Believe...

I may have written in a previous post that recently, I've been feeling so much stress because the employment situation here.

For someone who does not like gray areas, I find it so ironic that I am in one big gray area at the moment. Haha! I swear, the Big Guy up there must be laughing thinking, "Ha! You dun want gray area, is it?! I'll put you in one." Hehe!

But seriously, I've been so stressed recently because the new work pass I have right now is only valid for a year. Come end of year, I would have to bug our HR to start applying for the renewal of my work pass. One year can go by so fast and I dun want to go back to the Philippines just yet. No, not yet. I still love Singapore very much that I am willing to do what I can to be able to stay here for as long as I can.

However, I also realised that maybe, there is a lesson being taught here. Perhaps the most obvious one is to put complete trust in Him. This is probably Him saying, "Relax lah. No worries lah. I will take care of everything, no matter what." I really have to say I'm grateful to have strong faith in Him. Otherwise, I wouldn't know how I would handle certain challenges that I've experienced here.

The other recent thing that I realised is that instead of worrying, I should spend time preparing and making plans. It's true that I dunno what will be the result of the renewal, but I can still plan. (I am optimistic though that I will be renewed again and again and again. This is me claiming it. Hehe!) In this case, I need to have a Plan A, B, C, D, E and so on.

So lately, all these ideas of what I will do are coming to my head. To be honest, I'm quite excited by the ideas.

The important thing right now is to continue saving. I should save as much as I could because as long as I have moolah, I will be able to move forward with my different plans. Hehe!

My friend Bernice sent the above photo via Facebook. She said, "Friend, I thought of you when I saw this." I really thought it was nice of her to remember. The photo is just so appropriate. Hehe!

I can say that now that I've done some "processing," I am less stressed. In fact, I am now excited. Sure, I dunno what's going to happen next year. But as long as I've got plans and I've got my faith and my Big Boss, things will be okay.

Pero Lord, please patagalin ninyo pa ako dito sa SG. :)

This was a happy day...

This was a happy day...

Carine is here...

The package above was one of the few packages that welcomed me when I returned to work a few days ago.

I was very pleased to have finally received this package after waiting for a month or two.

My team mate Gen told me about this UK-based website, which does not only sell books at a discounted price but also ships it for free.

How the business earns profit, I have no idea. Hehe.

Anyway, I decided to try the website.

There are a few books I wanted to buy at Kinokuniya. However, I always end up returning the books to the shelves because I couldn't bring myself to fork out 100 over dollars for a coffee table book. Hehe!

Good thing Gen told me about the site.

I went online and checked out the price for Carine Roitfeld's irreverent. It was selling for $91 on the site. At Kinokuniya, the same book was selling for $166!!!

Such a huge difference, right?!

So I went ahead and ordered from the site just to try it out and see if it works.

Well, as you know by now, it does!!!

I'm thinking of buying a few more books again. Hehe! Sure, it takes awhile for the package to arrive. I just think about how much I'm saving.

The site's name is Book Depository. Check it out here.

It may be addicting. Don't tell me I didn't warn you. Hehe!

iHOP and Kabila...

I was able to try some somewhat new restaus on my recent trip - iHOP at Bonifacio Global City and Kabila in Makati, which is right beside Museum Cafe.

Even before the plane left Changi the previous night, Tey, Moneigh and I were already discussing where to have breakkie. Hehe! I was thinking of having a Filipino breakfast such as the usual tosilog, tapsilog and other silogs, but the girls suggested iHOP.

Since I've been reading about the pancake place and I'm curious to find out what all the fuss is about, we agreed to go there. Moneigh picked up me and Tey around 7. The jam going to Makati was starting to get heavy. Luckily, we were going the other way. We reached iHOP in less than 30 minutes.

We didn't have any difficulty getting a table since it was a weekday and it was still quite early.

As expected, there were a lot of choices on the menu. It took some time going through the items. In the end, I settled for one of the platters that had everything. Hehe! That's the best way to go. Moneigh also ordered two types of pancakes for us to try.

Uhm, I have to say I didn't find anything spectacular about the food. The one thing I really liked was the hash brown. As for the pancakes, I think I like the ones from Pancake House.

Kabila, on the other hand, was a very enjoyable dining experience. The restau serves very good Filipino dishes. If you enjoy Sentro or Fely J's, you'll definitely love Kabila. Make sure to ask for the Kabila menu since you might get Museum Cafe menu.

Similar to iHOP, I had difficulty deciding what to order since almost all the items on the menu were calling my name. Hehe! In the end, we ordered Fried Kangkong Crisps, Ensaladang Kabila, Grilled Gulay with Bagoong and Salted Egg, Kabila's Pork Bagnet, and Tinola-flavored Rice!

The dishes were all quite enjoyable! I wish the bagnet was crunchier, but it was still yum. I also liked the kangkong crisps a lot.

I liked Kabila a lot that I suggested to my former colleague CJ that we meet there the following day for merienda. Hehe! For merienda, we shared the Guinataang Bilo Bilo and a very sinful slice of Chocnut Valrhona. Hehe!

Will definitely try this restau again.

IHOP Philippines
W Global Center, 30th St. corner 9th Avenue
Bonifacio Global City
Phone: 808 9589

Kabila
Ayala Museum Complex, Makati Avenue
corner Dela Rosa St., Makati City
Phone: 757-3000 or 757-6000
Web: http://www.raintreerestaurants.com/kabila.html

Phone-less day...

Haha! I forgot my phone at home.

By the time I realised that I dun have my phone with me, I was already about to enter the train station.

Even though I could turn around and rush back home to get my phone, I just went ahead and tapped my EZ-Link card and went in the train station.

It'll be a relaxed day, I suppose. Hehe!

Back to Singapura tonight...

It's been a very good trip.

Not too busy. Just relaxed. I saw most of the people I really wanted to see. I wished I saw more friends. Hehe!

But above all, I am just glad that things are okay with the fam after Dad returned back to the heavens.

I dunno if I already wrote about it, but one of the things that this whole experience taught me is that things do happen for a reason. The other lesson is that really, He knows what is best for everyone. It is for that reason that I keep and will continue to keep the faith. Hehe!

This afternoon, I'll just be relaxing and finishing my packing before heading to the airport. Though my flight is quite late, I intend to leave early - too early, in fact - for the airport since it's a Monday, and 5PM will prolly be damn crazy, and I dunno what to expect at the OFW counter at the airport. Hehe!

It's been a very good trip. I'm really grateful. Thank you to all the friends who took the time to see me.

Now, it's time to head back to my other "home," which I'm also starting to miss.

Random update...

Last night in Manila.

I've been doing nothing but eat since I arrived last Thursday. Hahaha! It's so easy to put on weight when in Manila. Good food is everywhere! Haha!

To be fair, I've been watching the portions that I've been eating. Also, I've only been having once cup of rice each meal. Still, it is a bit too much given that I only have rice once a day in Singapore. On some days, I don't even take rice. Haha!

Hmm, I wonder if I should consider doing Master Cleanse when I get back as suggested by I-van. I just dunno if I will last 11 days of just lemonade and nothing else. Eeep!

As expected, the trip has been going very well. I haven't had the time to meet up with a lot of friends though either because of conflict of schedule or because we couldn't agree on a common location. I've only been shuttling between my home, Manila and Makati. In Makati, I dun even reach Landmark nor Glorietta. Everything is in Greenbelt. Hehe!

Right now, I'm just killing time while waiting for my colleague from Wiley, CJ. We agreed to get together on this trip and I'm actually happy that we found a common time. Hehe!

Okay, this is it for now. Will post again really soon.

I already miss Singapore!!! :)

Again...

When I left Manila in 2011, the first time I visited the place again was in January 2013.

I never really felt the need to go back between 2011 until 2012. Sure, I do miss my family and my good friends. However, most of the good friends I have came over to Singapore for holidays. As for my family, the biweekly calls, Skype were sufficient.

Boy, I'm really making up for the two years I didn't visit Phils. this year...

Good, better, best...

It is kind of hard to believe that the first half of this year is already over.

Wow! Time really does fly fasssst!

Just a quick look at the first half of 2013. I would have to say that it was a mix of good and not so good.

To be honest, I am really not liking this year vmuch. For some reason, it's been making me anxious. Could it be because I'm paying more attention to the not so good things rather than the good thing?

Possibly.

Because now that I am writing this post, I am realising that the good outweigh the not so good.

For a quick review, the not so good are quite obvious - Dad going in and out of the hospital and of course, Dad returning to Our Creator; my work pass being downgraded and being given only a one year renewal.

When I think about these things though, believe it or not, I am finding some good in these things. For the one about Dad, yes, he is no longer with us but I am not afraid to say that I am somewhat grateful because now he is out of pain and suffering. I really believe that he is in a much better place now where there is no illness, no pain, no suffering, just light and love. For the one about the work pass, I wish it would have been better but I am still very much grateful because I was renewed and that I still have a job with an awesome company. I am grateful to be part of a company where the managers (at least, my managers) sincerely care for the people - foreign worker or not. (I have really begun to despise that phrase - foreign worker. It's become such a negative phrase. Anyway...)

As for the good things, this is also quite easy to enumerate - the holiday trip to Bali; the holiday/work trip to Nepal; the holiday trip to Malacca; being able to visit Manila a number of times to meet up with friends; being able to take care of my Dad and getting to talk to him about things; being able to spend time with friends who are in town; being able to take up a few classes (though I had to drop out of one); being accepted as a museum volunteer at the National Museum of Singapore, to name a few.

Looking at the things I've written about, I think I should rephrase what I said about good and not so good. The first half of 2013 was a mix of the best and the good.

That means then that the second half of 2013 would be reserved for the "better."

And so far, there's been a good start. Two good friends I-van and Moi were recently in town and I was just really happy to be able to hang out with them along with Richie and Mon. Then there's also the news about getting promoted. Small or not, a promotion is still a promotion. And I am very happy about it.

Hoping that the second half of 2013 would continue to be "better" - a better of the good, and a better of the best.

Grateful...

Even in the darkest hour, there will always be some light. You just have to find it.

I know, I know. It sounds emo, but it's not meant to be.

Grateful.

That's what I'm feeling today, even with the recent moving on of Dad. (I dunno, but I dun like to say we lost him or that he passed away. I guess it's because I believe that physically he is no longer with us, but I know that he is in a better place now happier and able to watch over the fam)

I'm grateful that he is no longer in pain and suffering.

I'm grateful that my Mom and my brothers can move on with their lives.

And at this very moment, I'm grateful to be blessed by great friends - Tey, Gossipgehl, Tian, Ian, MkSurf8, Alexie, Pau, Niña, Belle, Tipz, to name a few - who all have been a source of strength and support.

I really have no words, but "THANK YOU!"