Did I say, I worship Zara?

This blog is supposedly not about fashion but yeah, I like Zara stuff. Here in Singapore, this fashion store is everywhere like mushrooms trying to grow in everyone's backyard - at least in my native land in Cebu, Philippines.

Anyway, Gemalto, which is where I work, is having this Dinner and Dance, with this concept of the 80's. I do not personally know how I should look but looking at anything 80's online is just so crazy. From the goth look, to punk, to vintage 80's, to being athletic 80's and the list goes on and on. They said the 80's was revolutionized by the idea of experimentation of self individuality and expression and it shows in the clothes during that time. I did my research and the one thing caught my attention was the chuck taylor shoes. I like it but I wanted to have it with something different. My friends and I were planning to go to JB but we did not just have time. So we went off to malls and looked for what to wear that would at least tell about the 80's. It's a bit of a disaster of you if you're one off a decade or the other way around. So it has to be planned. Since in my line of work, everyone is expected to be a bit geek or nerd or extremely of both as we are in software research and development but then I don't want to be identified as such. I don't want to blend with my crowd even if I like my crowd. So I decided to shop at Zara. It's not just Zara actually because I got my jeans at TopMan - another trendy shop. But the highlight of this dress-myself-up is my shoes:) I had an eye for that shoes when Gemalto's recreation club announced the theme for this year's celebration which will be at Shangri La. And this day, I bought a pair. I also plan to be wearing a shirt on the occasion so I also got a good bargain from the store. It's actually a bright yellow shirt, so it should do the trick.

But yeah, I like the Zara shoes I just bought, and hope this will even give a blast as to how I look on the said event. Hope things, won't turn out to be a disaster and hope all the Gemalto employees will wear the 80's style.

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.