Singapore or Philippines

Mylab’s move to Singapore has become a great opportunity for us to live outside the Philippines. A country where it's not too far to come home to when needed. The past decade, out of desperation, MY personal orientation was to migrate to Canada, Australia or New Zealand but that opportunity never came, instead, Dad got an oversees assignment in Russia.

Now, comes the Singapore opportunity where travel is just a mere three hours agony and fare is not hard on the pocket, Dad got pressured as Mom got excited to grab the opportunity to make Singapore a second home. Well, I have my reasons, I always have reasons for things that I like. I think I've finally found my dream place. I won't look anywhere else. I won't even go further where you can hardly go home to your family because of distance and cost of travel.



Singapore is a relatively small city/nation/state with over 4 million people of diverse race. Cost of living is high especially on housing and food but which can be compensated by other benefits one will get in terms of safety, cleanliness and discipline. Crime rate is very low. You can take a walk even in dimly lighted places without having to fear being held-up or snatched of your bag or stabbed by crazy individuals. Their people are disciplined. Laws are strictly imposed and voluntarily being followed as it has seem gotten into the system of every individual. Mass transit such as busses and trains are very effective and well organized. If you are used to the chaotic transport system in the Philippines where you can have the convenience of flagging down a bus or jeepney at any point, you will find it tiring the first time walking to the nearest bus stop in Singapore as you won’t have a choice. Believe me, you will get used to it after you see its convenient side. There are no noisy streets. Hardly you will hear a bus or car blow its horn. Their busses don't emit dirty carbon monoxide on your face when you are on the street. Traffic routes are very organized and you will not see busses swerving here and there overtaking each other or stopping at the center of the highway to pick up a passenger. Private car owners are very disciplined as well. They don’t stop anywhere to drop off their passengers. They do it near bus stop areas too.



In terms of cleanliness, perhaps not even the cleanest city in the Philippines can bet Singapore's cleanliness. The air is not polluted. The streets, anywhere you go are clean. Overpass and walkways don't stink of urine. Creeks are clean and free of garbage. Trees are all around.



People are disciplined. You will not get neighbors like the ones I have back in Manila who thinks they are the only ones in the neighborhood singing their hearts out on videoke day and night that you can hardly watch television because you wont hear anything but their singing prowess. Safety is not an issue as Singapore has very low crime rate and there are no gang wars at night right down your building.



Yes, cost of living is high but the security and health of my dearly beloved ones (especially the small ones) is what matters most. Living in Singapore would be a dream come true for us.

Burn Out

I realized that since my last post (June 2007), I had gotten so busy with kitchen works. The reason why I had set aside my personal and family life which I want to redeem soon... very very soon. I want to be hands on with my sons again. Lately when my little boy cries at night he calls his yaya. It never happened to Kuya despite me being a corporate mom that time. I don't want my little boy to be running to his yaya for comfort when sad. I want him to run to Mommy and call Mommy's name. I maybe full time at home now, but I am not 100% with my sons. I want to redeem my place in their hearts. I want to make an emotional deposit again. Had been making too many emotional withdrawals lately.

Illiterate Pulubi

Just a minute ago, a badjao knocked on the door with an envelop in her hand. The note on the envelop says:

"Ako po ay isang Badjao Tae, humihingi po ako ng tulong sa inyo. Sinungaling po ako. Salamat po."

I don't know if I'll be amused or annoyed. I presume they are the "no read, no write" authentic-badjao-dayo and they probably asked help from someone else to write the message on the envelop.

I just regret I wasn't able to take pictures of that envelop. I rushed outside to call her back but she was fast gone.

Self Management

Yes, not time management is the answer to this seemingly endless time issues battling inside my head. Issues on how I can juggle my time being a mother and temporarily a father too, of my two boys constantly demanding my attention and attending to the demands of my growing number of fans :p (hehehe I am so amused by that statement).

When I was working, I spent 10 hours a day, 5 and sometimes 6 days a week at work away from my family yet no one seemed to complain and I was healthy. There was even a period that we did not have any househelp, I was working night shifts and when I got home in the morning, prepared my Joshua for school, washed some dishes, did some cleaning, slept a little and back to work again. That went on for two straight years. I never got sick aside from common colds and cough. My Josh was at the top of his class then.

But I had dreams. It was my long time dream to be a stay at home mom and a full time wife and when I got pregnant with Joseph and hubby got a good financial opportunity, I was very lucky to have finally fulfill that dream. That's what I thought so. I don't know what has gotten into me that I started to find hobbies that I could do while tabebe was still small. I started selling ukay ukays but only got stressed out from too much physical exertion. After about 6 months, I enrolled in beadcraft workshop and had so much fun making accessories. I started posting my work in a social networking site but not too many noticed them although I have sold quite a plenty to my friends and relatives. I didn't really mind, I wasn't into serious money-making business.

Then at one point, I started to bake. I have my mom's old trusted recipes to try so it wasn't a problem. I thought that a cake would be too big for a small family so I started experimenting on cupcakes using the cake recipes I have. I sell some to our neighbors and some at my son's school. I never really thought that cupcakes were already a hit. How would I know, I don't dine out hehehe. I thought taking pictures of the cupcakes would be fun. I then opened a Multiply site to post the pictures of my cupcakes. That gave birth to Simply Kate's. I didn't really expect people to notice it especially that I don't have a network yet.

Unexpectedly, orders came in and they just keep coming in. Now, I have a big problem, some say happy problem... I can't handle them anymore and my time for my family has suffered. I know this is my own fault as I don't know how to say no. Now, I keep telling myself, this is not what I wanted when I quit work. This was not what I dreamed of. This was not even part of the plan. But I am not quitting. I guess I just need to manage myself another way to cope up with the challenges of being a mother and the growing needs of this little business.

It's Hard to Say No

I never anticipated that turning down orders is this difficult. I feel like closing my doors for blessings that are supposedly coming in. But I just got to say NO with a heavy heart. I just have to keep in mind how my body screamed for rest during those days when I only get 4 hours of sleep every single night. This is the time to cover up from too much sleep debt.

To give importance to the most important persons and things in life, I have to make a decision. When I quit work, I just wanted to be a mother and wife. That was my lifelong dream that as soon as we could afford it, I grabbed the opportunity to fulfil that dream. But I somehow twisted my fate by getting myself into a hobby that turned into a growing business. This is not what I wanted. This is not what I expected to happen. Now I'm confused whether I'd want to give this more opportunity to grow or just leave it to die a natural death by not taking in more of it. Now, I feel guilty whenever I wanted to stop. Many people are looking for opportunity to earn more income but couldn't find one and here I am wanting to quit with already that opportunity in my hand enough to make me feel guilty.

I am soon hiring my aunt's former househelp and I am hoping that loads will lighten up a bit. Somebody can do the procurement, clean up, basic baking and perhaps delivery for me and I will be left with just cake decorating. I can't foresee yet how it will turn out. We'll see in the next two months. For now, I just got to rest.

Mga Nakaka Bad Trip Today

Some days aren't just perfect. First, it was sooo hot today that taking those taxi cabs isn't just worth it. Lugi sa pamasahe considering that their airconditioners almost don't work, especially when you go out on high noon. Unless you take those new taxi units, expect the worst. The next time I go out, I should bring a fan.

I went to SweetCraft to present to them the end product of their marshmallow and brought a little sample of the one made from the other brand. Unfortunately, April, the Manager wasn't there. Second trip would be to the dermatologist, the long overdue appointment. I decided to go to Makati Med instead of The Medical City since there is a nearer Fitness First in the former.

Bad trip na naman. Does being an old hospital an excuse to smell sooo so badly? Sa entrance palang, di ko maintindihan, a mix of strong lysol and "CR" smell greeted me. So amoy hospital na ewan. Is it just me? Kaartehan lang ba talaga? I am so used to Medical City where it is so clean, parang hotel. And OMG, in Makati Med, you will get to meet and greet patients on stretcher sa lobby and alley. Para akong nasusufocate, ang liliit pa ng mga daanan and so daming nakahilirang mga pasyente tapos ang baba pa ng ceiling... Haaaay... My apologies if ganito ako ka sensitive at kaarte. Sorry to all who patronizes Makati Med but it's a painful reality. I hope that new building which will supposedly house the doctors' offices will greatly help and I hope all the renovation going on in the hospital will help. They will lose out to competition. Okay, enough of that.

I was happy to get to the Medicard office only to find out that the doctor will be in by 3PM pa. Okay, okay, I hate waiting, isa pa yan sa kaartehan ko... but got no choice. While waiting for the doc, I decided to go find some lunch. Tiniis ko na naman ang sobrang init ng araw and went to Jollibee Convergys, ordered a burger and an ice craze with special instruction, twice repeated to the cashier..."less ice, please"... only to get a cup so full of it. I always want my halo halo or ice craze with kunting ice because I don't want some liquid spilling out of my cup when I mix it... and I don't want to be eating too much ice kasi... kaartehan na naman. Good thing, I was kinda mabait and decided to let go of it and enjoyed my meal, nonetheless. I went back to the doctors clinic and waited for another hour. My great consolation? Nakatulog ako ng mahaba-haba.

To cut the story shorter, I dropped by Market Market to buy some groceries and went home. Walang pila sa taxi, I can't believe it! Got so excited that instead of taking a jeepney, took a cab. Kainis kala ko tapos na mga ka bad tripan, humabol pa ung taxing un. Naman kasi, nag taxi pa. Got on a Kia Pride na ang luwag sa loob, di naman mabaho and di naman mainit... nainis lang ako sa driver. Hay, sabagay naiintidihan ko naman bakit talagan kelangan humingi ng dagdag sa pasahe. Mahal na daw ng gasolina. Kahit sampu lang daw. Nainis ako not because I dont want to give. I always give extras to every cab I take. Ang ayoko lang yong hinihingan ako, nagbibigay naman ako ng kusa.

Haay talaga, mga kaartehan ko sa buhay.

To All Those Born in the 50's, 60's and 70's

(Just a repost from an email I received, so nice, so true)

First, some of us survived being born to mothers who did not have an OB-Gyne and drank San Miguel Beer while they carried us.

While pregnant, they took cold or cough medicine, ate isaw, and didn't worry about diabetes.

Then after all that trauma, our baby cribs were made of hard wood covered with lead-based paints, pati na yung walker natin, matigas na kahoy din at wala pang gulong.

We had no soft cushy cribs that play music, no disposable diapers (lampin lang), and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, no kneepads , sometimes wala pang preno yung bisikleta.

As children, we would ride in hot un-airconditioned buses with wooden seats (yung JD bus na pula), or cars with no airconditioning & no seat belts (ngayon lahat may aircon na)

Riding on the back of a carabao on a breezy summer day was considered a treat. (ngayon hindi na nakakakita ng kalabaw ang mga bata)

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle purchased from 711 ( minsan straight from the faucet or poso)

We shared one soft drink bottle with four of our friends, and NO ONE actually died from this. Or contacted hepatitis.

We ate rice with star margarine, drank raw eggs straight from the shell, and drank sofdrinks with real sugar in it (hindi diet coke), but we weren't sick or overweight kasi nga......

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, and get back when the streetlights came on. Sarap mag patintero, tumbang preso , habulan at taguan.

No one was able to reach us all day ( di uso ang cellphone , walang beepers ) . And yes, we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our wooden trolleys (yung bearing ang gulong) or plywood slides out of scraps and then ride down the street , only to find out we forgot the brakes! After hitting the sidewalk or falling into a canal (sewage channel) a few times, we learned to solve the problem ourselves with our bare & dirty hands .

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 100 channels on cable, no DVD movies, no surround stereo, no IPOD's, no cell phones, no computers, no Internet, no chat rooms, and no Friendsters....... ...WE HAD REAL FRIENDS and we went outside to actually talk and play with them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no stupid lawsuits from these accidents. The only rubbing we get is from our friends with the words..masakit ba ? pero pag galit yung kalaro mo,,,,ang sasabihin sa iyo..beh buti nga !

We played marbles (jolens) in the dirt , washed our hands just a little and ate dirty ice cream & fish balls. we were not afraid of getting germs in our stomachs.

We had to live with homemade guns " gawa sa kahoy, tinali ng rubberband , sumpit , tirador at kung ano ano pa na puedeng makasakitan..pero masaya pa rin ang lahat.

We made up games with sticks ( syatong ), and cans ( tumbang preso )and although we were told they were dangerous, wala naman tayong binulag o napatay.paminsan minsan may nabubukulan lang.

We walked, rode bikes, or took tricycles to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them to jump out the window!

Mini basketball teams had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't pass had to learn to deal with the disappointment. Wala yang mga childhood depression at damaged self esteem ek-ek na yan. Ang pikon, talo.

Ang magulang ay nandoon lang para tignan kung ayos lang ang mga bata, hindi para makialam at makipag-away sa ibang parents.

That generation of ours has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, creative thinkers and successful professionals ever! They are the CEO's, Engineers, Doctors and Military Generals of today.

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had failure, success, and responsibility. We learned from our mistakes the hard way.

You might want to share this with others who've had the luck to grow up as real kids. We were lucky indeed.

And if you like, forward it to your kids too, so they will know how brave their parents were.

It kind of makes you wanna go out and climb a tree, doesn't it?!

PS - The big letters are because your eyes may not be able to read this if they were typed any smaller (at your age).

Failed Businesses

Impulsive. Easily Bewitched. They best describe the reasons why I failed in several business attempts. When I 'think' I like something, I become very impulsive that I often win arguments over those who wanted to stop me and I always get I want. Now, I am embarassed to look back at those failures but they taught me so many hard lessons in life.

I am more of a shopper, actually, than a seller. Then I got myself into a mess when I joined a multi-level marketing business, my first business attempt and biggest business failure. I sacrificed a lot for that and had gone through the worst ordeal I wouldn't dare to detail here.

I thought that was the first and last but it was just a thought. Impulsive as I am, I thought I'd do better in bakery business. We put up a small bakery a few years ago. What can I say? Failure again. It was very stressful. I had to sleep late and wake up too early. That was the last, I promised myself.

Since then, I never left the corporate world. Working full time is better. I get paid whether I work my best or worst. I only spend more or less 10 hours in the office and get a guaranteed pay at the end of the day. Then I got the opportunity to fulfill my greatest dream, become a full time mother.

Having not much to do, I browsed a forum for business suggestions forgetting that I promised myself not to get involved in another business stint again. I was easily enticed by the promising UKAY UKAY business. I won the argument again. I got the go signal to start it. Was it a hit? Yes a big hit! When I opened my first 3 bundles everyone went gaga over it. Here's the problem now...I thought they were going to pay me in cash... Kapaaaal! Utangin pala. What can I do, they were holding the clothes already. Collection was the hardest. I got discouraged, I didn't sell the remaining items. You need not guess it, you're right, it failed again. Much more I earned something unwelcomed, HYPERTENSION! Arrrggghhh!

Did it finally stop there? Of course not. I never seem to learn my lesson. That's how stubborn I am. I tried making accessories. It was great at first. My creativity was awakened. I did it along with baking, alternating whichever has orders coming in. Now thousands and thousands of beads are hybernating in one corner of the house awaiting their final verdict. I am busy with something else which I hope is not bound the same fate the past businesses went through.