Leap Of Faith

My 2012 and 2013 can be sum up to these words ASPIRE, PURSUE, DREAM, ON, WORK HARD, PRAY HARDER and PURE BLESSING. I feel so blessed to have granted all the blessings that I ask for and so I thank the people behind these blessings and most of all Bossing, it was always true that God won't give you things you can't handle.

Learning that I am pregnant leads me to choose to go home and just be a mother, but I was not given the permission too, my boss didn't accept my resignation twice and I thank him for that.

Leaving my children to work abroad again is the hardest thing, and I am thankful I surpassed that day at the Airport.

Taking chances is one thing I am afraid off, good thing I love my children more than anything else and I can say I have done everything just to have them beside me.

And as they say the rest is a history, they have been here with us for three months now and we are still adjusting. It will not be easy, but I know we can get through it day by day. People do ask if until when are we planning to stay here, sorry folks I don't know the answer as well.

Vesak, Vesākha or Wesak Celebration.

Yesterday is a holiday, Vesak Day is what the calendar says, and what better way to spend it is a whole day of sleep, eat sumptuous tocino and longanisa (Philippines local ham and sausage) plus watch movies, quite relaxing for a six-day-a-week worker.

Wait what is Vesak Day? I am not sure if what it is, some say it is a Buddhist celebration, some say it is a Hindu's festivity, well it's my first time to hear about it and might as well do some reading about it.

According to some online dictionary and websites, Vesak or Vesākha is a Theravada Buddhist traditional yearly celebration of Buddha's Birthday, Death and Enlightenment. According to them, it was widely observed on India, Nepal, Banglades, Sri Lanka and East Asian Country like Singapore. It usually held at forth month of Lunar Calendar and falls April or May of Gregorian Calendar.

It was a celebrated with chanting of Monks and acts of generosity by giving help to needy, visiting temple to meditate and make some offerings, traditional freeing of caged birds and animals. Modern day generosity is done by youth by donating blood to the hospitals.

Buddhist traditionally end Vesak day in a silent candlelight procession  from streets and ends on the temple.

Had I know it earlier, I should have at least visit a nearby temple anyway there is still next year.

OEC or Overseas Employment Certificate, How to get one in Singapore?

One of the benefits of being an OFW and an OWWA member is you are eligible to have a Travel Exit Clearance, you got to enjoy going home free of travel tax (P1620 from Manila Airport) and terminal fee (P550 from Manila Airport). This is a lot of savings specially if you are constantly jetting from Singapore to Philippines and back. And you can also avail a  travel tax reduction if you are travelling with your dependent/s.

UPDATES (2013): Starting 5th of November 2013 POEA  introduce the Appointment System so no "walk-in application" will be entertained from the mentioned date. Here in Singapore you can book for an appointement just click at the link >>> Balik- Manggagawa Online Appointment System

Pleasse note that Philippine Embassy here in Singapore opens only on weekdays, Mondays to Fridays, 9-5 PM, close on Saturdays, Sundays, Philippines & Singapore declared holidays. OEC Issuance at Lucky Plaza Mall was already discontinued

SUGGESTION 1 : If your staying 5 days or less in the Philippines its more convenient to avail an OEC at the Airport Terminals.

SUGGESTION 2 : It your staying for more than 5 days you can also get your OEC at the following locations...

(1) POEA main office in Ortigas Avenue, Mandaluyong City

(2) Duty Free Philippines in Parañaque City;

(3) SM-Manila near Manila City Hall; and

(4) Trinoma Mall in Quezon City.

As I mentioned only OFW who have valid Working Pass, S Pass, E Pass and PEP are eligible of this perks, list of required documents includes... ( from Philippine Embassy Singpore website)

Household Service Workers

• Accomplished OFW info sheet
• Valid Employment Contract (processed by POEA or the Philippine Embassy – if there is no valid authenticated employment contract, please proceed to contract processing counter (Counter 1)
• Original Work Permit Card
• Original Passport
• Two-way ticket or Itinerary issued by travel agency
• Proof of OWWA valid membership
• Updated receipt of Pag-IBIG Fund membership contribution

S-pass/Employment Pass/Training Employment Pass

• Accomplished OFW info sheet
• Original Employment Card, S Pass, Work Permit Card
• Original Passport
• Two-way ticket or Itinerary issued by travel agency
• Proof of OWWA valid membership
• Updated receipt of Pag-IBIG Fund membership contribution

Personalised Employment Pass

• Accomplished OFW info sheet
• Valid Employment Contract (Present Company) or Certificate of Employment signed by the Employer/HR stating the contract duration
• Original PEP Card
• Original Passport
• Two-way ticket or Itinerary issued by travel agency
• Proof of OWWA valid membership (i.e. official receipt, certificate of coverage);  worth S$42.00
• Updated receipt of Pag-IBIG Fund membership contribution

You can get one or multiple OEC at the Philippine Embassy located at 20 Nassim Road, Singapore 258395 for only S$3.00 with one (1) year validity from the date of issuance (subject to validity of work pass and OWWA membership)


Update:
Map with direction from Orchard MRT station to Philippine Embassy at Singapore

click photo to enlarge (from Google Map)

You can check the following link for further information.

Balik- Manggagawa Online Appointment System

OEC Requirements

OEC FAQ


SOURCE: EMBASSY OF THE PHILIPPINES SINGAPORE

My First Quarter in Singapore – Job hunting, misfortunes and homesickness

Staying in a foreign country is a big dare, and I had confirmed it right, you must adjust on a lot of things especially on foodstuff and communication.
Just like other Filipino, I primarily came here to seek a greener Pasteur. I had been working for six years straight and the sole investment I got is my son. That is why we decide to join the wagon of engineers who manage to squeeze in the S'pore and so I'm here mingling with Chinese, Malaysians, Indians, Bangladeshi other races.
I came here as a tourist, it's my first time to leave Pinas and travel alone. Manila to Singapore is a three hours and 30 minutes air travel. I get out of immigration a little cold because of crazy honesty or stupidity whatever you want to call it, when the officer ask me if how much cash I got, I told him I only got ATM and Credit cards since my I am visiting my husband and he is the one in-charge of my stay, in that very instance I want to kick myself. Good thing the officer is in good mood and told me that if I intend to visit my husband again after this trip I must bring at least S$300 or he would not let in next time.
My first four weeks here is spent in job hunting and some side trips on here and there. My daily companion is our housemates' laptop (we still don't have a laptop then) and google is the one who uncomplainingly search and search for me, for the whole day I will open all job search sites, edit my resume hundreds of times. I was that desperate especially on my third week and still I have no job interviews yet, it came to a point that yahoo mail suspected me as a spammer because I send 20 to 60 application emails daily, I need to enter a capcha before sending mail hee hee!
Fourth week and I got tons of phone calls, for the whole week days I go see a 2-3 job interviews per day in different area, north to south, east to west. Good thing Singapore got a very systematize public transportation and almost all building and street was known to google map.
After several interviews, I landed a QS job and processed my working visa or Pass that is after some hard luck, $60 taxi fare and two very kind lady officers in MOM. Since I am working with construction company I need to attend a two Work Health and Safety courses and that was a few days before Christmas day.
My first day of work came and I was agitated though the Boss and Admin lady (they are married) is very kind, co-workers are a little snooty and very unfriendly. Bosses must have noticed it and decide to transfer me to another office where people are a lot nicer and not too nosey on eying my every moves.
Chinese New year is a big festivity here, overflowing mandarin oranges, lucky charms, red envelope orampao, food and wines. I luckily won in the raffle during our annual dinner, a fat red envelope yeeha!
That sums up my first quarter here, but I miss a lot at home, Christmas day, New Years Eve and my Levi's second birthday. I am coming home this weekend, but only for three days just to hug my angel again. I am hoping he still knows me.

OWWA Membership (Updated for 2013)

Finally, after one month I was able to squeeze in my Philippine Embassy trip, I need to register on OWWA or Overseas Workers Welfare Administration for security purposes and to avail some perks and benefits offered to us being an  Overseas Worker.

Philippine Embassy here in Singapore is located at 20 Nassim Road, a 1.20 km walk from Orchard MRT Station. I can't really describe how our embassy here looks like since they are under renovation, it was not actually a building, but a residential compound that looks like a bungalow house before. Their staff are friendly and nice, very accommodating for a question robot like me.

The process is less than 10 minutes to finish, where you have to fill-up the OWWA Information Sheet, Submit it with original Passport and IC Pass plus S$42 membership fee for the duration of employment, but not exceeding two (2) years.

Below are OWWA Programs and Services as stated on the certificate,
A. Health care, Disability and Death Benefits
B. Education and Training
C. Worker Assistance and On-site Services
D. Social Services and Family Welfare Assistance
E. Loan Guarantee Fund (still under review)

OWWA Singapore Address : 20 Nassim Road, Singapore 258395
Operation Schedule   : Mondays to Fridays, 9-5 PM, close on Saturdays, Sundays, Philippines & Singapore declared holidays.

How to get there....

Click on the photo to enlarge

After OWWA Membership next is how to get OEC find it here at OEC or Overseas Employment Certificate, How to get one in Singapore?

Chinese New Year 2011

It is my first time to really celebrate CNY or Chinese New Year, last February first our company held an annual dinner for two reasons, one of course is the CNY and its BD's 20th year since it started its business.

It was held at the Ballroom of Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel where almost 260 people attended the event that includes staff and crew, clients, suppliers, bosses colleagues, and friends. We are allowed to bring a friend or family members, for me I tag along my hubby hee hee!

Meal start with traditional salad tossing or Yusheng or Lo Hei as an appetizer, what is it? As I asked some coworkers since I really have no idea why there is a big chopstick on the table, it looks like a drum stick to me, they told me that it will be used later for the salad. After it followed the Birds Nest Soup, Fried Chicken with sesame seed, yummy fried crab stick with pumpkin sauce, mushroom dish that taste like meat, Noodles and sweet poncans.

Raffle and games as held throughout the night, lots of cash, gift certificates, appliance and gadgets. Main raffle prize are cellphones, flat screen TV and an Ipad, luckily I pocket a minor prize of S$400 yeh!

My CNY loot

The dinner party was festive with lots of good food, wine and giveaways plus raffles, KUNG HEI FAT CHOI!!