A Thank You Letter

With this simple blog entry, I want to thank Singapore's Archbishop Nicholas Chia for his heartwarming message to the congregation yesterday in the 11AM Mass at St. Bernadette Church.  He asked for everyone's help to extend their talents and gifts to the victims of the recent Southwest Monsoon that caused massive destruction and flood in Manila and nearby provinces. He did not only call for it once, but twice.... first, in the Homily and second, just before the service ended.

It was an overwhelming feeling as a Filipino Christian that such gesture was initiated by the highest official of the Singapore's  Catholic Community. I felt his sincerity to help by informing the people of this unfortunate event that struck my beloved country and asked them to share their blessings with the victims. He didn't have much words to say, actually. Simple words, simple message.

Once again, thank you for the loving gesture and for including the Philippines in your prayers.

Birthday 2011

After 2 birthdays, it's my first time to celebrate here in Singapore.

my birthday wish: peace on earth ;))

Butterfly Dreams :D

thanks for coming, guys :D

Enzo

5 hours from now, I will say goodbye to our cute little angel of the house.  He'll be going back to Manila with his grannies while his parents will stay here preparing their migration to Canada.  I will surely miss this little boy.  No more sweet voice in the morning that I constantly here before going for work, no more cute little darling who playfully chases me just to ask me to carry him.  No more playtime after work.

Bye, Enzo!  Thanks for lighting up our home far away from "real" home.

take care, little boy... :)

On Moving Out

I never thought that moving out from one flat to another would cost us our souls.  Of course that was overstatement but what I mean is... argghh... imagine this.... 1 month advance, 2 months deposit, agent's fee which is worth a month of rental... that is a total of 4-month rental for one whole flat.  DAMN!!!!

Budget has been re-aligned, savings have been withdrawn.... time to tighten the belt until everything goes back to normal.

Don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or if the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your inner life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the ravens, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, carefree in the care of God. And you count far more. ~ Luke 12:22-24

On SG's Electronic Shows

In my more than 2 years of stay here in the Lion City, I've already witnessed 10 blockbuster Electronic Shows and most of the time, I ended up a victim... a happy victim at that :) IT Show, PC Show, COMEX, SITEX call it whatever you want but they all serve one purpose, to give the consumers the best deals in Electronics and sometimes even more than that. My Macbook, iTouch, External HDs are just some of what I have purchased from these events. And just last Thursday, I got my latest toy from SITEX 2010 :D Will post a separate entry for that ;)

Anyways, I decided to write this entry to share my observations to this quarterly events. And hopefully give some potential buyers on how the business works. Hmmm... let me list down the points:

1. Are the prices really cheap? There are different views to answer this question and I will try my very best to give an accurate answer as much as possible.

As a Filipino, the first question that pops into my mind before buying any electronic item is: is it cheaper here or in Manila? And 99% of the time, the answer is YES, it is much much cheaper here than anywhere else (I think) :D

If I wouldn't care about the Php price, then, the next thing to find out is if the price offers are really discounted. Meaning, it is much less compared to the regular price when I buy it from their store outlets. And 90% of the time YES, the prices are at discounted rates. Maybe you would ask, how about the remaining 10%? Let me explain in the next point.

2. If the they don't give discounted prices for their items, what benefits should I get then?

PERKS. Lots of perks :) Take for example this: buy a laptop computer and get a laptop bag, free memory upgrade, a printer and a warranty extension. Or buy a digital camera and get a camera case, tripod, SD cards and screen protector. Buy an LCD TV and get a free blu-ray player. Sounds great, isnt't it? :D

And you can even join lucky draws if you meet the minimum required purchase.


BUT....... here are some precautions before spending your precious money:

1. Don't be fooled by the magical words from these salesmen who will tell you that when you buy their product, you get to save hundreds of dollars. How? Here's a perfect example. They will offer you a 42-inch LED TV with a net price of 1800sgd. In addition to this, you will get a free HDMI cable, a video camera and a 50-sgd worth of voucher.

But wait! Try to check the actual regular price of the TV set from other stores or on the internet you will be surprised that it is even 500 or 600 less than their published rate. YES! I personally checked that one out before. In the end, your actual savings is not the actual figures you thought you got. Surely, you'd still get some price cut-off but not as much as what you thought it was. Good thing, I did not fall to their trap :D*

*Note: this one is just from one store, I did not bother to check from other stores anymore.

2. Most stores offer very attractive price deduction but, these same promos are being offered to their store outlets as well. So if you would do your homework, you might realize that there's no need for you to go to the exhibit and switch faces with different strangers just to get the brush off you wanted. You might probably get the same offer from their mall branches :)

With this post, I hope I can give a little help to those who've been asking information on how things are going during these events. And eventually, more savings to our hard-earned money :)

Celestial Resort

It was weeks ago when a friend/officemate invited me to join her and some of our friends to explore the northeastern island of Pulau Ubin. Since the 4-day celebration of Chinese New Year would definitely be boring (malls are closed), and plus the fact that I've been wanting to see more of Singapore and not just shopping malls and sale outlets, I excitedly accepted the invite.

Roselle, made all the planning: searched for an affordable resort that offers various water and land activities; verified to the resort personnel that everything posted on their website would be available on day of stay; even asked if there was an available hair blower in the room (my special request :D). Positive! We booked our stay at Celestial Resort.

Februray 14, Valentine's Day. We all met at Punggol Marina Country Club where a service boat will bring us straight to the resort. We missed the first trip and while waiting for the 2nd one, we had our photo shoot first at the port.

It was only a 10-minute ride from the port to the resort. Since we were 2 hours earlier from the standard check-in time, we asked Ate Jenny, the Filipina receptionist, if we could go for an early check-in. She said, no room was available at the moment and maybe we could tour around the resort first and she would just give us a call. But before doing so, we asked for the schedules of the acvities we inquired about prior to our booking. And to our surprise, NO SINGLE ACTIVITY was available on that day and on the following day!!! WTF!!!! The reason? It's Chinese New Year and most of the staff are in a holiday. WTF again!!!!

I am not questioning how they celebrate CNY, but for hell's sake, why did you tell us that the activities would be available on that day. You did even confirm the price of each activity. Que horror!!!! This is a HUGE, OBVIOUS LIE!!!! We were also on a holiday break and we wanted to relax, to have fun.... but how could we if there's nothing to do but count the trees and leaves around us!!! The biggest question still is, WHY THE HELL DID YOU LIE, PEOPLE??!!??!!

But this is just a beginning of a terrible experience at the resort. We tried to bargain with the staff like letting the seven of us stay in just one suite. But the caucasian lady arrogantly turned us down and with a sarcastic look on her face, she said, "You booked for 2 rooms, you must take it". Oh well, that's customer service for them.

I may sound furiously angry but believe it or not, we all kept our heads cool and relaxed while trying to accept the fact that we were fooled by the resort. No arguments nor altercation arose.

After about an hour of waiting, we finally checked in in the first of 2 rooms we occupied. We put down our bags, checked the whole suite and planned for our next activities. I wasn't in the mood to take photos of the rooms, but somehow, it's good that I did not 'cause for sure, everytime I'd get to see those, I might end up with nightmares. The toilet was clean, but the rust and stains on the toilet bowl and tiles were too creepy to stare at. There were 4 cups at the side table but no coffee nor sugar was present, what's the use of these cups, huh? I checked on the toilets again, NO HAIR BLOWER!!!! This is what I call, DISASTER!!!!

Before this tragedy get into our nerves, we all headed to the restaurant for our lunch. The food was good.. nothing special, though. We even had more fun time playing foosball than getting satisfaction with our food.

After a short meal and playtime, we inquired again for the day tour. The receptionist just told us to go to the other side of the resort and wait for a van that offers day our package, no coordination from them at all! Sariling diskarte kami!

And how did the daytour go? Again, nothing special.... the van brought us to Wetland Check Jawa, a downtown village where we had our very early dinner and a couple of stopover to take pictures with not-so amazing natural backgrounds. We started and ended the night with videoke and booze and tried to leave all the misfortunes behind.

We started the following day with the usual buffet breakfast that most, if not all, resorts and hotels offer. But then again, the disappointments keep pouring in. Breakfast without bread and egg?????? That's not breakfast at all!!!! How about serving 2 sets of the same sausages, one is fried and the other has overflowing sauces. Here's more, 2 kinds of noodles that both lack ingredients. Whew!!!! How bad the food was? We were not thru with the breakfast yet but we were already planning where to have our lunch :D

And up to the last minute, we couldn't help but to burst out our frustrations when we found out that our trip back will get delayed due to lack of boat, or was it because there were too many people wanting to go back asap. While waiting for our turn, the owner even advised us that the next time we visit the resort, we should take the other way to avoid overcrowding at their own port. And that's big B*LLSH*T!!!! Telling your visitor to take a different route where it will take them both boat and land transfers before reaching the resort instead of making a commitment to improve your service and facilities. Never mind, sir! There will be no next time, and that is a PROMISE!!!!

Despite of all the disaster and tragedy that went our way, good thing though, I was with a bunch of wacky and awesome people that this short experience is still something worth looking back to.

Thank you and 'til the next adventure, guys!

For photos, please visit my multiply site.

Wanyir

Today marks my 365th day here in the Lion City.

Happy Anniversary, to me! Looking forward to more fruitful and productive years in Singapore.

The Great Singapore Sale

The much-awaited season of the year has just started...... The Great Singapore Sale is here! Discounts, freebies, promotions are everywhere.... from Coach Bags to Guess.... Zara to Giordano... name it and they have it!

This annual Singapore event will run for just 8 weeks but sad to say, I still have to wait 'till next year (if I'd still be here) to finally feel what SHOPPING in SINGAPORE really means. My earnings until middle of next year are already planned for something more precious.

Prada, Coach, Lacoste and CK..... please wait for me, oki? :D

Binyag - The Singapore Way

When I attended a mass this evening, it was my first time to witness a Baptismal Ceremony here in SG. There were about 25 babies who were welcomed to the Christian World and it took almost half an hour to finish. The last time I attended a Baptism was in 2001 (if I'm not mistaken) and I really don't know if the occasion evolved in the past years. Here in SG, this is how it is observed:

The parents/guardians, together with the baby are lined-up in the middle aisle and have to wait for their turn. A signal will be given to them and they will proceed to the cross-shaped mini pool in front of the altar where the Priest is waiting for them.


There are 2 ways to baptize the child, either by pouring the water over his/her head (infusion) or the priest will immerse the child in the water (immersion). After which, the priest will lift the baby for the whole community to see and he/she will be welcomed by everyone.

I hope these babies will be good and responsible Christians :)

By the way, out of these 25 angels that were baptized, only 2 of them got stuck in my head:... they were named: Christabel (or is it Cristabel) and Genevieve hehehehehe..... :)

New Year @ Esplanade

Since I had nothing to do at home on New Year's Eve, I decided to watch the Fireworks display at Esplanade. And here are some fotos:







The fireworks did not impress me at all. I think what we had in Makati, Libis or in Manila were far better than what I had experienced here. But I had no regrets at all even if I had to stay so late and walked a mile just to catch the last trip of MRT.

Christmas 2008

December 24 was still a working day here but good thing though, we were dismissed early. I was at home already at 4pm and took a 2-hr sleep. When I woke up, I got a call from my cousins and grandmother from Tondo, had exchange of greetings and afterwhich, I got myself ready for the evening mass. My first time to attend a mass in SG and it was overwhelming. I was with my best buddies, Michelle and Raylan together with his housemates. We spent the Christmas Eve at Raylan's place, with the traditional Noche Buena and exchange gift. And of course, I did not forget to call my family back home to greet them.

the gifts

Noche Buena

my friends



gift from Raylan

gift from Michelle

Thanks for inviting us to spend Christmas with you, guys! :)


Merry Christmas!

Searching....

Booked a roundtrip ticket (SIN-MLA-SIN) for my next year's vacation (fingers crossed) from one of the travel agencies in Lucky Plaza. It costs SGD 535.00 and it's 100-dollar cheaper than the price online. But I'm still looking for a much cheaper rate and hopefully this weekend, I'll get to visit more agencies in LP and get a better deal. I called the Mabuhay Miles and inquired about my Miles redemption but sad to say, I still have to get 3000 miles points to redeem my rewards and they don't allow one-way ticket sale for international seats. If only I had half of the required miles points, I would only spend SGD 400++ for a roundtrip ticket. And with the current financial crisis we are having, every dollar should be wisely-spent.

If you know any travel agencies that offer better rates.. please PM me.. :) Thanks! :)

5300

Where this sudden change of event will lead us up to?
Now, this is what I call a "real" drama...

PBA in SG

Got a chance to watch a live PBA game yesterday at Singapore Indoor Stadium with Joe, Joey and their friends. Talk 'n Text versus San Miguel Beer :) Though my SMB lost the game, being at the stadium...seeing them in flesh... meeting my on and off the hardcourt idol Olsen Racela (second only to my forever idol, Samboy Lim) were all worth it. Being an SMB fanatic, no amount of money could buy the happiness it brought me (drama huh!). Plus I got to meet new friends, bumped to my 2 former officemates from Tsukiden, Ian and Eman (a part-time photographer-slash-programmer who was part of the media who covered the game). Of course, I was in my old candy-an-smb-fanatic-mode, screaming at the top my lungs everytime my team scores... cheering and clapping for them... bullying the opponent... aarrgghhhh.... I miss watching live PBA games at the Big Dome :(

The closest I could get to Olsen :)

My team's line-up


with the bday boy, Nash Racela

Merlion Mascot

Viva Hot Babes at the Half

SITEX 2008

This is the 2nd time I'd experienced this quarterly event here in SG. Unlike the first one, which happened last August, this time I really felt down into my bones that I was in an IT show! Hehehehe.... During the first time, my sole focus was to get the best Macbook offer from authorized Apple retailers, that's why I never looked into any other promotions: TVs, other laptops, cameras etc. Just spent 3 hours in Suntec, asked for a friend's friend's help to use her Citibank so I can pay installment and voila! Got my Macky :)

SITEX 2008 started last Thursday and will end today. Last friday, I accompanied Mitch during lunchtime at EXPO and she bought a Toshiba laptop with a lot of freebies! Canon printer, extended warranty, 4gb thumbdrive, optical mouse, slip case, laptop lock (I don't know if this is the right term, though :D ) and free upgrade to 2gb RAM. MS Vista is the OS by default.

After her, it's my turn to buy a Christmas gift for myself *wink*, an iPod Touch 16gb hehehehe... The freebies are: Silicon Case, Screen Protector, Speaker Case and a charger. Used my 3-day old Citibank Premier Miles credit card and now, Macky got a little sister :) Spent another 3 hours at the Expo on an office day (pasaway!) Even skipped lunch for this.

The following day, Saturday, I went back there and bought an 8gb Toshiba thumbdrive for S$24.90 and a 2gb Pendrive MicroSD for S$6.90. I quickly moved out of the hall after purchasing those 'coz I might not resist temptations anymore if I stayed longer.

Hopped to the adjacent hall for the John Little Sale. Bought some blouses for me and garments for my kuya and tatay. Also, this is the second straight day that I had skipped lunch.

Later in the evening, Mitch invited me to a friend's birthday party and stayed there 'til around 10pm. Stayed awake up until 2:30am to iron my clothes while watching Ugly Betty S1 :)

I Miss.....

1. my family... specially my nephew josh... :(
2. my friends and the gimiks... haaaayyyy....
3. SM North Edsa that has been my tambayan almost every week
4. taho, pandesal, tj hotdogs, jollibee, fried penoy, balut, chicharon w/ laman
5. luto ng nanay ko.. waaaahhhhh!!!! :((
6. tsismisan during lunchtime hehehe...
7. being mataray... I can't do it here.. you know.. I might get deported anytime hehehe..
8. chats during working hours.. ;))
9. receiving/sending forwarded text messages
10. saying "sa tabi lang po... sa babaan lang po... "
11. eat bulaga and pba
12. mga walang kwentang usapan with friends... basta may mapag-usapan lang after a hard day's work.
13. at this time of the year, I miss the Christmas spirit.... Christmas songs over the radio... the blinking lights... decors at the malls, neighborhood, office..... the atmosphere itself... :(

I Like.... I Don't

Things that I like, so far, in my stary here in SG:

1. My room and dressing it up :)
2. I make my own diskarte sa buhay. What to cook for tonight, for tomorrow for next week. What to do with the left-over foods without throwing it away. When and how to laundry and iron my clothes. How to budget my money for one month, how to deal with difficult people hehehe... (I'm so mean..:P)
3. Transporatation is so convenient. Almost has access to everywhere without traffic jam.
4. Weekly sale.
5. I get to see my friends as often as I want, anytime of the day, without worrying on how to ask permission from my parents to stay late.
6. Internet connectivity. Sooo fast. Or baka naman nasanay lang kasi ako sa dial up sa pinas.. :P
7. Got the chance to practice my cooking skills and it's not bad after all *wink*... I told you, nay! I can cook! All I need is lot of opportunities hehehehe... but you're still the best cook in the worldwide universe mwahhhhh!!!! miss you po...

Things that I don't like, so far, in my stay here in SG:

1. Living with strangers.
2. When my diskartes are being ruined by inconsiderate people. Breaking the rules. Crossing the lines. Arrghhh!!!
3. Hindi kaaya-ayang amoy sa mga public transpo. Kailangang tagalugin, baka may nagbabasang ibang lahi hehehe...
4. The once-a-month payday. Being used to a semi-monthly payday, budgeting my moolahs is quite difficult especially when sales, promos and alikes are everywhere. Good thing I'm very much in control of myself hehehehe...
5. Just a few number of friends around since most of them are in Pinas.
6. Piracy is a no-no here that's why I'm having second thoughts whether to download tv series and mp3s or not.
7. Local seasonings do not meet my taste buds' requirements. Have to buy our own brands at not so reasonable prices in Lucky Plaza.

Ordinary Sunday

No money yet to spend for shopping or just plain grocery today. So, here's how I survived my Sunday:

1. Woke up at 9:30 and had a breakfast. Thanks to Janet, my housemate, for her Goldilocks Ensaymada pasalubong from Pinas. I partnered it with an iced cold tea.

2. Day 2 of my HHA workout.

3. Room cleaning.

4. Cooked Pork Caldereta for lunch (which actually will last up to dinner and my baon for tomorrow :D )

5. Had lunch. I wanted a Coke but too lazy to go to a store which is about 3 blocks away from my place. I really miss the sari-sari store in our neighborhood in Pinas :( which will only take me 5 minutes to have Coke when I crave for one.

6. Cleaned the bathroom and took a bath after.

7. Read Twilight while letting my hair dry.

8. 2-hr sleep.

9. Watched The BUZZ with my housemates. What a revelation by Cristy Fermin about Nadia Montengero hehehehe.... kanya-kanyang labasan ng baho....

10. I really wanted a Coke very badly, so I bought outside. Good thing there is a mini mart in a nearby block. Got the direction from my housemate and also purchased a Magnum yoghurt ice cream.

11. Had dinner, and again, had the same ulam.

12. Waited for Mitch 'coz she'll be getting her groceries from Pinas courtesy of my ex-officemate from Lawson, Grace. Mitch also brought her luggage and backpack that I borrowed.

13. Blogging this :)

Will hit the bed before 12mn, I need to get up tomorrow at 6:30.

Holiday

It's a holiday, Hari Raya Aidilfitri or End of Ramadan as we commonly know it. My first taste of a real holiday here. "Real" because the first holiday since I got here was last August 9, it was a Saturday, Singapore's National Day. And Saturday is a no-work day anyway. But since I had no money to spend today for shopping, I still stayed home hehehehe... watched some TV programs, had syesta and surfed the net.

And since I've been surfing the net the whole day, I just decided to review Subversion which I will install this weekend in the office. Yes! I'll be in the office this Saturday to setup SVN. Oh well, I'm not that frustrated after all. I won't be doing anything this weekend, so what a better way to spend the weekend in the office and get paid in return hehehehe.... I just hope SVN won't give me headaches this time :)

Is it?

While doing my usual surfing stuffs, I got this link from a friend's ym status that I wanted to post it here right away. To highlight the article:

Here's a list I grabbed from www.pinoysg.com of a few petty things that normally lead to an i'll-never-again-talk-to-you-til-the-day-I-die feud among pinoy housemates here:

1. Strands of black, curly hair gathering on bathroom floors – and even on kitchen sinks – that later manifests itself into a furry, gooey creature;
2. Locking oneself up inside the toilet for an eternity and not giving way even when a housemate is clearly in a bowel-busting, poise-threatening predicament;
3. “Paranormal” housemates straight from The Sixth Sense who keep insisting they see dead people;
4. Swiping someone else’s food from the fridge without asking the person who toiled through the night, investing blood, sweat and tears into his special delicacy of scrambled eggs and bacon;
5. Leaving the lights and heater on through the night;
6. Leaving the doors open;
7. Waiting for the garbage to pile up, hoping perhaps Oscar the Grouch would pop out of it suddenly to spew some expletives; and,
8. Using groceries and supplies like they were manna from heaven and not bothering to restock them.

And all I can say is.... yeah they are definitely true and more hehehehe.... :) Click here for the full article.