One of those interesting blogs I follow

My Saturday started out a bit late because last Friday, after dinner at Swensen, my friends who are also my officemates decided to have some booze at their place. Before going to their flat, I had to go to our flat first to get my laptop and also change clothes.

To make the story shorter, Olga and I went to Agnes' and Jana's place and we had some fun talk, some beer, some vodka from Cyt and two horror movies which are the, "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" and "Paranormal Activity",from Christian's collection. We all slept super late like it was 4AM already.

We woke up at around 1PM. I have a bit of headache. Olga and I packed our things and thank our friends and we left. I was like hungry and wanted to eat cake. So we went to Han's but I ordered chicken meal. We had it "to go" and went to our flat.

I had to go to the gym since I had not have been there for like three days already. After the gym, I did have anything to do so I decided to clean the toilets the kitchen floor and the bathroom. I also cleaned my room. I cooked for dinner.

After dinner, Olga shared to me an interesting blog. It was so interesting that I read it after watching, "Maalaala Mo Kaya" or in English, "Can You Even Remember It", sorry for the literal translation but it be on that sense. It's actually a Filipino TV drama where, viewer sends letter to the show about their life story and the the show would try to have it as TV drama for like an hour long. Anyway, the TV drama in yesterday's episode was about exorcism. Well it was not that good but somehow the moral was important and it was there, loud and clear.

Olga then shared to me the website of this interesting blog. It's a blog of a Chinese guy from China who came to Singapore and became a citizen. He has a PhD from Stanford and worked in A*Star. His story began when according to his story had he was forced out of his job without due explanation. What's even more interesting is that, he was not able to get a job that's in line of his old profession which was a researcher at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology. He became a taxi driver.

I had my eyes glued to my laptop for quite rusting four hours and finished 80% of his entries for this year. And after I had my breakfast, I continued reading and finished it just now.

I don't really know what exactly happened and the real score of what happened. But to my opinion, if he felt some injustice of some sort, then he can consult a labor lawyer. I honestly, don't know as well, if how it goes in Singapore but in the Philippines, most of the time, if cases of dismissal without due cause and due process, is a big offense. As I can recall, there was this incident in an IT firm in Cebu, Philippines involved in research and development owned by an American company where she was forced to resign without due process. What she did was like she filed a case in the Labor Department and justice was served - she won the case. The company was ordered to compensate her which happened to be I think a huge sum. I thought so, with all the emotional torment, the trauma and all the expenses incurred to live without a job at hand and then go through a legal battle. But the twist was, she chose to still work in the company and proved her worth and then she is now studying Law.

Anyway, the blog site of this very interesting person I am talking about is: http://taxidiary.blogspot.com/.

Hope you guys find an inspiration to his daily encounters. I tell you, there are those stories that would actually tell you how good and how bad this world can be in the eyes of the taxi driver. It's entertaining but would also make you think of some realities in life.

I love his entries and even bookmarked him and also shared it to my friends from Cebu, Philippines.

I am actually reading another blog from someone and it's interesting as well. Ciao for now and enjoy your weekend. And oh, God bless to everyone :)

What really happened here in Singapore?

I was super busy this past few days. The load of tasks in the office were really piling up and everything's hard to manage as they were tagged as critical, high priority ....

Anyway, what else to do in this expensive city? Go out and go clubbing!

My friends and I had free entrance tickets at one of Singapore's foremost club. The entrance fee would have been $35 for male and $30 for females. Expensive I must say. We went there at around 10PM and people were on a queue to get inside. Just before the dance floor was open, there was a fashion show. It was a good start. One of the designers was a Filipino and it was chic-urban themed fashion show. After the show, we decided to buy ourselves something to sip. We had vodka and baileys. Their drink was $12 per glass and it was on a buy 1 take 1. After we finished the set of four glasses, we ordered again. This time tequilla and margarita. After few hours of standing and few chit-chats, we decided to just join this people packed at the center of the dance floor. Daghan gihapon ang offbeat, as in, mas naa pay talent mga Pinoy. But, I had fun. The music was techno, house and trance all rolled up. Sometimes boring na coz the music kept on repeating. The DJ must not have any other cd, my friend thought. Anyway, I danced and jumped like a freeman because the drinks we ordered were expensive and that this night-out can happen like once in a blue moon. What an excuse, hehehehe.

It was 4AM when we decided to go home. Since Olga and I were hungry, we stopped at this cafe shoppe and I ordered congee (pospas ra gyud ni siya). After that, we went to our flat and I slept after I washed my face.

Morning came, I mean almost noon. I just had to prepare for lunch already. I ate bread and this Nesvita cereal drink. I was still hungry .... I also defrosted the chicken fillet. Once readied, I sliced it into several cubes and had it, fried in garlic, onion, and pepper and salt. I got satisfied with that simple meal and then just watched TFC. The show was fun until Manny Villar was aired in Wowowee. I had a bit of disgust on the show. People are simply being used for his end.

Anyway, I must move on and do healthier stuff and not focus on negative things. I went to the gym after I went with Jason to buy some stuff in a pharmacy.

That's it for the week. Ciao and enjoy!

Cebu, Queen City of the South

I really miss Cebu much ... all the Bisaya and Cebuano family, friends, and neighbors (toinks). Food that's really flavorful .... I think the question why people in Cebu or in most parts of the Philippines can't live without rice because our food are really rich in flavor. Now I know :))

Anyway, good thing our Great Almighty spared Cebu from devastating calamities. Hoping our country would start to build better infrastructure and be more responsible in all things. Hoping and praying that Cebu would prosper more and be blessed by the Child Jesus. Grateful that most Filipinos are doing the "Bayanihan" - giving a helping hand to our neighbors.

Just nothing. Sometimes, I wish my vacation leaves were really plenty and that I have super duper cash in my bank account. You know, to go back and enjoy life in my hometown, for a month ??? Hehehehe I so wish!

Christmas, New Year and Sinulog is really great. People are warm and the celebration is not just for the heck of it as it is so unpretentious, colorful and fantabulous.

Well, I have booked a round-trip ticket bound to Cebu already via SilkAir as it is cheaper than Cebu Pacific or Philippine Airlines. But I wanted to have like two vacations, so I will try to negotiate with my project lead. Wishing he will approve of it.

See you guys in Cebu, Philippines in the nearest future :)

Vacation in Bali, Indonesia

The second leg of our Indonesian getaway was in Bali. This was after the Jogja trip also in Indonesia.

Bali is an Indonesian island located at the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. Its capital is Denpasar.

There were lots of activities we did and all of them were really fun and exciting. We went to monkey forest, eat babi guling which is really like lechon from the Philippines, we had sea adventures like diving, para-sailing, banana boat ride and many more, we also had some chill out moments in two clubs, and ofcourse some shopping. We also went to Dreamland beach, but it was more of a surfing beach than "beach" itself.... I should say the beaches in the Philipines like Boracay, Sumilon, Virgin Island in Bantayan, Panglao, Coron Palawan etc. are much more captivating.

Anyway, I availed to most of the water activities as they were really affordable compared to that of Cebu or Phuket.

I personally would want to visit Bali because the place is very inexpensive and the people are a lot friendlier than that of Thailand.

My Jogja, Indonesia vacation

Yes guys, I have been gone for so long because I had a vacation;)

The last entry was like I am a bit suffering of fever and flu like stuff but then that has not stopped me from going to this planned vacation.

I went there together with some of my officemates. I was still feverish actually and having this headache. I just took my medication before going to the airport.

I took the MRT and was sending some SMS to Kay and Bud if where are they. We actually met at Tanah Merah as the train going to Changi would be there after 6 minutes. I brought my jacket with me so it was not that cold. Together, we arrived at the airport on time and we waited for some of our officemates. We were not late though but boarding proved brutal LOLS. We were running as the gate for boarding was way too far and the queue was long and really went crowded, so we needed to run :)) We arrived just in the nick of time at the boarding gate and the trip jump-started.


What's up for us in Jogja is the very famous Borobudur and it's really beautiful. Go notice the pictures :)

There were Indonesian officemates and they were the ones who organized the trip. Goodness thanks to them for everything went smoothly as things were planned.

For some bit of history, Jogja was an old capital and it has a rich history as well. The Dutch actually colonized Indonesia and in world war 2, the place was in chaos.

Anyway, the people there were friendly and the buys are so cheap. Again, to be with people who speaks Bahasa Indonesia which is the national language, is a great advantage.

I was also super amazed as Indonesians looked so like Malaysians, as well as Thai and so as like Filipinos.

Their counting is similar to that of the Cebuano counting. When I went to Malaysia, their counting is similar to ours as well. Some words are the same in meaning and in context. I was so amused that I learned some of their words like cumi-cumi (read c as ch) or squid, udang or shrimp, babi as pork (babi is the same in southern philippines), ikan as fish etc.

The nice thing about this trip as posted, was we stepped on this world heritage historical site, the Borobudur. I wish I get to see Angkor Wat sometime :)

Have a nice day. Ciao!

I am not feeling well.

When I woke up early morning today, I still am not feeling so well. Actually, last Sunday, I had fever and I asked my housemate if he has paracetamol. So I got well after taking paracetamol but then I still felt tired and weak. And today, it's the same thing except which I don't have fever anymore. I still have runny nose though.

I decided to take a warm shower. Things were manageable I supposed so I did not bother much how things are. I went to the office a bit early like it was 9:30AM, but then I felt tired. Kay, an officemate, noticed that I looked sick, so she advised me to go see a doctor at Dover Medical Clinic. Since Gemalto had an HMO for it's employees, I need not to worry about the expenses. I asked my project lead for permission to go out and see the doctor. The clinic was just a few walking distance from Gemalto. I got inside the clinic and signed things. The attendant was looking for my E-Pass but I was not able to bring it with me. Good thing I have my Aviva health insurance card. I called Kay to ask for a favor and bring my E-Pass, I thanked her of that kind effort. Kay arrived at the clinic, and I was already inside with the doctor asking me questions. He asked me if I have cough and told him that not really a cough but more of a dry throat. I told him that I had fever yesterday but I took a paracetamol. I told him that I have runny nose. He then checked my temperature and then using his stethoscope, checked if I had some infection. He also touched my neck of some nodes. He then gave me medicine and he asked if I needed some medical certification, and I agreed. The doctor gave me one day leave of office. I waited at the lounge for my medication and Kay was also there for a check-up of her allergy. After that, we went back to the office.

I told my project lead that I have a medical certificate from the doctor and I will be absent. He then asked me to submit the project DLL (dynamic link library) to one of my officemate for her to re-validate if it will work. I have shut down my pc already prior to informing him that I will be on leave so, I turned my PC again. After that, I have composed the email, I shutdown my PC then inform my officemate that I'll be going to have an MC.

I waited for the bus 91 to arrive in the waiting shed and good thing it arrived earlier than expected. I honestly don't like to take medications for some runny nose and cough. The doctor actually gave me antibiotics which personally I don't like. I decided to have a fresh fruit diet today and so went to the supermarket. I bought lean pork meat, a liter of carrot juice, two fuji apples, three oranges, two tomatoes and light soy sauce. I want to cook food for my self instead of buying one at hawkers.

When I arrived at our flat, I changed clothes and after that prepare things for the food which I will be cooking. I first washed the pork and then sliced it into cubes. I then the cubed pork into a bowl and put some vinegar, soy sauce, minced garlic, pepper and a bit of salt. I left the pork for about 30 minutes soaked in that particular mixture to marinate it. I did the same for carrots and the potatoes, washed them and sliced into cubes. I also want to add some fresh tomatoes so I washed and sliced them too. I opened the television and while preparing things, I was watching this episode in Discovery about alien or extra-terrestial life. It was interesting and fun to watch. After I finished the slicing, cutting and stuff, I heat up the pan in our gas range. I put some oil on it and once it warmed up, I put some minced garlic and onions. I waited for few seconds then placed the pork one by one on the pan. I covered the pan and left it for a minute or two. Then checked for the pork to be a bit brownish. Then I placed the carrots and mixed it then leave it for 3 minutes. Then got back again and mixed it with potatoes with the stocked water and left it for 5 minutes. I checked the viand and it was smelling good. I added some black pepper and one sliced sword red pepper. I put some dried basil leaf cut into small squares. I left it again for 3-5 minutes I think. I checked the meat using a fork and it was a bit tender already so I just needed a few minutes for it to be fully cooked. After some few minutes, I could smell how good the food was, I checked the taste and it lacked some salt so I just put it two pinches of salt and mixed it a bit with the little soup and viola it's ready to be served, ready to be served for myself=)) I have actually cooked rice as well so things were ready for lunch. I prepared a bowl for the viand and a plate of rice. I washed then sliced two oranges and one kiwi fruit. I then ate for lunch and enjoyed it much.

I kind of start to like preparing food. I wish I can enroll in a cooking class someday. Also, I wish I'd be okay for I must :)

Good day to you all and ciao!

Weekend activities

There's not much to do today. I think I need to control my shopping urges. Singapore is a place where people's past time would be shopping, simply because, there's a lot of sales in all its malls. Right now, I decided to stay at home.

Things I usually do when at home is have some movie series marathon. Last Saturday, I just finished season 1 of Merlin. Then I watched the third season of Avatar. I also read the Naruto Manga online. And right now, I'm viewing House MD season two. I have watched the first season when I was in the Philippines so I just am continuing right now where I left off of this great series.

I think the availability of good movie series, thanks to sponsors, helped me not to go out and shop. I need to save since I am planning to have a vacation in Cebu in the near future. And we all know that vacations would mean that I have to have extra money for all the purchases and services I want to avail. I have actually bought my round trip air tickets with SilkAir online and I am just waiting for my project lead to approve my vacation leave application.

Anyway, I was also watching some of Leona Lewis video and really loved her Summertime rendition. Go see:


Got to continue my House MD marathon. Ciao!

What happened on Sunday?

Olga had to go earlier to catch good stuff at West Coast and I was there in my room, enjoying "Legened of the Seeker" series or LOTS. My housemates went to church and I was still on my room with eyes glued on my laptop monitor and ears plugged with my two neon green ear phones. After some few minutes my phone rang which was actually connected to my laptop via USB to be power-charged. I answered the call immediately as it was from Olga's. She told me that the Nike Store in West Coast is really having a good mark down on their merchandise. I did not have to second guess as I myself would want to buy a new Nike shoes. I did not know how to get there so I asked Olga what bus should I take. Well it was kind of simple because I just needed to take the MRT and then stop at Clementi station then go to the bus station at the right when facing forward to Jurong East. I had to take bus 189 and it was two stops away from that station. That was it! I turned my laptop off after finishing LOTS episode 9 and hurriedly went to the shower. After the shower I blasted off my way to West Coast Plaza.

There was a lost moment like I crossed the other side of the road and was walking my way to West Coast market. I sensed that I was walking the wrong direction so I called up Olga and she told me not to cross, instead, go straight and I should see the sign. I cross back and then walked straight ahead and there you go, I found myself at West Coast Plaza.

I searched for the Nike Factory Store and saw Olga at the entrance. We went in and checkout their displays. I checked the racks of shoes towering almost to the ceiling, and there were five of them. I was having difficulty of choosing which one to buy because most of them looked cool to me. I said to myself if I have the luxury then I will have to buy most of those pairs but I have to just pick a pair for a tight budget like mine. I found this high cut top sider I think and was choosing which color. I tried both of them and both looked good. So I was thinking really which one to buy and asked Olga a lot of times which one should I pick.... It boiled down to buying the first pick priced at 79 SGD. After deciding what shoes, Olga and I checked some shirts and I bought one priced at 20 SGD. Olga bought the waffles limited edition of Nike at 18SGD for a price of two. I just thought that if I buy something from Nike, I should go check that store and see if they have what I like.

After that mini shopping, we went to this bookstore nearby where Olga bought two books. I needed a bookstand so I went around looking for it. But, prior to that, I checked some books of Paulo Coehlo and found two new issues which I don't have yet in my collection and also found a new cover of Dan Brown's. Well I still have like 15 books to read so opted not to buy and went on looking for that book stand. I found one located at the far east of the store and it was at the lowest rack so it proved really a bit hard looking for that. I thank God that I had more patience now to go on and search for that. You see, my books were in dump on top of my cabinet drawer and really in a bit of chaos. Olga wanted to have one so we bought two. Then we saw this store with bags and check it out but did not buy. I mean that was it for the day. I have like many bags with their corresponding functions and I needed not one anymore.

We went down of the mall from the second level and then tried looking around something. I went to the Guardian pharmacy and the nearby competitor to look for a facial wash and some shampoos. After that, I saw Subway and realized I was hungry. I only took lunch as I woke up really late. Olga and I got a good seat we thought as the table was wobbly and we had to transfer, and once settled with our orders, we ate and talk a lot. We were not noisy though.

After that dinner so called dinner? Hehehehe. We went home. I tell you the walk was long it's as if I was doing a tread mill. It was good by the way as I was not able to visit the gym last Saturday as we went to Johor Bahru Malaysia.

That's for now, good day!