On Losing a Job

I have been getting daily spam comments delivered straight to my phone that I guess served as a constant reminder that my personal blog has been neglected for more than a month now.  One day, I'll finally get to posting most of what happened this December, just let me get the elephant on the room addressed (well, at least for those who know me).

2011 has been very challenging for me and some of my friends. I, along with more than 100+ employees received one of the most shocking news last August when we got to work and found our office locked. I won't go into details as to what happened cause I don't want to get sued.

I'm very thankful for my friends here in Singapore for being very helpful and supportive. Several people from work also created a couple of Facebook groups to help each other out in securing new jobs.

The first month went by pretty fast. I mostly spent them eating out, having desserts and looking for jobs while having coffee with a friend. Don't get me wrong, I'm not burning money. I just feel that its easier to be with friends than being alone and wallowing in depression.









The rare moments when I'm at home, I spent it chatting and Skyping with friends. Some of my college friends also reached out to me and it was a great feeling to be connected to them once more.



After nearly four months, several interviews, a job offer, a denied work permit application, a rejected appeal, I finally landed a job. I got word that the work permit has been approved as 2011 was coming to a close.

The question I've been asked the most is what have I been doing all this time. I focused on our little endeavor, The Little Mermaid. It was time consuming, stressful and most of all, surprising at how slow the tickets have been selling for a children's musical and a Disney feature at that. I guess 2011 was just not the time to be making a little extra. But again, I am very thankful for my friends who helped out.



It wasn't really all that bad, every cloud has a silver lining. I had 4 trips to Manila, I went to a couple of beaches and the land of class A Northfaces without having to worry about filing for leaves or being exhausted from a trip and having to work the next day.







I leave 2011 behind and started 2012 fresh taking with me all the experiences and the learnings from it as well as the rekindled relationships with friends and family as well as the new relationships I've formed the past quarter.

Phuket: Days 3 & 4

Our third day was spent touring Phi Phi and the neighboring islands. We were picked up at exactly 7:30am and we headed to the port. We waited for a few more minutes for the other guests to arrive.

We then settled comfortably in the speed boat. We fought the excitement to sit upfront thinking that it will be too hot by mid-afternoon which turned out to be a perfect decision.

It was quite a lengthy boat ride taking about 2 hours to reach the first island.

I was already dozing off by the time we reached our first stop, Phi Phi islands, the tour guide mentioned that parts of the movie "The Beach" were shot here. The sights were truly breathtaking. This first stop alone is worth the entire trip.

We were given just about 40 minutes to enjoy the waters and the island. The place was a bit too crowded since there were simultaneous trips all over. It's important not to bring any valuables since there's no place to stash your stuff. 

We then went to a couple more islands, I forgot which ones. We were not allowed to step out of the boat but we took all the scenery in. 

We also made a quick stop at Monkey Beach where we fed the monkeys. 

After that, we stopped for about half an hour for some snorkeling. There was really nothing much to see though so we quickly headed back to the boat to pass the time.

We were then taken to another island for lunch. It has quite a few establishments but we didn't explore. The heat was already getting to us and the three of us were feeling quite sluggish. Heck, we couldn't even get up to go to the boat to get our money so we can buy ourselves some ice cream. 

After a few hours of waiting, we then headed to the last island where we're supposed to stay for a couple of hours. It was a stretch of powdery white sand with rows and rows of beach chairs which you have to rent at around 150 baht so you can relax. The tour operators provided us with abundant supply of water, soda and fresh fruit to make our stay a bit more enjoyable. 

Em-J and I excitedly headed out to swim only to find out that it's really not conducive since the are dead corals which can hurt your bare feet. We didn't get ourselves some flippers at the port, the water was likewise not clear so you really can't see what you're stepping on. We decided to just sit back and enjoy the view.

At around 4:30pm, we started our trip back. Good thing that it took only about 15 minutes to get back to the port where our transpo was waiting for us.

When we got to the hotel, we continued enjoying the sun by swimming. 

We then called it a day by ordering in. There was really no place to go to and we were all too tired to still head to town plus I was also feeling a bit feverish. 

Our last day was pretty simple and quiet. For the first time, we stayed in bed and woke up a bit late. I then headed out to the pool after a quick breakfast. By lunch time, Em-J and I started packing to head to town. 

We checked out soon after. The front desk staff, Tatar, knew that our flight is not until later that night so she graciously offered to allow us to shower after spending the day out but we told her that we'll head straight to the airport instead of returning. The gesture was very much appreciated though.  

When we got to town, we looked for a cheap room to leave our luggage and our other things. We ended up checking in at a cheap room, quite literally.

Em-J didn't want to head to the beach anymore since he was already burnt so we spent the day relaxing by having a facial and a massage. We then met up with our cabbie at 7:45pm, he took us to the airport for the same price as that of our room, still a bargain though. As with any vacation, we were both reluctant to leave but we had to. 

Phuket: Day 2

The following day, Eli and I woke up early to get our discounted breakfast coupons at the concierge. We were told that there were only a limited number available. It turns out that we really had no reason to rush as the resort was pretty quiet that day.

Breakfast was about 18sgd / 550php. It was pretty reasonable for a hotel but selections were pretty limited. They had an assortment of pastries, cereals, an open kitchen for pancakes and eggs and finally for something heavy, Thai noodles and fried rice. 

Here we are ready for the day. 

After breakfast, we all headed out to tour the grounds. The Marriott properties were pretty big so they had to  provide us with a buggy. 

We then decided to head to the beach via bicycles. It took us about an hour and a half to circle the area. 

The beach was very quiet with only one visitor bathing in the sun. 

After enjoying the sun, we headed back to the hotel. We asked their super friendly staff as to what else we can do for the day and they recommended for us to go to Phuket town and then Patong later at night. 

A local taxi stand is stationed right outside our hotel and they all have fixed rates. A trip to Phuket town cost 800 baht (36sgd / 1200php). The driver didn't understand much English so he couldn't tell us where to go best. He dropped us off near a Robinson's supermarket and left. 

We had lunch at a local fast food place then we checked out the grocery for things that we still need and since there wasn't really much to do, we decided to go to Patong. We hired a cab and we were able to negotiate a 300baht (13sgd / 400php) cab fare. 

We checked out the area and then we headed to the beach. 

We then went back to the busy area of Patong where we had a massage and dinner. There were a lot of places for massage and we had to circle more than a couple of blocks searching for a suitable place till we reached the mall Jungceylon. Good thing we explored since we didn't know that it was there. 

Their KFC has sundae and chocolate roll while Dairy Queen's ice creams were pretty cheap. I so wanted to have one but I was too full. We then went to the mall till closing. 

We were still planning to go to a few bars but by this time we were all weary so there was really no choice but to head back and rest.