My Journey Thus Far

I need to talk to mama and papa about the car payment again. Running out of funds, hahaha. But I'm not really worried. Hopefully in December everything will be returned. I can't wait for my first payday!

These are some of the luxuries that I'm planning to indulge on:

- Round trip ticket home
- LCD/LED TV
- Kindle
- Cellphone (with plan?)
- Travel!!!
- Book my parents and brother for a vacation here!!!

I must admit, I'm having a good time here. It's quiet, laid back and the country's governing systems are quite efficient. Though it's been a while since I've been to a first world country, Malaysia gets my vote to be a first world country too.

For my company, it's also not that bad. Right now I feel that the employees are their priority, hopefully that won't change.

We got a very good deal with our apartment. It's a penthouse and the rooms are huge, I'm itching to redecorate mine!



I also the love food, and they also say that store sales give really good bargains. I just can't wait! Haaay, I can officially say that I love it here.

Pardon my enthusiasm. I'm still in the "honeymoon" stage of my stay here and I haven't felt much homesickness. :P

So....

I've been here for 4 days. So far I've had no problems with homesickness. It's actually a bit disturbing since not a single tear has been shed for missing home. But I'm feeling something unsettling though. Detachment. I feel as though I'm just living in one big dream. But I'm not sad at all, in truth I'm quite happy and excited with the change of environment. Still, this detached feeling is really bugging me. As if I'm lacking emotions, especially as a girl.

Oh well, I'll just have to wait and see if this will change. If not, I guess this part of my life will be a sort of layover until the next destination.

In Malaysia Truly Asia

I'm here!!! So far I've been having a good time. Not the crazy type. Everything has been so relaxed, starting from my departure day. Good vibes all the way. When I arrived at D'Melor, there was a "Welcome Inuman" going on. And as I am a big drinker myself, I dove right in. Alcoholic drinks are scarce in Malaysia so we took advantage of this opportunity to let lose through vodka and beer. The next morning, Filipinos from other units and condos gathered in our apartment to watch the Pacquiao match, he won by the way (sorry I'm not really a big fan of boxing :P). Along with Many's victory, Caress' birthday and we celebrated my arrival (again :P).

After that, I went to the mall with Maricris to buy some supplies. I'm still lost in transit though, transportation here is not as easy as PI commute where there's tons of public transportation available. Here, there are only buses which only pass by every 30 minutes to an hour. In addition, it's right hand drive here and the orientation of the roads is opposite to that in the Philippines so I need to be very careful when crossing the streets. Cars are also very fast here, because there's not much traffic going on.

The ambiance here is very relaxed, so relaxed that I slept for 13 hours last night and woke up at almost 12 noon! This is the first time in a while that I was able to sleep that long and I took this as a good sign that I'm at home here despite the difference in environment.


Tomorrow I'm gonna start work, and I'm hoping that it will go as well as it has since yesterday. Good luck to me! :)

Packed For My Next Destination!

Well almost. :P I've packed all of the major stuff that I'll be needing. I've been trying to gather my things for the past three weeks, but my delays made me put off buying a luggage. I started to segregate my clothes and whatnot's last weekend. I've already put pang-alis and office clothes in my bag last Saturday. Today I semi-finished packing the rest of the things. I must admit, I'm not really sure if I'm bringing the most sensible pieces that I have. They said that the the dress code there is just casual, you can even wear jeans everyday. But as have a flair for the fasyon, I can't help but pack my latest and trendiest clothes. I'm really hoping that I can pull off wearing the wardrobe that I brought. They're really, really nice. Mama even made me five new pieces to bring there, I love each and every one of them! I'll wear the simple white one on my departure, though I think the look will definitely get defeated by my huge teenage mutant ninja turtle green backpack haha!

By the way, my housemate-to-be Len already contacted me because we needed to get the down payment settled. She informed me that we got a penthouse apartment that had four rooms, each with its own bathroom. And it's in a really cozy villa/compound with a swimming pool! How cool is that?!?! Then my other future housemate Dax sent me the pictures of the apartment, OMG I was in awe, it's worth the RM875 per month. The furnishings are nice and IT WAS HUGE!!! Now I really can't wait to get there!!!

Here is Dax's pitch for the place (copied and pasted), very nice:

Welcome to D'Melor Condominium

This is the view of the pool from Sec's, Kido's and Caress's balcony. Landscaped garden surrounding the pool and the residential blocks, well-maintained swimming pool with fountain, beside the club house, where you can find a bar, sauna and steam bath (free use) if you need to relax.

Inside: F-202: Come home to this spacious penthouse unit, comprised of 4 bedrooms + 1 maid's quarters, each b/r is furnished with bed, A/C, lighting, and has its own toilet and bath, with heater; has two living rooms (lower floor and upper floor), main and dirty kitchens, laundry area, and dining room.

kitchen: includes fridge, microwave, 2-burner gas stove, gas pipe centralized in the block, stove exhaust to chimney, 2 pairs of sinks, oven. spacious kitchen counter, right beside the laundry area

living room: includes everything you see here except the shoes and the people hahaha, center table will be replaced by the owner. Two-level curtain hangers

dining room: good for 4, classic table and chairs for 4, with chandelier over it, beside the lower balcony

lower balcony: includes outdoor tables and chairs overlooking Cyberjaya roads and night lights, perfect for serenades and/or dousing the serenaders with liquid from your chamber pots.

First bedroom: The only room downstairs aside from the maid's quarters, with own restroom, A/C and study area

Maid's quarters: also has its own japanese-style restroom, no A/C, but can fit a bed, enough for 1

Penthouse staircase to family room

Family room: (upper living room), includes electronic piano keyboard, another fridge, A/C, shelves, right beside the upper balcony.

As this condo unit occupies 2 floors, there are also 2 doors per floor to get into and out of the unit. This is the upper door.

Second bedroom: Room with single bed, ceiling fan, A/C, walk-in closet, bed, toilet and bath

Third bedroom: includes, light, ceiling fan, A/C, closet, double-sized bed, study table and chair, and t/b.

This t/b also has a door from the family room, which means this can also serve as a common bathroom for visitors in the family room, but can also be locked for exclusive use of the room tenant

Fourth room: this is the master's bedroom, with fan, A/C, queen size bed, lighting, walk-in closet, study table and chairs, toilet, bath tub and shower, with a pair of bathroom sinks

Immigration Wrap Up

Finally! Everything has been settled!

Let me start with Wednesday. I went to POEA at around 10 AM to check for the approval results of our petition. I proceeded to Tess's window. She told me to go to the fourth floor to check for Director's approval. When I got there, they informed me that the request has been forwarded to the deputy approval in the second floor, in room 201. I went there only to find out that it's the same room that I was before! When I got there, they said that the papers are now in the Admin department in third floor for evaluation. So I went up only to find out the the request is still pending! I asked for a phone number to contact for follow-up and they told me to call after lunch. I hung out at Galle for a while then met with Kido (the other Malaysia hopeful) for lunch. After that we went back to the third floor to check on the status. After around 30 minutes, a guy came out with our documents. After calling out our names, we immediately examined the papers for any sign of the result. Then there it was, a stamp of approval! Allelujah!!! We proceeded again to the second floor to continue with the rest of the processing. The guy passed our papers to window 4. After being called, we proceeded to window 10. Tess gave us the next steps:

a.) Scan the compliance letter, send to MY, have it signed, then send back to us via fax. Have 4 copies for myself and Kido.
b.) PDOS scheduling

We went home after having the PDOS scheduled.

That same day, I asked my Mom to claim my clearance from the Bureau of Immigration. She had a horrific encounter because of this. She had the ultimate Philippine government red tape experience, a treasure hunt for people who are supposedly taking care of DOST scholars' watch list. Looks like she had a very thorough tour of the entire four floors of the building. After arriving at the last pit stop, she battled the government personnel who should be processing my request for clearance. Apparently, after 1.5 weeks, they have now come to know that my request is "missing" and I should go back on Monday! Their excuse was that they were transferring and renovating the office thus the lack of organization. While our analysis was that they "lost" the request on purpose so that they could extort some money from us to speed up the processing. They wish! My mother went home really furious and stressed though. So I had no choice, I had to take care of this myself.

The next day I woke up early to go to BI, I even asked my brother to drive for me since I was so exhausted and he knew Manila streets better. I proceeded to the fourth floor, room 419 to ask for the status. They made me wait for an hour to just have them say to me "Mam, no action pa daw". Sorry, but patience is not my virtue. Fuming, I went to the window to demand for the proper person to talk to. At first, they were hesitant to help me. But, probably seeing that I was on the verge of an outburst, they looked for the lady who should be taking care of this. I think she was Nancy. She scanned their files for my document, then there it was all along! She asked me to pay for 500 at the first floor. I had to pay them that much just to clear my name from the watch list! What the hell, what was the payment for? For just deleting my name on the computer or for placing a phone call??? Philippine government offices are really so corrupt. After that, I gave the receipt to Nancy to get a clearance.

I went to POEA after, to have our Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS). Good thing the speaker was fast. We still had enough time to finish the rest of the processing. We gave our requirements to window 4. Again, we filled out another form aside from the countless ones we have already filled up previously. They made us wait for more than an hour, called our names, then asked us to proceed to Assessment. We were given a paper, then paid 6340 at the cashier at the FIFTH FLOOR, what's up with that, elevators aren't even working!!! We went back to 2nd floor, then got our e-receipts, our final ticket to being an OFW!!! Hurrah, we're set!!!

In conclusion, I have come to know that if you can afford it, DO NOT AVAIL DOST SCHOLARSHIP. I'm telling you, it's not worth it!!! But I hope all this hard work will pay off when I get to Malaysia.


*** My flight got delayed by another week because of the Immigration issues from DOST

Trusting the Sunscreen

So this is how it works, I'm starting to realize the trade off for the change that I've been wanting. Though I haven't left yet, I already miss everything in my life right now. My family, our house, my friends, my car, the convenience and familiarity of everything around me. I'm too attached I guess. I can feel my parents and brother missing me already. After seeing how our family was devastated by Alex's then Ate's departure, it sinks my heart to think that they'd have to go through that again. But everything has a price, I'm just hoping that everything's well worth it.

To turn my emotions around, I'm watching this video again:

Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)


The narrative always makes me look forward to the rest of my life with the proper perspective. At this point, it looks like I just need to trust the sunscreen. :)

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now. Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you imagine. Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday. Do one thing everyday that scares you Sing Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours. Floss Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself. Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how. Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements. Stretch Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t. Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone. Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.. Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room. Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them. Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly. Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young. Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel. Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders. Respect your elders. Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out. Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85. Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth. But trust me on the sunscreen…