Mom's Vacation 2008

My mom was here for a week and spent Christmas with me. This was our first bonding out-of-town escapade with just the two of us. It was the start of my 2 weeks+ long vacation, the longest vacation I had since I started working, soo cool! I tried planning the itinerary on things that were of interest to her. I had to take into consideration that she was quite old, therefore everything had to be the shortest possible walking distance. Suddenly I felt like a yaya with a bag of stuff (water, shawl, basic medicine, tissue paper, hand sanitizer, etc) following after her to make sure the trips are as smooth as possible.

Day 1 - Bugis and hotpot
Day 2 - Batam, Indonesia day trip
Day 3 - Sentosa
Day 4 - Zoo
Day 5 - Esplanade, Xmas Eve dinner
Day 6 - Orchard shopping, Xmas Dinner
Day 7 - back

I organized a Batam day trip with my friends here, which is actually among the few times she bonded with my friends. It was a fun trip, but the return trip got me so much nervous as the ferry bumped into a pole causing a loud bang. I was in panic mode thinking it might have caused holes for water to get in and shrink the whole ferry. Haunted by the fact that I have to be responsible for 10 other lives onboard being the organizer, including my mom. I myself was not ready to die! Thank God nothing happened. My friends were quite accomodating and I think it left a good impression on my mom. Probably it was her first time to interact directly with Filipinos and I even brought her to experience Noche Buena (we never had one back home) It was very amusing that my mom told me the next day that if in the future I came across Filipino suitors/bfs, she's okay with that as long as the guy is kind and industrious (masipag). Whahahahaha it kept me giggling. Wow as if an assumed ban has been lifted, can't believe it if I didn't hear it straight from her! But anyhow, I never really kept that 'unspoken ban' in mind before and I dont have any persistent Filipino suitor now, so it doesnt really make a difference on me. I kept teasing her the following days whether she'll take back her words. It was quite an amusing thing to recall, I felt moved by my mom's warmth.

She was quite proud seeing that I can look after myself well. I even cooked one meal for her (the pictures dont look appetizing though as I dont have time to 'decorate': buttered prawns, pork stew, spareribs noodles and some fried dimsum take-outs). She cant seem to believe that I can cook, wash dishes and iron clothes. :)


My mom's the typical old, traditional Filchi mom. I tried to hide the tag prices away from her whenever we're shopping as she kept converting sgd to php. A SG newspaper at 80cents is priced twice of Manila's cost of 12php, according to her. But we did enjoy shopping for her clothes and she bought one each for her close friends. I also bought her a handbag and a pair of shoes. She also likes the food here, including hawker.

We also met up with our neighbor who happened to be vacationing here as well that time. To my surprise, they wanted me to bring them to a Rolex store and was eyeing for a 450K php watch! Wow didn't know how ultra-rich these ppl are. Later she's asking me about where to buy LV bags. Hmm no worries, we'll get to that level. dan dan dan hahaha.

Highlights of food trips would be Pearl River Palace and No Signboard. Pearl River Palace is a must-try for all Chinese food lovers with its unique buffet concept and the exclusive Buddha-jump-over-the-wall soup. No Signboard resto has delicious but overpriced food. I'll blog about this separately next time.

Lastly this is one of my favorite pixs with her. It's not that I'm vain to like it because I am not the one blurred out hehe. I just like the effect. :) Cheers to 09!

Pitstop: 2008 Year-End

I just cant concentrate nowadays, lacking focus. How I wish it's vacation time hehehe. Some of the perky and nice things these past two months.

Martyrdom day
I find it difficult to respect leads who do not know what they are supposed to do, and still claims credit at the end of the day for things not done by them. (I do understand that it would be quite difficult for me to be a lead here, considering this is SG and not Ph) But then how can UAT logs become my sole responsibility! Doesnt mean that nobody knows how to do or want to do or too busy to do should be me doing all the work. I stayed one night till 3am to finish those recon thing just so we (vendor) can live up to our 'consultant' image and they (the gods) can face the client the next day during the meeting. So what happened after working till 3am, I took the next day off and went KTV by myself hihi. Anyhow, I am not that thirsty for credit anymore. Just when I had a good rating, then came this recession thing that caused all our intended salary increase to disappear into bubbles :p. God knows whether I'll be part of retrenched employees in the coming months, crossing my fingers.

Lucky Day with IT Shopping
Seems like I have my lucky charm whenever there's an IT show. This time I was wanting to purchase extra 1GB for my RAM. Vista's really d*mn slow with 1GB. However because there were 2 slots filled with 512MB each originally in my laptop, I was somehow forced to buy 2 pcs of 1GB. I politely asked if there's discount since I was buying 2 (flashing my friendly smile, of course hehehe). I was just asking for a round down of the total price, and the final price they gave me was 15% lower than my asking price. Hehe see there's no harm in asking :p Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and you shall be opened. Hey that's a serious one.

Porma Days
Because of the screwed project, UAT was not smooth and suddenly they placed me in client site to work directly with the users of the report. I was working with VPs - bank executives who are properly dressed. Syempre di tayo magpapatalo, in the span of 1.5yrs+ in SG, I was best dressed last week hehe, complete with blow-dried hair, skirt, heels and even some make-up.

Hair Galore
Speaking of hair, finally I dyed my hair back to a normal color. I think my mom and sisters back home will be clapping their hands when they see me this December. :p I had hair highlights last July, the color fades and gets lighter each passing day. Sept vacation, I'm still okay. Come October vacation and my sisters and mom started nagging me that if they were me, they'll be going for a haircut. (Note that my mom rarely messes with me for hair matters, and she was saying I was giving a slutty impression for guys, oops) My achi claimed that I looked like Thai gays with the freaking streaks. Of course, knowing me (stubborn), I didnt mind. November, some more friends commented that I looked like a Geylang babe. One day it just hit me, I dont like what I see in the mirror anymore, the color is not light brown but yellowish (yuck!). So that's it, I went to my suki salon and had it done nicely. Right after that day, in a span of 2 days, I got like 3 comments saying my hair looks nicer and that my curls are very natural. (at wala naman talaga ako ginawa sa curls ngyon, dati pa yan ganyan pero ndi napapansin) Wow ang haba ng buhok ko :p Enuf is enuf, at least I'm glad I tried.

Reflections
I would say I wish to be a travel bug but recent happenings somehow has struck me. Bangkok rallies in the airport that trapped foreigners who were on vacation, depriving them of a flight back to their country (oops my hausmate was one of them). Mumbai hotel bombing, and one of the killed victims is a Singaporean female lawyer who was on business trip. I read the news article of her husband narrating how her wife was strong despite being held captive (they were sms-ing each other) just so people wont worry about her. He loved her dearly that he didnt even want her to get wet in the rain, and the tragedy got her wife death with shots in the head and abdomen. See the other side of life - sh*t happens. Life seems to short not to love.

Almost that same time, I got an sms from a friend about beware of pickpockets in Lucky Plaza by a Pinay gang, who has stolen an LV wallet and Ifon 3G from kapwa Pinays. Probably this gang chooses kapwa Pinoy/Pinay as victims as they believe same race will be merciful not to send them for whipping/caning, if caught. (that is the punishment here) Thank God, I actually dont look like one anymore (i think) so I guess I wont be a victim. Really really uuuggh. Singapore has been a disciplined country and it's too saddening to know that people from our country has been trying to take advantage of it.

Mama's Coming Over!
I'm so excited for my mom's visit! I started preparing her itinerary, and of course trips for shopping and eating would be top priority. Too bad I cant schedule too exhaustive tasks for her, but I'll make sure she has all the best hehe. Eversince I was a child, she was never really strict. We were just an 'average' family, and considering there were four of us in school that time, there wasnt really a lot of 'luho' so to speak, unlike the generation now. However despite so, she would always tag me along and buy me ice cream or even fishballs (hehe mababaw lng talaga kaligayahan ko) Probably those were one of my fondest memories. When I started working, we would always have our Chinese dimsum or buffet pig-out sessions in Binondo. She doesnt pressure me much to introduce to her personally each single people that I was out with on a night-out party or out of town vacation - see that's how much she trusts me. When I started working in Singapore, I would always buy her clothes as pasalubong (ehem I have a talent for buying clothes for the matanda, the colors, sequins and burloloys hihi). And now, all her amigas and neighbors would compliment how nice her blouses are and they will say 'wow your daughter has good tastes' hihihi. My mom's the nicest mom in the world! Super bait.(quote me) :p

P.S.
I am actually supposed to study for my final exam this coming Wednesday! My goodness, I really cant concentrate. I am thinking too much of things I dont even know whether I should be thinking. I am expecting a different vacation this time. Looking forward. Love it!

Miss You Badly

Recently I was stressed with my current project, so many things kept falling on my plate. I should be released early on and be put back to my previous project. Gradually this project relied on me too much that I'm doing so many things outside my scope, and they kept postponing my project release date. Now that gives me reason magtaray hehe. Thanks to these challenging projects, it made me learn a great deal about datawarehousing consultancy and analysis knowledge. In 1.5 years' time, I finally have built my name and mark. At least in this time of recession, pay cuts and retrenchment, I'm not freiking out so much (crossing my fingers).

If I can have a choice, I'd prefer my previous project. People there seems to be more technically competitive (gives me less headaches) and also, a lot 'warmer'. I make 'kamusta' the other day, and they told me 'we miss you badly'... Aaaawww so nice to hear. hihi. (kahit na hindi ko alam kung bola, I'll take it as it is)

This week I got this sms, very timely.
It's not how you rock a person's world when you came into one's life,
nor how you keep your image,
what's far better is not being liked when you came
but being missed when you leave.

Melts me!

A few days to go before December. Now whenever I make my grocery rounds or do shopping in the malls, I'd always hear Christmas carols. Aaaaww.. so sad, may kirot hehe. I'm so much looking forward to my loooongg vacation!!!

The past few days, I seem to have a strange mood. I'm missing so many things, so many people, so many food hehe. Miss you all and hope you miss me badly too! :)

Chinovela Marathon

Some of the chinovela series from TW that I watched the past few months:

Romantic Princess

Adopted by middle classed parents, Xiao Mai has always had a dream to be an heiress. Suddenly it was discovered that Xiao Mai's biological grandfather is the head of a prestigous aristocratic family and after many years of searching, he finally finds his long lost granddaughter. As she starts her life as an heiress, everyday is filled with excitement, and there she meets Jin, the supposedly succesor for the aristocrat clan.
-> Review: visually appealing, the setting, wardrobe and all goodlooking artists. All I can say is that Wuchun is amazingly gorgeous. Unnecessary kissing scenes, the theme actually doesnt need any kissing scenes for Wuchun (or was I just scrutinizing biasedly haha) I finally got to see him in person when he promoted his movie 'Butterfly Lovers', which I find the storyline to be disappointing. It's supposedly a remake of the most famous chinese tragic love story 'The Lovers', and yet it failed to move me, nor even was I convinced that they are in love.



Corner with Love

Xin Lei (Barbie Xu), a girl from a wealthy family, and Qin Lang (Alan Luo), a guy who came to Shanghai to pursue his dream of becoming an artist, meet by accident at a corner when her car and his bike crash into each other. They meet again when Xin Lei goes to the restaurant that Qin Lang works at. They truly get to know each other when Xin Lei asks him to teach her how to make oyster pancakes. Then, Xin Lei's parents' company goes bankrupt. Without telling her, Xin Lei's parents go into hiding, leaving only a plane ticket and a key to their house in Taiwan. To make matters worse, Xin Lei's fiance breaks the engagement, due to his parents' wishes. The only two people she has now are Qin Lang and her best friend Xi Xian. Qin Lang then tells her that he is leaving for Taiwan, so they bade farewell. When Xin Lei arrives in Taiwan, she finds out that Qin Lang's family has been living in the house for years! After much controversy, Qin Lang's grandmother finally lets her stay. Thus begins a magical love story.

-> Review: Watching the series made me crave for oyster pancake (o-a-chian)! Barbie is stunning and she exactly looks like a princess and acts like one. (did I hear that our hair is similar lol) Alan is charming and portrays his role very well, a guy who obviously loves the girl so much but lacks the confidence to admit because they live in two totally different worlds. Barbie's decision choosing Alan over her rich fiance is applaudable. The essence of love, following one's heart despite practicality and social pressure, is just that. Though sometimes easier said than done, but people like that do exist so never underestimate the power of love.



Fated to Love You

A really unfashionable working class girl Chen Xin Yi has the desire to tie down her handsome boyfriend to be with her. Due to certain reasons, her boyfriend gets her to go on a love cruise and she started to ponder on how to lose her virginity and tie down her boyfriend. Xin Yi ended up taking cold medicine which made her drowsy and went into Ji Cun Xi's room. Cun Xi is the sole male heir to his family's company and has been in love with his girlfriend, Anna, for a long time. He planned to propose to Anna on the boat but she didn't turn up on the cruise. An island owner added drugs into Cun Xi's drink and Cun Xi became disorientated and returned to his own room. Xin Yi and Cun Xi end up having a one night stand. Xin Yi later finds out that she's pregnant and Cun Xi's grandmother forces them to get married. Will a couple forced to marry for the sake of their unborn child find love with each other?

- Review: My o my, after like 5 years, I finally found a series that made me stay late till 4am 5am watching because I can't control myself. I was just simply HOOKED. I like the martyr Xin Yi, willing to bear a child and leave and always giving out wholeheartedly and selflessly. After their separation, she became strong, learned how to dress up and became confident, sweet revenge comes knocking. I like how Cun Xi would be torn and guilty (karma :p), childish and yet sweet, and that the more he denies, the more his feelings are assured. The whole story has a lot of funny elements that just keeps you giggling and wondering what happens next. And everything seems to be a destiny, it's not a coincidence, they are just simply meant to be. I fell in love with Cun Xi! :p Oh btw, this is by far the highest record-breaking viewership drama of 10.+, beating Meteor Garden and other famous series aired on TV.

The first 12 episodes is a 4 THUMBS UP for me (including my feet :p) Storyline is very fast. Then they switched to Shanghai but still okay. I seriously think there's no need to drag the ending by putting unecessary conflicts like they get kidnapped and the lead guy goes blind, the funny element is going overboard. Good acting and musical score. Still, a recommended one from me.

Movie Marathon

Marathon session with the DVDs (pirated) I brought from Manila :p

Kung Fu Panda

- After everyone has watched and all the positive comments that I heard, I finally took the time to sit down and conquer. And yes, this movie does live up to all the good words. Entertaining and insightful, appeals to the emotions and touches the heart. I like the way Po will gulp down food, the siopao. There's no secret, agree.

Enchanted

- Another movie that lives up to the hype. Not as plain as I would expect from a disney-comes-to-life theme. The most powerful thing in the world is a true love's kiss. Her curtain outfits are adorable.

When Love Begins

- Anne plays well, very convincing in her role. Her personality is a commonplace, you'll find a handful in the real world - No commitments, no obligations, no limitations. The movie has scenes shot in Bora. Makes me wanna have a Bora vacation, I miss the beach!

Student Again

Whew I'm back to my school days.

I enrolled again for another marketing module in NUS Ext. This time it's called Asia-Pacific Marketing Management. My classes just started last week. The first few classes were about the theoretical aspects of marketing. Sales figure, survey results, demographics, so many charts, graphs, tables.

Eg: in year 2002 Product A made 13M sales in 2 regions inhabited by 20% women of age 25-30 of which half is belonging to urban, and the factor that boosted the sales is due to TV ads placed in primetime TV slot which is 20% more expensive than normal streaming, and in terms of pricing, Product A is among the top 5 preferred by people in the corporate segment...

Too many factors to analyze and too many numbers! I initially thought Marketing world = outlet of the creative fragments in my head. It seems not. After dealing with so many number crunching activities in my work, no.. no.. don't make me analyze anymore. Outside work, I just wanna be spontaneous :p

Anyway, the next few lessons should be interesting. There were different case studies for most of the major countries in Asia Pacific. I have 2 other teammates in the project and guess which company did they pick among the 10+ case studies given by the professor. None other than..HP. My gosh, seems like the past tends to reveal itself to me. Dejavu :p

Speaking of, I'm off to go for my Friday classes.

Blooper and Strike

After 1.5yrs+ in this new land, I finally had a chance to play bowling again.

This is from a teambuilding activity with my client for a successful project cutover.

Before the game, I actually had a blooper to share. A few of us from our project team rode in my manager's car. We put our things in the compartment. After I went up the sports club, I remembered my socks were in the hood. I told my manager I left something in his car, he handed me the car keys.

Finding the car in the carpark was my first problem (with my bad memory). They all seemed to look alike (all in silver). I called my manager and asked for his plate number. After finding the car, I went to the left door, opened it and started searching. To my surprise, I just can't see the button. It should be somewhere at the bottom (apakan), the one you pull to open the back hood or for refilling gasoline. I was thinking there shouldnt be any difference in car structure whichever part of the world you are, right?

I settled for the next option, I went to the back of the car, planning to open the compartment with the key. Again, I couldn't see the keyhole. I called an Indian teammate KL-based who drives and asked him is there any difference with the cars here? Haha stupid as I may sound. He said from what he knows, the cars should be the same. I asked him to come down the carpark to help me.

Then suddenly a bulb lighted in my mind. I was in a hurry that I forgot, Singapore are right hand drivers. Why am I searching at the left side. I quickly went to the driver's seat at the right side and easily found the button. Whew. d*mn it. I wasnt drunk at all nor was I too stressed that day. :p

Anyway, we had 2 rounds of games. And I was VERY happy that I had a STRIKE! Note: this happens only once in a blue moon for my level hehe. Funny thing is we all had strike in that particular part of the game (look closely at the picture). There were 4 of us in the team and luckily they were all good shooters. Our team ended up 1st place among 4 teams (good thing my score didnt pull them down too low hehe) If I can score a 100 in a game, I'd be a happy man. Cheers! :p