My 24th - February 22, 2010

It's February 22, so what?

It's a working holiday in the Philippnes today, there's work for the adults (working class) but no school for the kids. For Miko and I? We declared it a Holiday, just for the two of us, here in Singapore as well-a job hunting-free day-because it's my birthday.

What I did to celebrate my birthday: Nothin extraordinary, really. Had a late lunch with KZ, Cheenee and Miko at Orchard...

Just Another Nonsense Entry

Our first week here in Singapore has passed. So far, we’ve been to different offices that are on top of our list: AXN, Discvoery Networks Asia, Google, Yahoo!, WWF. These are big names, I know. Landing a job here given my experience and background is a long shot but I’m still taking my chances. There’s nothing wrong with hoping. The only downside to it is the feeling of disappointment when after a month they won’t call back or you get an email that they have no vacancy whatsoever. Still, I lose no hope. Again, it has only been just a week. And at least they have my resume if ever there’s one opening available, maybe they’ll look it up and consider me for whatever position that’s vacant (that is if they haven’t shred my resume to pieces already. I hope they don’t and keep it in file, as promised.haha).

A friend asked me if I went around already. I say, no, not yet. Not until I get a job or just a job interview. Maybe that’s the time I’ll go around and see Singapore. But for now, I would have to do with seeing the city while visiting offices. No more touristy stuff for me, not yet. Maybe I’ll do so one place at a time and not all in one go. I’m making tipid my money and I’m guessing I have a whole lot of time for that pa. Because I’m not leaving, not yet. Not until I’ll prove to Singapore that it needs me and she’ll be seeing a lot of me pa.

Laundry 101

Ang washing machine na 'to ay nangangain ng tanga. If these words were true, I'd be long dead by now!

Because I had all the time in the world yesterday, I decided to wash my clothes. So here's Jpo's version of doing the laundry:

1. Dump Soiled Clothes (light colored clothes first) and detergent powder into the washing machine (WM).

2. Look for the hose connecting the WM to the faucet.

3. Turn the faucet on.

4. If no water comes out, get the pail from the bathroom. Use pail to fill the WM with water.

5. Once water is up to your desired level, in my case it's 20 bucketfull of water, close the lid, tinkle with the buttons (it says there: how many minutes to wash, how many times to rinse, and how long to spin), and press start.

6. Now I wait.

Because I forgot I was doing my laundry, when I got back to "finish" it after an hour or so, I was surpirsed that it's done and ready for hanging! When I started filling the pail for my second batch of clothes (the dark colored ones), Ang Kong came out of the room and started telling me something. Gesturing towards the washing machine, my pail, the buttons and my clothes, I firgured that he was trying to teach me how to work the WM properly. Here is how Ang Kong does his laundry in two (2) easy steps (he frantically makes the peace/two sign to tell me that it's just two-freaking-easy-steps):

1. Dump soiled clothes into the WM and close the lid.

2. Press ON button and Start button.

And voila! let the WM work it's magic on your clothes. Since everything is automatic, the WM is automatically filled with water depending on the volume of the clothes inside it (no need to make-igib for water from the bathroom and going back and forth twenty times!). It is already pre-programmed that it washes, rinses and spins without tinkering with the buttons. Ang Kong tells me to wait for the ZERO to know that I'm done with the laundry (I think I can figure that out myself, thanks Lolo). He's gesturing that I don't need to use the pail to get water (he's rubbing it in, I know) and I don't need to handwash my clothes (well, those were my undies, I don't want to put it in the WM!) because I can use the WM for everything. And to prove his point, he got their laundry basket full of dirty clothes, bed sheets and undies, dumped everything in the WM, pressed power ON and START, and, with a smug look on his face, looked at me with an expression, See, that wasn't so hard, was it? Yeah, it wasn't. And yeah, I just died of humiliation but with a lesson learned. :) Next time I do the laundry, I am an Automatic-Washing-Machine-Pro!

Chinese New Year and Valentines Day have passed. I did not really went out last weekend. I found out that the thrill and excitement of exploring the unknown has its limit. It ends when after exploring everything, you come home to an empty room (not even a home) and you have no one to share your stories with (just here). You say that I should be used to living alone and away from family by now, but this is a different kind of "alone". Homesickness is starting to kick in. Maybe it's just me, the holidays, being alone during the holidays and my upcoming birthday that make me sad. Maybe. Hopefully, I'll start getting busy tomorrow going around town, begging the companies to hire me. haha I wish to work in Google, or Discovery Channel, or Lonely Planet (but they don't have an office here), or Bloomberg, or CNN, or WHO, or WWF, or whatever. My only prayer for now is to find a job that I will like and love and SOON.

My birthday is fast approaching. I'll be turning 24 already. What have I done this past 23-soon-to-be-24 years that will make me say I am contented with my life right now? Well, I guess nothing yet. Is it too much to ask for a cake for my birthday? I guess it is, but there's no harm in wishful thinking, aye? :)

Wish us luck (Miko and I) as we start our job hunt tomorrow! :)

Cheers to a (New) Beginning!

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Chinese New Year is big in Singapore. You would say it's obvious because most of them living here are Chinese! ^_^ But my indication? Long weekend (no work last Friday, Monday and Tuesday), Mall Super Sale (% signs plastered everywhere!), Shoppers doing their last minute shopping (I can feel the last-minute-shopping-vibe from everyone whenever I'm in a mall) and roads leading to Chinatown are closed for the weekend. I am looking forward to the Chinese New Year: the fireworks, the lion dance, the frenzy and the overflowing food! (Matet asked if there are pabuto (firecrackers) already, but so far I haven't heard a single firecracker... maybe later in the evening.) But I think am gonna spend it alone though because Miko's off to a reunion and Pixie has work. Of course, am half-thrilled, half-sad. Sad, because of the obvious, I'm alone but more thrilled because I'll go around the city (I am now near City hall and off to the National Library in a bit) and explore the unknown! I have always loved that feeling! :)

My First Day in Singapura - 02.11.10

I am overwhelmed with things that I wanted to write. And since I'm just in an internet cafe with little to no money to spend on internet, here goes my ramblings. :)

I am so grateful of our family friend for super helping me in everything. From looking for a place to stay, picking me up at the airport, to giving me EZ Link card and a "starting money". I somewhat feel ashamed for accepting the help, my pride is eating me whole. But times like these, who cares about pride, right? As long as the help will not be forgotten. I tell that to myself to stop feeling guilty...

I'm now staying at a hotel near chinatown waiting for the 6:30pm to arrive. We (my friend and i) will be going to Anchorvale to check out the room that I will be renting out. So to kill time, I've decided to go around downtown first, have my peso changed to sgd and buy a Singtel sim. (I now have my Sing# but wont't be posting it here, not that I am assuming you're interested. ^_^)