The Flower Fields in Carlsbad

Happy Reunions

There is something about friends and family getting together to catch up on news and celebrate important occassions. With Len,Dave(Bunnys husband),Bunny and me
This trip gave me the opportunity to meet up again with Bunny(after almost 5 years) and with Len (after 9 years) my two friends from way back my banking days.

The three of us were former colleagues in a bank(my very first employer after graduation). Its a lifelong friendship that has withstood literally and fguratively the test of time. We are not only connected by friendship but by forever relations like we are both ninang to each others offsprings. Len even flew all the way from Ontario Canada to have a reunion with us.

When old friends meet we not only talked about the past (old photos were brought out) but about additional pounds added to our bodies.
With 5 of my cousins in the US and with Nany(in yellow)We were also able to attend my cousin Susan's birthday and finally meet her fiancee Nany. My cousin is getting married in January 2009 with Nany and I can see that Susan is glowing and happy with Nany by her side celebrating her natal day.

As usual we talked about life ,work and family in Singapore and in the Philippines and life in the US of A.

We are waiting for our 14 hour flight to LA

At the HK Airport


I would still give the Changi Airport Terminal 3 a thumbs up in terms of facilities. It has a movie theatre and a an airport hotel just inside the airport.
At Changi Terminal 3



I am now at the HK International Airport. Our place departs at 12:35. The HK airport is much similar to the Bangkok airport in interiors.


The UA flight we took departed on time at 6:45 am and touched down in HK ten minutes ahead of its 10:35 am arrival time.

Our plane is boarding now , I will upload my photos when I reach LA. Upon arrival we will go direct to my cousin Susan's birthday party and then off to San Diego in late afternoon. our plane will arrive before 11 am US time.

We Missed our Flight

Boo hoo. Darn it. Shit......

We missed our flight by a hairline.

My iPhone alarm didnt work, Tony forgot to alarm his phone and so we were late.

I woke up at 5:30, I even had to rub my eyes to check whether I was not dreaming.I thought our clock was not working or stopped. In seconds we were out of the house but despite our taxi being fast(we took the 45 min journey by only 30 minutes) we were still late by 1 minute.

The UA gate closed at 6am and we were there at 6:01 .The airport guards and the UA guy even were arguing because they already allowed us in but we couldnt check in.

Hubby was muttering.."they should have allowed us in it was only 1 minute...they should have made an exception". Humirit pa sya mali na nga kami. Lucky he was still smiling. he couldnt blame me because I was the one who woke him up(altho late). He forgot to alarm his handphone and he slept at almost 2 am.

We paid an additional $444...darn it and an extra taxi fare of $60 ....

Tonight I wont sleep anymore. I'll make sure we will be at the airport 3 hours before our 6:45 am flight.

THIS IS THE VERY FIRST TIME I WAS LATE ON A TRIP AND MISSED IT!!!

Lesson learned: If you are taking an early morning trip...dont sleep anymore anyway you have all the time in the world to sleep on the plane.

Hair Time

It had been ages since I had my hair rebonded in Singapore. I usually had my hair rebond in Manila and I just found out today that it is actually cheaper to have my my hair done in Singapore than in Manila.Costwise and time wise its cheaper and shorter to have rebonding here probably because they have already mastered the treatment.

At our place ,there are 5 hair salons and I chose the cheapest one which charged me only$110(I gave my hair stylist a tip for good service).




The whole procedure only lasted 2.5 hours. In Manila it would last from 4-7 hrs.

My hairstylist David is Malaysian(as most hair stylist in Singapore come from nearby Johor)and he was so nice and chatty(talkative).

I hope it would last me at least a year. He told me not to shampoo my hair for 3 days. By that time me and Tony would be over the Atlantic Ocean on the way to the US.

Niles Finally Got his $500 Cheque

It was good news for Niles today. Mediacorp called me to pick up Niles' Prize for $500 from the Media Corp Headquarters at Andrew Road.It was his prize money for participating in the "Police and Thief SMS Contest".

This was the very first time I visited a TV station. Even in Manila I have never set foot in a TV station.

I waited for almost thirty minutes in the station and I was able to see only one TV personality , Cherly Fox, a TV newscaster.


Finally after almost two months of waiting he finally got his prize.

He promised his Tita Mariecel that when he gets the money he will buy a ticket for his Tita again to fly back to Singapore and they will both ride the Singapore Flyer.



That might wait for some time since her Tita already left for Manila last Sunday.

ORCHID SHOW

Singapore Orchids

Bonding time for me and my sister Mariecel. It was the first time she saw so many orchids in her life. You can view other photos in her album.

Agape Employment Services

This is my livelihood.

I had been doing recruitment of maids or helpers for the last 3 years.Its a very easy but demanding job specially if you have maids and employers who have problematic relationships. Its like you are dealing with the union.

I have noticed that most of my clients came from referrals of my past clients and maids that we had placed before.

To advertise my services I just made the website for my business. You can view updated photos of my maid applicants in my website.

I have just emailed this web address to my clients...

http://maidsinsingapore.multiply.com

I hope you can spread the word around.

I Will be in San Diego

I only realized when I was preparing my documents for the US visa application that my last visit to the US was in 2003. That was about five years ago.

This time my trip (April 27-May 4) is again courtesy of hubby who has insisted that I go. I didnt want him to make "tampo" again to me because I dont want to go. He has this habit of always repeating just like nagging me that I will miss the chance to have a holiday for free.
(Taken in 2003 at Hotel Del Coronado, a historic hotel in San Diego)

SO eventually after two days of his nagging me during bedtime I relented to apply for the visa. I prepared for my documents(just in case they need it) the entire evening of Monday.

I didnt know applying for a US visa is now that easy. I just went online to fill up the three page application form. After that I clicked on the schedule the interview button and although there was an interview slot for Tuesday I decided to go on a Wednesday at 8:30 am.The following day Tuesday, I purchased a Cashiers cheque for $186 which was payable to the US Embassy.

This morning I arrived at the US Embassy 8:15 am and there was a very short queue outside the gate. We were eventually called in at 8:45 am. When I went in to get my queue number it was already 9:00 am.

I was first called to give my documents(application,passport and payment) and then was asked to sit down . AGain after 5 minutes I was called to get my thumbprint scanned.

The consul(or the officer at the counter) called my queue number(719) at Window 6 after another 10 minutes.

Here was how the interview went:

Officer: SO how long have you been staying in Singapore?
Me: Eight years

Officer: Are you a PR already?
Me: yes

Officer:What is your occupation?
Me:I am a Sales Executive for a Maid Agency
Officer: Yah I heard about your agency(smiles)

Officer: Why are you going to the US?
Me: I am joining my husband who is on business trip there for a week

Officer: Do you have kids?
Me: Yes, I have two boys

Officer:How Old are they?
Me: They are 11 and 12

Officer: So who is going to take care of them?
Me: My maid

Officer: OK so we are giving you your visa on Monday(handing me a pink stub), Collect it from the guard house on Monday afternoon from 2:30-3:30
Me: Thanks!
I was out by 9:30 (exactly an hour after my appointment hour)

How come I was not excited?
Reason: I dont know what I will be doing during the one week stay in San Diego.

I know we would be staying in Holiday Inn Carlsbad by the Sea(which we visited 5 years ago) and infront of the giant factory outlet.(goody goody)

The landmark of the hotel is the windmill which you can see the minute you enter Carlsbad.