paalam pilipinas

irvin & kyle, with popet

just a few pictures of my family before i left for singapore

my singapore adventure: the plight of the unemployed

after more than a week of sending applications online, i came across 3 job postings that requires a walk-in application. since they were all located in the same building, the international plaza at 10 anson road, i decided to give it a try. slept early the previous night, but woke up later than my usual 8am. had no trouble in going there thru bus #131 --- apart from the memorable bus #65, i have already experienced going home via bus #s 131, 123 and 124 --- and alighted at the bus stop right in front of the international plaza at 10:30am.

the area where anson road is located is the business district of singapore. so it's like our makati in the philippines. i had a difficulty in finding my way because they were renovating the 1st & 2nd floors. unlike most of the places here in singapore, this building did not have ample signs to show you your way. the first office that i needed to go to was on the 32nd floor and all i could see was an escalator waaaaaa. on the 2nd floor i saw one of the indian laborers and i asked him for directions. it was funny that althogh i did not understand half of what he was saying, i somehow understood through his hand gestures. he told me to go down to the 1st floor and go "inside inside" where there are many lifts. he was even kind enough to follow me to see if i understood his directions and when i stopped to check out the building directory, he told me to follow him. he probably thought that i did not understand him.

just like most of the buildings in makati there are different elevators, or lifts as they call it here, that would only take u to certain floors and you would have to alight and move to another lift. so it took me a while to go the offices as they were on different floors. of the 3 agencies that i went to, only 1 had a slight positive result. at the moment they did not have any jobs open to foreigners but the person in charge asked me for a copy of my resume and advised me that she would be calling once a suitable position would be available. it only took me around 30 minutes to see all 3 offices and then there was nothing else to do. i was thinking of going to suntec city and do some window shopping or just go home. then i remembered the building directory, if this building housed 3 recruitment agencies, there could be more and i just said to myself: aja aja fighting!

i went to checkout the directory from a-z and i listed down the names and office numbers of those that appeared to be recruitment agencies. i saw that most of them were on the 16th floor including the one that i prioritized which was called kelly recruitment: call center staffing. bingo! dee (the receptionist) asked me for a hard copy of my resume and asked if i was keen in telemarketing/sales. ive tried it before and i have proven that i was not. so i said no. she then went inside the office and came back after about 5 mins. she advised me that there would be an opening for market research. she gave me her card and told me to email my resume if i was interested and she will be getting in touch once the post is available.  apart from kelly recruitment, there was another agency that accepted foreigners without any posts available. the receptionist just gave me a piece of paper after checking the box beside the email address for foreign applicants and advised me to send my cv. then for the rest, it did not take me more that 2 minutes:

hi, i would like to apply for any customer service or call center job openings that you have.
are u PR or Singaporean?
No
oh we only accept PR/Singaporean. Sorry for that. (Some of them would say, Good luck)

by 12noon i was done with my list of 18 agencies. it may seem sad because i am not used to being rejected for job applications. but i was not disheartened by this because i was already expecting that this would happen. hopefully dee and the other 2 people who gave me hope today could find me a suitable position. but if not, then so be it. i've just been in singapore for almost 2 weeks, so there's still a lot of time. as i always, i trust in the saying that all things happen for a reason and in God's time.

my singapore adventure: globe kababayan sim & bus #65

tuesday sept. 11 was my baptism of fire in singapore. just found out from my cousin edwin that our landline number here at home was no longer available and since i have proven that maintaining my globe roaming number was impractical i then decided to buy an sg sim. thanks to my dear pinoysg friends, i learned that there was a singtel/globe partnership that provides a singtel prepaid phoneline that allows us to txt P1 to & from the philippines for globe/TM subscribers. they call it globe kababayan (pldt also has smart pinoy, but automatically charges a daily rate for idd calls even if u dont use it).

so after my morning routine of sending out online applications, i went to out to go to Lucky Plaza. i was quite confident because i know that all i need to do is board bus #65 at the bus stop in front of the st. therese convent. going there was a breeze since the stop where im going to alight was just in front of the mall.



lesson #3: never trust a fellow filipino because some of them will still rip you off wherever in the world they are.

i went to the basement first to look for a reliable money changer. almost forgot that in singapore all of th money changers here are legit. they even have the digital screen that shows the exchange rates of different currencies that i normally see in sm forex counters

as i was not able to check online what the globe kababayan sim looks like, i went around the shops first to ask how much the sim was. my friends told me that it sells for around $18. most of the shops at the 1st & 2nd levels sold it for $20. so i went up to the 3rd level where most of the filipino shops sold it for $25 waaaaaaa. so i went back to the 2nd level. there i found a singaporean uncle who asked me "ano hanap?" with really cute chinese accent. he was really friendly and looked like he really wanted to help. so i asked him how much a globe kababayan sim costs. he sold it for $20 as well and he even explained that the load or top up as they call it here is also $20. i went ahead and bought the sim from him which he then gave to his assistant who is a filipina. to my surprise she asked for my passport, uncle then explained to me that prepaid sims are registered here in singapore. so i gave her my passport, she entered all the necessary details. it took a while for the registration to push thru. she said that it normally takes just a few minutes, mine took about 15 - 20 mins. so she cancelled the transaction and repeated the registration. this time the registration was completed. everything seems to be fine, until we tried making an outgoing call. i can receive & send sms and receive phone calls but whenever we try doing an outgoing call an error message: check caller id sending service appears. the filipina auntie told me that it was because my fone was from the philippines and that it was locked to a certain network. so i needed to buy a new fone in sg. just i explained to here that it was not the case since my fone is open to all networks and that if it were the case no signal would appear and we will not be able to use the sim for sms or incoming calls. so the uncle called customer service on my behalf. unfortunately i have to bring it to the nearest  singtel shop so that they could take a look at it and see what the problem is. it took us around 2 hrs until i finally decided to just go to the shop the next day. uncle was really nice while we were waiting for the reps that were helping us out, he constantly told me "don't fret, everything will be fine." before i left uncle was telling me to pay for service charges because he did a lot for me, when i asked him how much it was, he said $10. i told him that i don't have anymore money. he then smiled and told me to just buy him halo2 from the filipino  eatery just a few shops away. i asked him how much it was, he said $2. i said ok and he told me to buy 2 but when i was about to leave he laughed and said that one was enough. when i came back i told him that i bought him the special kind, the with with ice cream on top, which was for $3, he laughed out loud and told me "you're very kind u know, very mabait." but i think is the one who was very kind because he actually gave the halo2 to his assistant. i would have protested because she was not able to help me out nor was willing to extend her help. but i just went away and txted uncle "thank you so much 4 ur help uncle" to which he sent me a smiley as his reply.

so off i went around the 3 malls interconnected by an underpass. i was enjoying the experience and was texting my family & friends in the  philippines.  since i was indoors and was having a blast, i lost track of the time.  i just noticed that it was already late, when ate amy txted me. so i rushed towards nearest exit to know which mall i was in. waaaaaa  i got confused. where was that bus stop again???

the bus stop that i should go to is at the back of wisma atria, but since i can't find my way thru the underpass i decided to just board the bus at the stop where i alighted earlier. since sg is such a small country,  i guess it would still pass by the convent in no time.  but guess what, what should have been a 10 min trip home, lasted for about an hour & a half because  the route that i took went back to the central bus station in tampines where i took another bus #65 going the opposite route . good thing edwin gave me a bus & a street directory of sg earlier. i used it as my guide if i was near my bus stop or not. fortunately the transportation system here in sg is very organized and as long as u know the bus #s and the bus station where you would alight, you're safe. it was only then that i found out that the area where i will alight is called lower delta and not telok blangah hehehe. by 11:30pm i was safe at home.

lesson #4: experience is the best teacher

although i got lost, i was still very proud of the experience because i was able to have a grand tour of the tampines, harbour view area hahaha and was able to understand how to use the directories that were given to me. along with the appreciation of how beautiful this country is.

my singapore adventure: newbie in the country

from the plane i immediately went to immigration. since i was alone i just silently observed the people ahead of me and followed them so that i won't get lost. i guess as in all airports there were long lines, but this time its now called queues (naks! im now picking up their jargon). i received a txt from my cousin that he was already in the area. on one of the queues there was a man with his face flat on the floor. i was scared at first, but later on i heard that he has a spine disorder. as the queue was moving i noticed that there were filipinas being called to the immigration office and that most of them were from my own queue. i got nervous... i was thinking what the reason could be and how i could avoid the experience...  when it was my turn, bingo! i was asked by the immigration officer on the number of days that i would be staying in singapore, i said 30. and then she checked my return ticket. she asked me how much money i had & to show it to her. then she escorted me to the immigration office =( of course i was so scared. there were 6 of us detained then, all of which were filipinas. 4 of them were acting really fishy, as if they are really guilty of doing something illegal and only 2 of us were legit tourists. after almost an hour another immigration officer called us, took out finger prints and asked for supporting documents. i showed my epec hard copy, ids & my tita's contact details. after a few minutes 2 of us were lead to the immigration front desk and was welcomed to singapore =) whew!

my luggage was no longer in the conveyor since it took me almost an hour to get out of immigration. good thing a saw a man getting the luggage and was heading towards the lost & found. it was there that i found my check in luggage. when i turned towards the exit i immediately saw my cousin edwin waving at me. i was so excited to see him but i was still in a daze...

we arrived ate amy's HDB at 5:30pm. i was planning to go to the career fair in suntec city but since it was already late and i was still tensed because of what happened in the airport, he just took me to orchard road instead, to meet his singaporean friend. we met lorraine in breadtalk and they took me around the 3 malls, takashimaya, wisma & the lucky plaza. lucky plaza is like liana's/ever gotesco in the philippines. they were telling me that this is where most Filipino OFWs hangout every sunday afternoon. wisma & takashimaya is more like sm/robinson's. we went home late and was welcomed by my ate amy.

my mornings are usually spent online looking for jobs and sending out email applications. thru the straits time that i borrowed from kuya ben, i got a lot of job openings for my qualifications. i normally send out 7 emails a day. monday afternoon i just went around the telok blangah area to get myself acquainted with the bus stops and the landmarks. the next day, i got lost hehehehe details on my next post... bitinin ba hehehe

my singapore adventure: travelling alone for the 1st time

slept late because my sisters & i along with kuya jun & kyle all slept in mom's bedroom. everyone was so excited about my trip and we had our last minute bonding =). woke up at 6am, left the house at around 8am and we arrived at naia at around 10am. hannah, mark, sam, noemi, jerry & jan came to send me of as well.

went to check in my luggage at 10:30am. since my flight was at 12:20, i was thinking that i still had a lot of time right? as i approached the check in counter for jetstar, 2 people from the airport authority (im not sure what they're called actually) asked me if i was an ofw or  a tourist. when i said tourist, they asked me for my ticket and told me that i needed to pay  P1620 for travel tax. i asked if it already included the P750 terminal fee & they said no. huwaaaaaaat!? so i immediately texted my mom to go back because i only had P1000 for the terminal fee. 

lesson #1: whenever you book jetstar tickets online, you would have to pay the travel tax in cash at the airport. so check first if it would be cheaper if you purchase ur tickets from booking offices.

it took a while for my mom to come back so by the time that i checked in it was already 11am. after i got my boarding pass i went straight to immigration wherein of course there were long lines =). so i waited for almost 1 hour. according to my boarding pass, the gate (G1) will close at 12:00. however by 11:50 my boarding gate was already flashed as closed on the tv monitor. so i panicked. i texted my mom and sked her if it was fine, and she said that once u have a boardng pass it should be okay. so calmed down a little. by 12:00 there was still another person in line before it was my turn. he was a caucasian who really looked nice, or maybe i just thought he looked nice because he looked like samwise gamgee =). too scared of missing the flight, i asked him if he could let me go first since my boarding gate was about to close. he was kind enough to let me go first.

lesson#2:  go to the check in counter earlier than 2 hours before the flight because you'll never know what may happen.

at the pre-departure area i still had about 5 mins to rest and calm my nerves because they were boarding rows 1- 20 and i was assigned seat 9B. so i texted my mom that i was fine and that they could go back home. once on the plane i took a nap, woke up when the food was offered. i ate fish lenguini & water for S$13. unfortunately no free food is served in jetstar flights. after eating i took a nap again and when i woke up we were about to land.

paalam pilipinas

in a few hours i will be leaving the philippines. right now i am soooo excited. people have been asking me if feel sad, not a bit....at the moment hehehehe. i would just like to thank those who prayed for thi strip to push through and for my family & friends for being very supportive of my endeavor. keep in touch guys. paalam pilipinas...paalam sa pangalan kong pearl (i will be using my 2nd name ailene because this is the name  that i am using for my passport. )... please continue praying for my success.

i'm done packing

finally i'm done! never thought that packing my stuff would be a long tedious process. it took me whole week to prepare everything and now my room looks like a bedroom again. it was really hard for me to choose which clothes i'm going to bring with me. was only able to pack clothes good for 2 weeks, 2 pairs of shoes and a few personal stuff.

thanks to the wonders of technology as well i was able to pack more than what usually fits in my luggage. i was so amazed with the airtight bag that i bought from the japan surplus all for P88 store that compresses your clothes by sucking the air out using a regular vacuum cleaner. it was a great help for me.

waaaa its already 4:17am. need to sleep now. today is daddy's 3rd death anniv =( by the way

My Bestfriend's Wedding

posted nini & richman's wedding pics on December 18, 2004 for reference
The wedding was held at the St. Jerome Emiliani Church Alabang while the reception was at the The Bellevue Hotel. Photographed by Dino Lara www.dinolara.com

excommunicado

im almost done with my packing. cleaned a big portion of my room as well. all things that should not be touched by unauthorised people are now sealed and boxed up.still have to decide which of my clothes & shoes im going to leave behind . just realized that i have a lot of clothes after all, i just didn't pay much attention to them before.

mom was right. i didn't prepare that much for my trip and now i am cramming all the things that needs be done in just 1 week. waaaaaaa. but since im almost done, i finally had the time to post something for my dear friends to read.

to all those who texted me the past few days, im sorry that i was not able to reply. apart from being busy, zarah's BL chuva celfone battery (the one that nokia was pulling out) is no longer functioning and since i am just at home i lent her mine for 2 days. by tomorrow i will be able to use it again.

pipay HBD on the 3rd! i sent u a chikka greeting dunno if u got it. musta naman embassy?

tita mabel. finally i have the POA i'll be giving ur number to my sis zarah so that she could txt u to meet her before shift. tnx so much girl. musta embassy?

irish! made some copies of my new jdorama 4 u. just get it from mabel in a weeks time ok? join ka ba sa embassy?

marshee glad to know that u already have a digicam. congrats! when are u moving to makati? musta shiftbid?

my party girls gracie, jen & martha, mishu na so much! sorry if im not always online. so little time so much to do pa rin

miss ko na FS!!!!

and to all of  my friends reading this, i love u all. sorry im just so busy at the moment. i'll just make up for it next time.

EK with my sibs

5 hours of picture taking. laughing & bonding with my sibs.
sa wakas nagamit ko na rin yung free at wizard money ng HSBC.
good thing may promo tickets din si lianne na nabili niya from moonlight before pa at may nakasama ako.