"From my savings and from my small business", He replied.

"Wow! What kind of business is that?", I asked again.

"Uhmmm...just an Internet Cafe...", He answered.

I was in awe when I learned that this guy already had an Internet Cafe. Way back then, there are only very few households who can afford to buy their own PCs and Internet connection. Gamers, students, and professionals are usually using the services offered by an Internet Cafe and they are just billed according to their hourly usage. To have an Internet Cafe Business was no joke at all. The cost of renting a building, procuring the equipment needed, and maintaining the business as a whole was very expensive and we are still on our early twenties that time.

Inside an Internet Cafe. Photo Credits.

As our conversation continued, he showed me a receipt from his ATM balance inquiry. "Php 10,000.00" - That's what I saw on the small paper. That was his net profit for one month from his Internet Cafe. I gulped and stared at the small paper for quite a while knowing that it was even bigger than my monthly salary which was only Php 9,500.00 at that time. And yes, it was already his extra income.

So that's the reason why...

Our conversation ended and I went back to my desk. But, while I was doing my work, the thought kept running on my mind. I can't seem to get it off of my head and a lot of questions came out of nowhere.

"How did he do it?"..."How did he do it?"...

And so, for the last time, I asked Jeffrey once again...

"How did you do it? Where did you get all the money to build your Internet Cafe?"

He smiled and answered... "I also earn something from my fishing business."

"Huh?! Fishing business?! Come again? You said what?"...

"Fishing business", he repeated.

So, it was this very good friend of mine, Jeffrey, who introduced me to the fishing world.


What happened next? Find out on my next blog post.

Stay tuned.