We went to Cebu, Philippines to celebrate 12th anniversary of RONDHUIT’s birth during April 21 to 29, 2018. We had English lessons there. Here are the short reports from the participants.

I got used to Cebu a lot by Koji

Well, it has been a year since my team last visited Cebu. Upon arriving at the airport, the English teachers welcomed me as had happened in the previous visit. This year, we had been staying at Radisson Blu Cebu Hotel. Every year, I saw that the Philippines, which is said to have remarkable economic development among Asian countries, is simultaneously developing. One difference from the last year is that the teacher who picked me up didn’t hire a mobile taxi but used “Grab” service. Grab is a dispatched mobile service similar to Uber (they have just bought Uber from this year) which is mainly developed in Southeast Asia.

DELUXE SUITE of Radisson Blu Hotel, which I was able to book at the last minute, was about 100 square meters. For a week, I, who live with my family in Tokyo, would stay alone in the spacious room which is larger than our own house. What a luxury it is! The room was on the 20th floor which was the top most level of the hotel. The 20th floor was not that high in Tokyo, but the view was fantastic because there were no higher buildings around. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures.

On the same floor, there is an exclusive restaurant for guest executives (business lounge) where you can enjoy the quiet space and the personalized service of the waiter and have a relaxing buffet meal. When I say “personalized service”, I mean for example, the chef would say like “Good morning, Mr. Sekiguchi, would you like your sunny side up egg soft or over hard?” I heard him asked me that on my second day because he must have noticed my preference from the previous day. If you feel like changing to omelette on the fourth day, don’t worry, you can order as you like. There were not only nice things; let me also draw down the difficulties. The type of dish (options) in the restaurant were obviously less than that of the restaurant on the first floor. Considering the fact that the bread corner was too large. Moreover, there is a reception for exclusive use on the 20th floor, so I can check out there, but because there is only one terminal/receptionist, I badly had to wait till the other person will have finished his transaction.

As usual, in the English language training, RONDHUIT assigns one Filipino English teacher to one Japanese RONDHUIT member, to have one-on-one, 4 hours English conversation lessons per day, for 3 days. This year was the third time. As usual, on the third day, we should have English presentation in about 10 minutes. I talked about this year’s results and goals for the next year, from the sales and technical point of view. Regarding with the sales target in particular, I believe that everytime I declare about it in Cebu, we fortunately achieve it! Therefore, I consider Cebu itself as my lucky charm. And this time, I also set another target which is higher than the previous one.

After the lesson on Wednesday, we all enjoyed bowling games. The three other members presented on Friday and as usual, we had dinner with the English teachers afterwards. Apparently, were able to successfully carry out the English conversation training tour this year! See you next year, CEBU!!!

Study Tour to Cebu, 2018 by Takeyoshi

It is our 3rd time in Cebu. Study English, give a presentation, socialize and play games with English teachers. Yes, it’s the time for our annual Rondhuit study tour to Cebu, Philippines. People who are visiting for the third time are all excited to stay in the beautiful island and to show off their improvements, in making conversation or giving presentation, to their English teachers. Others who are visiting the beautiful island for the first time are a bit nervous but very excited to see the beautiful ocean.

the beautiful scenery around us, we cannot afford to go to beach for a nice sun tan nor enjoy quiet comfortable lunch at the pool side. We are here for an intense English bot camp. People who have been here for more than twice are all relaxed and enjoying conversation with teachers catching up on each other while the first timers are excited to meet teachers and busy introducing themselves to teachers to get to know each others. Even the first timers are all psyched up to do presentation in front of others by the 4th day.

to experienced energetic local teachers, we all spent another exciting and fruitful days. Learning from not only text book style conversation but also from conversation at the table or even while playing bowling for a change, everybody was comfortable spending all-English time in Cebu.

went all well even for me despite a mishap that gave me real-world examples and forced me to give presentation regarding having motivation … even during disasters.

Salamat!

Excellent beach resort in Cebu by Hisashi

It was our 3rd times to go on Cebu and I thought I’d try something special in last day for my off time pleasure.
We were always running our 3 to 5days English lesson at hotel in central city but it is very different from our image of Cebu.

This year, Issei and I decided to go to one of the beautiful beach resort hotel named Movenpick using one day pass.

Yes, this is Cebu.

We really enjoyed snorkeling.

Many kind of tropical fish are inhabiting in coral reefs. Yes, I found real Finding Nemo.

I hope our boss will choose this type of resort hotel for our next trip.

Thanks for reading,
Hisashi Nakayama

What is the happiness by Issei

This is the 4th time I am visiting Cebu on business but if you count my private trip, this will be the 5th time. So I have become used to Cebu.

Despite my poor English, this time we talked about Philippines’s economic development, poverty and happiness. It is apparently a bit too heavy topic talking about in broken English but I truly wanted to discuss poverty and happiness with them. It is because whenever I’m in Cebu and look at the cities in Cebu I get reminded to think about what happiness really is.

When I am in Japan, I seldom think about “poverty” deeply. We think about “happiness” based on sufficient food and clothes. But when I come to developing countries, those basis are destroyed and forced to think about “happiness” from the beginning.

English teachers who are assigned us obtained higher education in Cebu. But their knowledge is surprisingly limited, but their passion to knowledge is much higher than developed countries. Thus I wanted to talk more deeply with them but I am lack in language skill.

My motivation till next English training, to obtain enough language skill to be able to discuss deeply with them about happiness.

Great time and great improvement by Yasufumi

This was second time I visited Cebu. Before visiting, I felt a little nervous to take my colleagues to Cebu’s resorts on our day off(first day) because they were both born and raised in beach resorts like Cebu. But after arriving at Shangri-la Mactan resort hotel for day use, we enjoyed Cebu’s clear ocean and delicious foods.

And in the English lesson, I tried to speak a lot with English teachers. I had a lot of mistakes in the lesson, but I felt that I had improved my English skills compared to last year.

The day before our departure, I held an English presentation the same as last year. I think that I did quite better presentation this year than the one in last year.

Till visiting Cebu next time, I want to improve my English skills more and more as I had set as a second business target in my presentation.

Thanks English teachers and my colleagues for giving me a great time.

A Novel and Stimulating Experience With Many Firsts by Kamu

Even though I am a native English speaker, I had the honor of visiting Cebu together with my colleagues. Instead of studying English, I studied Support Vector Machines (SVM). Thus, my presentation was about the basic theory behind SVM (seemingly, much to the dismay of the English teachers).

Outside of Japan and Taiwan, the latter of which I only visited for 3 days, The Philippines was the only country I have ever visited outside of the U.S. Although I currently live in Japan and have visited Taiwan before, the social, economic, and political climates, as well as overall environment are all considerably different. As such, the visit to Cebu was a very novel experience for me, as it provided insight, albeit incomplete (to avoid generalization), as to the situation, such as living standards or overall outlook on life, in other countries. Two very noticeable things to me were the seemingly large percentage of youth, which is a stark contrast to Japan, and the somewhat carefree and optimistic outlook of many people I met and came across.

Usually when traveling to a new place, the thing I look forward to the most is trying the local food. In particular, fruits, meat, and cheese were delicious. Coffee was also exceptional. Out of the Filipino food I tried, I found Adobo to be quite tasty. I also got to try food from some Filipino chain food establishments, such as Jollibee, which was also an interesting experience.

Overall, it was great to bond with my colleagues and meet the English teachers. Thank you all so much for your time!

“Unforgettable memories” by Ayano

I went to learn English in Cebu from April 21st to 26th. It was my first trip to Cebu.
Speaking of the Philippines, let me tell you about my favorite song. When I was in junior high school, I watched Smoky Mountain – it’s the name of a singer group from the Philippines-on the TV show at “ Kohaku Utagassen ”. I was impressed by the beautiful voice and song! And then, I immediately bought a Smoky Mountain’sCD. My most favorite song on the CD is “ Paraiso ”. The lyrics are below.

————————————————————–
Return to a land called Paraiso,
a place where a dying river ends
No bird there fry over Paraiso,
no space allows them to endure.
The smoke that screens the air,
The grass that’s never there…
————————————————————–

I was surprised to translate it into Japanese because I didn’t know the contents of the lyrics. I felt that this was the situation in the Philippines. (Actually, I saw the beautiful sea and hotels in Cebu.) It was a first experience for me to translate English lyrics into Japanese. Then I started to like studying English because I could learn about other countries, even without going there. So, I was looking forward to going to Cebu.

The curriculum was to create a presentation on the last day of the training in English. The teachers taught me what kind of wording was inpressive in the presentation. Although, teachers encouraged me when I felt nervous.
It was a really valuable experience and a lot of fun!!
Thank you for a great time, teachers !!

“TOGETHER IS A WONDERFUL PLACE TO BE” by Abby Sensei

For me, there is nothing important about April. In my country, it’s the start of the summer season and the end of the school year which make everyone but me excited. I don’t like summer and I am not a student anymore. So, there is nothing exciting about it. April is nothing but just a mere month for me.

Well, that was before.

The time Rondhuit, headed by Big Boss, Koji Sekiguchi came to Cebu three years ago to celebrate their company’s anniversary and great success, April has become a month I always look forward to. Why? Because Rondhuit family will be spending their time here every year in this humble Queen City of the South.

This years visit was somehow a bit different. The main purpose of their visit was the same but what made it a bit different was the schedule was plotted two months earlier. It was to ensure that our English lesson with them won’t have any conflict with our work schedule. This somehow gave me a mixed feeling of excitement and nervousness.

Teacher Anju was assigned to be the organizer this year. I can still remember Big Boss one time during our online class, he asked me if I could do it but I told him that I am not cut out for such responsibility and he agreed which made me laugh. A week before their visit, Teacher Anju assigned me to make the welcome streamer for Big Boss’ arrival. With my sister’s help, I was able to finish it. The plan was to bring it to the airport as we meet Big Boss but there were sudden changed of plans so I brought it to the Family KTV instead. I was glad that Big Boss liked it.

The welcome party went well. I love Karaoke! I love singing! I felt like I was holding one of the microphones the entire night. I had fun. But my happines was uncomparable when Big Boss handed me the Junji Ito manga as his souvenir. It was so lovely that I could keep it forever.

The other thing that made this English training a bit different is that I had sessions with the staff for four days. Unlike the previous years, I only had session once. That was why I wasn’t surprised when Take-san asked my name. My 4-day session went well. I was happy because I was able to interact to everyone despite being shy. I met the wonderful staff, got the chance to talk and laugh with them.

If I could pick one wonderful time with everyone, I’d pick the time we all gathered to play bowling. I am not into sports but the experience was super fun! Everyone’s laughs and cheers were like music in my ears. We may have different races and have different culture but those were overshadowed by the fun memory. We were like group of friends having a great time and creating some fun pictures in the process. Our time together may not be quite enough but together is a wonderful place to be.

Second Time Around by Anju

In the summery evening on the 22nd of April, I once again met Mr. Koji. He was back in Cebu for another English training for him and his staff. To show our glee to have him back, we threw a simple welcome party for him. Teacher Abby prepared a gorgeous streamer and the rest of the teachers preapred some glittering party poppers. We hoped Mr. Koji loved the welcome party we preapred.

In the sweltering afternoon on the 23rd of April, we met the 1st batch of Mr. Koji’s staff at Radisson Blu Hotel. They are Mr. Yasufumi, Ms. Ayano and Mr. Kam. As for Mr. Kam, he wasn’t apart of the English training, he’s an English native speaker, so he definitely didn’t need it.

And on the 25th of April, we met the 2nd batch. They are Mr. Takeyoshi, Mr. Hisashi and Mr. Issei. On that same day too, the 1st batch presented their presentation to the team. All had a wonderful presentation, but the one that really caught my attention was the presentation of Mr. Yasu. I couldn’t forget his number one goal in life . I hope he can have it this year. Wishing you all the good luck in the world, Mr. Yasu(Ganbatte). After the presentation, the group went bowling. I guessed everyone was happy. I could see sweet smiles from their faces. Then after the tiring, yet superb bowling, we had our delicious dinner at Radisson Blu.

On the 27th of April, it was the last day of the 2nd batch, and it was their time to present. Every one, of course ,delivered their presentation well. However, Mr. Issei’s presentation drew my attention “we better not use other’s language as our thinking language, especially, if we are not fluent at it, because if we do so the result isn’t good”. I agree with this. So, to end the night, we had a lavish dinner at the hotel.

By and large, I was truly grateful for this another opportunity that Mr. Koji gave me. It was another splendid experience I had with you, Mr. Koji and your team. I hope all of you had a great time in Cebu, my beloved city.

THANK YOU and MABUHAY!

Value of A Moment Until It becomes a MEMORY by Frecy

Reunited again that it feels so good. That was year 2015 that Koji-san and his staffs went here to celebrate their anniversary. I felt so blessed that I was chosen to be part in this momentous celebration. It’s one of a kind experience in which we were able to impart our knowledge and at the same time meeting our differences.

The feeling of excitement came flooding back when Koji-san planned to visit Philippines again. He did it annually. This year, we met two new staffs and as I expected they were both amazing. We did the same thing like handling lessons for about four hours and at the same time sharing our experiences. I really admired their patience and passion of learning the language though it’s hard for them to express what they really wanted to say but they tried their best to do it.

They also had their presentation and I was so proud that they were able to deliver it well. After that we had enjoyed our humble dinner as much as if it had been a sumptuous feast.

teachers were hoping that Rondhuit will prosper and hit the target. More power to you guys!

See you next year.

MORE THAN YOU KNOW By Jecel Gastador

In the past couple of years, I, including a few English teachers of Mr. Sekiguchi, have got the chance to get updated with RONDHUIT’s activities and minute changes. But before anything else, may I ask you as to how familiar are you with the man behind the team?

We first met him way back five years ago. I believe he has motivated most of us that he has met and I am one of them. I am so bad at technology and so every time I hear about technical things from their company, I am so amazed! Most importantly, despite his achievements, he tries to remain humble. That is what he always put in his mind. He is humble, indeed. I hope he continuous to be so. Once Mr Sekiguch told me that the Philippines has a promising population because we are composed more of the youth; and according to him, youth is power. I guess we should learn from them to start with.

Moving on, I was not able to handle any of his staffs for this year’s English training in Cebu since I was not sure of my daily schedule; I had to deal with sudden appointments sometimes. But I sometimes showed up in their training room in the 20th floor of the hotel. It is just great to see new member/s every year. This year especially, they have chosen to hire someone with different ethnicity. Meet Mr Kamu, a twenty-five-year-old American who grew up in Hawaii. Moreover, we met another new face in this visit; Ms Ayano, joined the company about six months ago (I believe I heard in her presentation).

The Wednesday and Friday presentation activities are the one that I usually look forward to the most because I get to learn a lot from those. This year, Mr Sekiguchi have decided to give his especially younger staffs more opportunities to travel abroad, especially in the western countries. That being said, RONDUIT continuously hopefully should have great performance. Anyway, good luck guys! Hope to see you again in Cebu in the coming years! Congratulations for the last fiscal year’s success! MORE POWER!!!!!!

Active enthusiasts make the world(company) active by Lina

Behind the success of the Rondhuit company are the people who definitely make vigorous efforts to fulfill their individual tasks.

In line with the celebration of another successful year of Ronduit, Mr. Koji and his staff visited Cebu again for the third time. As one of the teachers, it was another great privilege to be part of the celebration, as not everyone is given by it. It is almost like a routine to have this kind of celebration and the fact that among all the places in the world, they chose Cebu. Having this realization makes me feel prouder about my place. As for me, it is a delightful moment to meet people from another country.

During the previous celebrations, I was not given a task to teach any of the Japanese staff. It was not a serious matter at all as I could still enjoy and interact with them harmoniously. On the other hand, as part of this year’s celebration, Mr. Koji gave me an assignment to handle one of his staff. I felt happier and more thrilled.

On the day Mr.Koji arrived, we had a simple party as what we normally do to welcome him. That time, I should have sung a song whom he requested me to sing from last year. Unfortunately, there were some minor teachnical problems. One microphone was not functioning well and we could not find that song I had to sing. I owe you that! I will try next time! On the other hand, the most important thing was that Mr.Koji arrived in Cebu safely.

Several days passed and I had to meet Mr.Koji and his staff at the hotel. Furthermore, that time I assissted Mr.Yasu for his presentation and I met two new staff. At first I was a little nervous but it eventually disappeared knowing they were also friendly and kind. Before the presentation took place, we had this “Guessing game”. I felt terrible about myself when I could not describe some of the words I had to describe. Later did I know, they were popular words. In the end, we lost against Japanese team. Well, nothing to worry as everyone participated and enjoyed. Then, it was presentation time and I was just pleased knowing that Mr.Yasu delivered his presentation well. Following him was Mr. Kam. He also did great job in his presentation even if I could not understand some parts of it owing to the fact that it was more on computations. As far as my knowledge about it is concern, it is too limited. Judging from other staff’s reactions to Mr.Kam’s presentation, I thought they agreed and could understand so that was a great job. It was also a memorable moment to meet Ms.Ayano.

It’s fun time! It’s bowling time! Everyone was so excited especially me. Actually that was my second time to play in my whole life. Eventhough I did not get the highest score, but trying to get a “strike” was satisfactory enough. Moreover, it was not only about how excellent you were but also about how you got along with the team. Cheering them and helping them to have more confidence was fulfilling somehow.

At the last meeting was the second batch of the presentation. All presenters really did an excellent job. Despite discussing about something which were not so related about the business, the topic they opted to discuss were very remarkable to me. There I found out how important to value our own, to use and live with what we have. Hence, I completely understood about their choices of topic for the presentation.

Above all, I chose this title for this writing because I strongly believe that people involve in the success of the business have greatly contributed a lot in the company. After hearing all the plans and target for the future, I can say that the company will grow more and will achieve a lot in the future. Learning by doing and doing for the best is the uppermost thing of all. Perhaps, working together, helping one another and aiming for brighter things lead to great success.

Hoping to have more ample and fruitful celebrations in Cebu! MORE POWER TO EVERYONE!!!

Just Another Successful Event by Lovely sensei

What a productive week to end the month of April! RONDHUIT Co. Ltd. staffs came to visit Cebu once again. A few weeks before April 1st began, I made sure to clear up all my schedules for that month in preparation of their coming. I was pretty excited yet a little nervous as to what lessons I could give them. Luckily, I was given a heads up about what to prepare. I was relieved by then and continued what I had been doing by that time.

Fastforward. Mr. Koji Sekiguchi came first on the 22nd of April. My colleagues and I welcomed him at Hi-Fi Family KTV. We sang songs, danced, drank a little and of course, ate delicious meal. He was all smiles at the beginning until I gradually noticed the tiredness grew on his face. It was getting late that night. He got pretty tired from traveling I suppose. On a brighter side, we ended the night full of cheerful laughter and contagious smiles as we randomly took a taxi to get us back home. Of course, Mr. Sekiguchi head off to his booked hotel at Radissons Blu near the famous SM City Cebu.

The whole week was full of different activities. To sum up, we did bowling- a surprising showcase of skills, had sumptuous dinner at the hotel and did some English speaking activities and ice breakers to start the lessons.

Overall, the much- awaited main event was when each of them had their fair chance of giving their presentations. They were about the company itself, their future goals & achievements and an inspirational talk about motivation. As expected, they all had to present them in the English language. Hats off for a well- delivered presentation. Thanks to us, the teachers for the teamwork, to teacher Anju for successfully facilitating this event and of course, to the RONDHUIT staffs for their full cooperation.

It was not just about the presentations, actually. In my own opinion, it was the content and how they were presented that made the event truly successful and meaningful.

Cheers for another job well done & to more success joint with happiness in the upcoming years!

See you all again in a “Kabadee Kabadee” times!

Those who have played that game knew what I meant. For questions, please ask them.