blog here, blog there

the last post that i have written on this site was a notification that i have  moved my blog to my multiply site. now multiply is shifting to focus to online shopping & selling and would  no longer support the social networking features beyond December 1, 2012. so here i am migrating my old blogs from multiply to this site, i hope the the exporter that they asked us to use works.

ohhhh it does!

My OFW Diary: Passport Renewal

Funny that the last entry that I have on my blog was also about our Philippine Embassy here in Singapore. Guess having a bad experience really gives me inspiration to write, or should I say rant?

It's so sad that I get more respect from employees of government offices here in Singapore than our own embassy. It's very sad because our home country's embassy should be a place of refuge in time of war or crisis but employing people who think so highly of themselves and less of others gives our embassy a bad reputation.

Government officials and employees should be devoted to serve their own people with respect and efficiency because the salary that they are receiving is from the tax payer's hard earned labor. I should know because my Mom is a government employee and she is emulating this principle. It's so sad and frustrating at the same time that you do not get a decent service from people who are supposed to "serve".

As if waking up early just to queue for hours outside of the embassy before it opens is not enough to torture us, we still have to endure hearing snide remarks and bad treatment from these people that could really make you flip reply with an equally sarcastic or rude remark. Of course i understand that it's all in a days work to you, we all have bad days and frustrations but there is no excuse for treating people this way. Especially people who pay for your salary.

My OFW Diary: EMBASSY

Today I woke up at 6am to make sure that I would get to the embassy early before the gates open. I managed to do just that, managed to take a bath, dress up & take the bus at about 6:45. It didn't take long for the connecting Bus to arrive so it just took me roughly 30 minutes to get to the Bus stop in front of the British Council. I crossed the street to the other side & slowly walked towards the corner, which "I thought" was the one going towards Nassim Road it has been a long time since I went to our embassy & maybe because I was still half asleep... I think I have walked quite a bit already about 10 -15 mins from the main road and it felt a bit funny because I know that the embassy is not that far. I was thinking, I should have seen the old Saudi Arabian embassy by now, that was when I saw another Filipina walking towards the opposite direction. You know how Filipinos are, anywhere we go we would still make small talk as a form of greeting a Kababayan =) "Uy baligtan yata lakad mo, pakabila yung Lucky Plaza" she said jokingly. "Hindi po sa embassy po ako pupunta..." "Ah hindi dito, Nassim Hill ito, sa Nassim Road ka pupunta, duon pa yun sa kabilang kanto malapit sa Tanglin Mall, halika papunta ako ng Orchard turuan kita" Thank God for the kindness of Filipinos!

I would usually be so pissed at myself at this point but fortunately Ate was very nice. We had a very sensible & fun chat on the way to the embassy. She's been here for a very long time, her first contract was with a local family for 3 years & now with an American family for over a year. Sometimes all we need is a good chat with a stranger to calm our nerves.

Aside from the fact that Ate guided me, I was so sure that I was on the right path because just a few steps away, I could already see a long queue. I reluctantly went to the end of the line and started posting on my fb wall to entertain myself. 

the early morning queue

After a few minutes, one of the guards called out to those who were there for OWWA Membership & OEC and instructed us to move to the line on the other side of the gate. The line that I was in was actually for passport renewals only. So I had to walk a bit further down, luckily though our line was shorter that the other one. At about 8:15 they opened the gates and made us make 2 lines inside to register on the log book & take the necessary forms to fill out. We then proceeded to the waiting area in front of the counters where we were given Q numbers from the machine. Cool! Glad that our embassy has now adapted the widely used system in all government offices here in Sg. Got my number 4014 (the 14th person to be served at Counter 4). 

my queue ticket

nice roof right?

I patiently filled out the 2 forms, one for my OWWA membership renewal & the other for the OEC request, while listening to the lady beside me whine to her husband about the arrogant & impatient family right next to them on the queue. She was ranting about how impatient & rude they were, I actually wanted to butt in "so, you're no different from them" but chose to keep my mouth shut as I waited for my number to flash on the screen. 

making use of the electronic queue board

I didn't wait for a long time because in about 20 mins since I got my number I was done with the whole process. This was a big improvement from the last time I got my OWWA membership & OEC.  Waking up early, taking an unplanned walkathon & patiently waiting for your turn was definitely worth all the effort after all. To celebrate my success I took the longer bus ride home, alighted at Bukit Purmei & had a Roti Parata breakfast =)

breakfast!

For those of you going to the Embassy for the first time or just like me needs to be reminded of how to go there, here's a simple guide:

1. Go to the Bus stop behind the Orchard MRT Station opposite Orchard Parksuites and take SBS Bus Nos. 7, 123 or 174. Alight at the bus stop in front of The British Council (the stop right after Tanglin Mall). 

2. Cross to the other side and walk further down until you see the corner of Nassim Road (Landmark: La Forketta on your left). Turn left, walk further down until you reach the first intersection, turn right & you would see our Embassy.

remember this building

3. Requirements for OWWA Membership:

- Original Employment Contract

- Original Passport

- Original Work Permit / Spass / Employment Pass

- Application form (available at the gate)

- $42 fee

This round they did not ask me to submit photocopies of the above requirements, but since they did last time, I guess it wouldn't hurt if you would prepare 1 set in case they would ask for it.

  4. Requirements for OEC:

- OWWA Certificate

- Original Passport

- Original Work Permit / Spass / Employment Pass

- Air ticket 

- Application form (available at the gate)

- $5.50 fee for each OEC (Multiple certs is now valid for 1 year from the date of issue) 

   

Squire 93 Reunion & Christmas Party

Date: 19 Dec 2010
Venue: Villa Josefina III, Pansol Calamba City

Squire 93 Christmas Party/Reunion

Surprise!

Meet my Sg barkada: my dear sister Zarah, Candy, Lesley, Sunshine, Dian, Ate Vivi, Chelle, Elaine, Jen & Joan (photographer) . These are the people who makes my Sg life a bliss. Amidst loneliness, stress & problems, they are always a call or an sms away from making things better. So even after moving to different companies, we still try to meet each other regularly. Even if it's just to see a movie or have dinner at Lau Pa Sat, seeing my friends gives me the strength to move on.

So when Jo proposed that we join the Vietnam trip that she planned for Jen's birthday as a surprise, we quickly agreed. I think we started planning the trip since July. Since most of us just changed employers, we had to save up & plan the trip way ahead of time. Of course without Jen's knowledge

On Aug 1 am i received an sms from Jo & Elaine that Jo & Jen have already booked the air ticket. She gave us the flight details & encouraged us to book the same flight. I sent a blast to the girls telling them that as long as 1 other person confirms, i would proceed to book the flight. Luckily Elaine confirmed, thus I booked the same flight for the both of us.

Unfortunately, as much as we want the gang to be complete, Ate Vivi was in transition at that time, Candy & Lesley were saving up for something bigger, Zar was still in Pinas & Chelle has already been there and was going back to Pinas on the same weekend.

Later in the day Sunshine & Dian confirmed so also booked the same flight for them. Joan later informed us that LA would also be joining us, along with Jen's Mom & Lola. Now the tickets are settled, now we need to find a hotel.

Jen actually wanted to stay at Lan Lan Hotel because it's very near the Ben Than Market. So we did a little research. The place did not get any good reviews from the sites that I frequently visit for reference. So I advised Joan to look for a different hotel. Of course we placed her in a difficult situation because she couldn't tell Jen the reason why they can't stay there. Eventually she managed to convince Jen to book a different hotel. Luckily Jo found Sophia Hotel online, so by Aug 31st our accommodation was settled.

It's usually a habit of mine to prepare a travel itinerary whenever I go. But unfortunately the transportation system in Vietnam is not as developed as the previous countries that we've been to. I've visited various sites for information on how to go to the key places, but the only option feasible was to take a cab, which would cost you around 5USD/trip. So we just printed the info sheet about the places that we want to visit & just see how we could get there once we're checked in.


Sept 19 4am: woke up, took a shower & went to the airport. i was the first one to arrive. i smsed the group already & everybody replied except for Sunshine ( as usual ). Elaine & Dian arrived next, with Elaine's bf Emerson who was automatically assigned to be the photographer. Shortly after that Sunshine arrived.



After a few pictures, Dian & Elaine went to find an ATM to draw out money. When they returned they were already with Joan, LA & Jen (with a puzzeled look on her face)


Jen: "Ano ginagawa niyo dito?"

Ailene: "Aba ewan ko sa'yo, basta kami
            pupunta kami sa Vietnam"

Jen: "Ha?"

Everybody: Surprise!
                 Happy Birthday Epang!




Even after we have checked in for the flight Jen still couldn't believe that we were joining them for the trip. It was really funny & exciting to surprise her like that. Good thing Dian brought her video cam & it was properly documented.

It was supposed to be a 2-hr flight, but since Vietnam was 1-hr behind from Singapore time it seemed like our travel time was just 1 hr and it also helped that we were sleeping the whole time =)


The Tan Son Nhat International Airport was reminiscent of our old NAIA. The immigration queue was moving quite slow, good thing they opened a few more counters upon our arrival. Jen, Jo & LA went to Baggage Claim Zone 3 to meet Tita Lu & Lola, while the rest of us went to the money changer & became instant millionaires (in VDN).

Jen booked a van for 20USD to bring us to the hotel and after almost an hour drive, we reached The Sophia Hotel. We were greeted by the friendly staff & the uber efficient front desk personnel. Dian, Sunshine, Elaine & I were given Rm 606, while Jen, Jo, LA, Tita Lu & Lola were given Rm 406.

We reached there about lunch time so we were all famished. Chelle recommended that we look for Pho 2000 & try out the spring rolls. Luckily there was one just around the corner from our hotel. And Chelle was right, the spring rolls were the best!



...to be continued

Sophia Hotel - Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

My friends & I recently went to Vietnam for a 3-day trip. Most people we know discouraged us from going there because here's nothing much to see there, "it's just like Manila". But we still pushed through with the plan because it was a birthday surprise for our friend Jen.

Contrary to what they said, our trip proved to be one of the most exciting trips I've ever had. A big part of the excitement was contributed by our wonderful stay at Sophia Hotel.

The hotel staff was great! The bell men at the entrance were really friendly, they had a ready smile & would assist us in anyway they can. They would check out the taxi meter before we pay the driver to make sure that we were not cheated & they would help us bring your stuff without expecting any tip. We noticed this because they did not linger after helping or bringing us the adapter & weighing scale (yes we were quite a demanding group ;-) They just politely brought the things & said thank you.

Special mention to Dung, the Front Desk Manager, who went out of his way to assist us book a free & easy city tour on our first day. For USD100 all 9 of us had one van bring us to the key tourist spots in the city & to anywhere else we wanted to go. Our driver did not speak much English so every time we needed someone to explain things to him, he would call Dung on his mobile & ask us to talk to him & he would then in turn translate. It was value added service to the max! Thru this we managed to tour the city in just half a day, have dinner at Jollibee, have a blast of shopping at the Ben Than night market & conveniently brought back to our hotel by 10pm.

The next day we booked a guided tour with lunch for Cu Chi Tunnel & Cao Dai Temple for USD252, again with the help of Dung.

The room was just the right size, very clean & well furnished. There was even a safety deposit box in the closet (free of charge) which I have never experienced in the previous countries that I've visited. The bathroom was nice & very clean. They also have 3 internet terminals at the lobby & serve you water while surfing.

The only thing that could have lowered their mark on my rating meter by 0.02% would be the breakfast. They did not prepare enough fried rice so those of us who came in a bit later than the others had to wait for a few more minutes while they cooked the rice. But then I would just attribute it to miscalculation because apparently they did not expect my petite friends to be big eaters (if there is such a word) hahahaha. But then bringing in Jen's cake & let us eat it in the dinning hall without charging any corkage fee sets the negative rating off because we got a better end of the deal.

Overall i give them a 100% rating for a job well done. For those who are thinking of going to Ho Chi Minh on a budget, Sophia Hotel is the best place to be. Just visit their website below for more details:

Website : http://www.sophiahotelvietnam.com/
Address : 36-38 Thai Van Lung, Ben Nghe Ward, Dist.1, HCMC
Telephone: (+84-8) 38256972 fax (+84-8) 38256971
Email: info@sohpiahotelvietnam.com
reservation@sophiahotelvietnam.com

Saigon Girls

The Cu Chi Tunnel Challenge