Getting a Maid from an Accredited Agency in Singapore November 15, 2012

For those pondering to get a Maid from an accredited agency here in Singapore, you can check out the information below after my conversation with one of the agencies in Lucky Plaza:

New Maid

-----------

Minimum 2 yrs contract

788SGD - Agency fee

53.50SGD - Security bond

267.5 - Medical Insurance

5 months advance worth of salary of maid to be paid to Agency then employer deducts in Maid's Salary.

450SGD starting salary of Maid coming from PH with no SG experience.

500SGD onwards starting salary for transfer maids currently working in SG.

Fyi, 2013 starting salary of maid coming from PH will increase to 500SGD.

If there's a need to replace existing maid

-------------------------------------------------

Agency provides 2 replacements within 1 year if replacement is coming from PH.

Need to pay the following

                - 5.5months Adv to be paid to Agency then employer deducts in Maid's Salary

                - 200sgd(singapore processing

                - insur+bond(prorated based on remaining months

                - 200sgd (PH embassy processing)

If maid is returned within 6 months and replacement maid is coming from SG, need to pay 1 month advance to agency only.

 
Disclaimer: As usual please do your own homework abd double check these information. This information is based on one particular agency only and current as of Nov. 15, 2012. You can get the list of accredited agencies in http://www.google.com.sg/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philippine-embassy.org.sg%2Flabor%2Femployment-agency%2F&ei=62OkUP6oAcXWrQez4YBQ&usg=AFQjCNGq6upGIzu1nkQ-wyPN-74BK5c9ig and check the expiration of their license.

Immigration execs implement new screening rules for intl travelers January 24, 2012

Our Bureau of Immigration just announced the new screening rules. Here's the link;

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/245428/pinoyabroad/immigration-execs-implement-new-screening-rules-for-intl-travelers?ref=secitem

Unfortunately there's not much detail in the article. Upon visiting the website of BI it's not loading at all. If anyone of you knows the details of the guidelines specially for tourists young and old and the contacts for complaining abusive Immigration personnel please comment here.

No Visa Required for Filipinos in the Following Countries Aug 17, 2011

I'm not sure if this is updated so please double-check.

Hit the link below:

Public Holiday on Singapore Polling Day - 27 August 2011

FYI to all OFW in Singapore...

Hit the link below:

Philippine Airport Process and Fees October 13, 2010

I just want to share the process that we went through in NAIA Terminal 3 when we recently came back from Philippines to Singapore. Our carrier is Cebu Pacific.

1. X-ray and metal detectors (All baggages including mobile phones, documents and wallets needs to go through).
2. Pay Travel tax located at the far right of the terminal
3. Check-in at the Cebu Pacific counter (Max for check-in is 15kg while hand carry is 7kg. You are allowed to bring extra hand bag or laptop).
4. Pay terminal fee,
5. Fill-up departure card (for all passengers)
6. Immigration
7. X-ray and metal detector (remove shoes, belts, blings and pocket contents)

Travel Tax
For PR's and Long term visit pass - 200php
Work Permit, SPASS and EPASS are exempted (Must have OEC)

Terminal Fee
For PR's and Long term visit pass - 750php
Babies, Work Permit, SPASS and EPASS are exempted (Must have OEC)

Pinoy Singapore Life Facebook Page, October 1, 2010

Please go to Pinoy Singapore Life facebook page. You can see it on the right of this site. Just "Like" it.

Just post in the Wall questions related to the topics of this blog site. I can reply there much faster. I will still be updating this blog because it's easier to track.

Thanks.

Maharlika Band - Suntec Expo Hall Corporate Event, Singapore - 13Dec2008

Just want to share some of the videos of our Band here in Singapore...

Permanent Residency Application February 28, 2009

Some possible reasons for applying PR:
1. Possibility of taking roots in Singapore
2. Travel conveniences
3. Taxes is much lower
4. CPF (Central Provident Fund) which will be payed partly by the Employer and partly by you
5. More jobs available for PR since some companies prefer to hire PR's or Singapore Citizens

We applied last Nov. 15, 2009 which is our e-appointment. You get the forms from their website www.ica.gov.sg. After filling it up you have to make an e-appointment online on when you're going to submit the forms. Weekends are allowed but due to large numbers of applications sometimes the next available slots are 2 months ahead so make sure to reserve your slot as early as possible. Personal appearance is required for the applicants. Just follow all requirements stated in the form.

I would suggest taking your passport id picture in ICA itself to avoid inconvenience. Right now it's just S$5 for 4 id's. Get 4 additional copies for your formalities so that you don't need to come back.

We didn't get our medical examination since another friend of ours advised us that if your last medical exam happened 2 years from your formalities appointment date then you don't need to undergo medical examination again. Just to make sure my Wife confirmed this on ICA hotline. Remember to ask where you can get the declaration form where you outline details like Pass-type (Q1, Q2, etc), Date of acquiring that pass and it's expiration, etc. This declaration pretty much says that during your PASS application you already had your medical exam which is within the 2 years time frame.

The submission is no hassle. It took us an hour.

Common application takes about 3 months so 2 weeks before the 3rd month i called ICA to verify my application since my Wife's S-PASS is going to expire on Mar. 10, 2009 so we needed to know if she'll going to renew her pass or not. The operator said our PR application has been approved and told us to wait for the letter of approval. We waited for another week but no letter arrived. We called again to the ICA if it's possible to retrieve the letter personally in ICA office. They asked for our contact nos. to get back to us regarding this.

1 day later someone from ICA called my Wife's mobile and informed us that the letter was sent on January 29, 2009. If they will resend the mail it will take additional 3 weeks so they gave us instructions on when and who should we approach in ICA to retrieve our approval letter. Sure enough the letter was handed over to me personally when i went there.

That same day during the evening we tried to schedule an appointment for the formalities however the reference no. of or approval letter doesn't work. I tried again the next morning and then i was able to go in and set our formalities on Feb. 27, 2009 (Fri.) at 11:45. For formalities only weekdays are allowed so we need to take day off on that day.

A very useful advice was given to us by my friend that we need to scan our approval letter in 5th floor of ICA to get the queue number when it is already 10 minutes of our appointment time. Meaning if our appointment is set to 11:45am then we should scan between 11:35am to 11:44am. If you scanned too early it will consider you as a walk-in and it will take the whole day for you to be accommodated. Even having an appointment it feels like your a walk-in. We arrived early to have our breakfast. We didn't found any fastfood around so we settled for their cafeteria. Not much to choose from in our opinion. We're not very fond of some of their traditional menu. We just bought egg sandwiches which costs S$1.80. Could be more cheaper. My wife had an orange juice and me a squash lime which we thought could use less water. They shouldn't dilute the drinks to much.

About approx. 30-45 mins. our number was called to a counter where we submitted the completed forms. After we informed of our medical examination the officer gave me the declaration form to fill-up and my wife filled-up hers on the form attached to our approval letter. It's a good thing i have my Cards with me because they only accept NETS for payment! They could have posted this in their website or something to inform the public. I'm not sure what would've happened if we don't have NETS. Sheesshh!! We paid S$150 per person.

After that the officer gave us the new counters that we need to wait for the queue number. These counters are for the thumb printing and scanning. We waited, i think, for about 2 hours and my pregnant wife is already hungry since the last food that we ate are just sandwiches. We keep seeing numbers higher than us being called but not ours. Just makes you wonder if it's by random or is their any pattern that I'm not seeing.

After the thumb printing and another round of payment (S$50 per person for the IC Card) we we're told to check the queue numbers being called at room 40. We were given the collection slip for our IC cards. The officer informed us that one of us can get the IC from 8am to 4pm on Mar. 6, 2009 (Fri.).

After about 30 mins. our number was called with a bunch of other numbers on the same room (rm 40). I think about 5 numbers were called. Inside another officer gave us our passport, Re-Entry permit and yellow cardboard which the officer told us to photocopy and give to our employers for the CPF contribution.

So we started at 11:45am and we finished at around 4pm. What a day. And we still need to go to Expo that day for the Baby Expo. But I'm glad we are now PR. Another milestone for my Family.


Disclaimer: Information contained in this blog are personal experiences and not to be used as factual information source. It may or may not apply to you so do your own research.

Our First Baby February 5, 2009

How did i found out? Well my Wife was suspicious enough to buy a pregnancy test but we'd had so much false alarms before that i didn't think anything of it. First reason of doubt that she might be pregnant because she was 10 days delayed already and she said the latest is only 1 week which happened a couple of times before. Secondly, during the 1st week of January she took an emergency leave since she's not feeling well and very nauseated so she vomited a few times but mostly it happened during the afternoon. Usually in the movies morning sickness happened during the morning thus the word "morning" but having asked several mothers in my office it seems that vomiting can happen also anytime of the day.

When i arrived from Fairprice Junction 8 5th of February (thu.) night in the house with her i didn't realize that she already went in to the toilet to use the pregnancy test. While i was washing the dishes she called out to me and said she was pregnant! Not that i doubt her but i need to see for myself so i went it to the toilet and saw the two stripes and checked the instructions. Yup! It was positive indeed. I expected fear because it's not really the ideal time to have babies, recession and all but instead i was elated! Excited even. So i thought

Wow, so this is the feeling. The feeling of first time fathers.

or so i assumed it would be. I felt no fear of the future. I was just so excited and it felt just right. My Wife didn't saw that. It figures. She thought i was not happy at all.

Anyways my first thought was we need to go to a Gynecologist in the weekends. I have dragonboat training at 3pm and clinic hours on Sat. are just until 1pm and no Sundays so she need to take the half-day leave since she has work on saturdays 'till 2pm. On Friday i took the chance to ask for referrals and advice from my Mother friends at work. One referred us to a Gynecologist in Mt. Alvernia and another one in Raffles Hospital but both are fully booked when i contacted them Saturday morning. It's a good thing we found one at Thomson Medical Centre. Now the moment of truth. The confirmation that we've been waiting for. My wife had an ultrasound and for the first time we saw a miracle. The doctor estimated the fetus to be 5 weeks old and it's just like as big as a 10 cents coin or bigger. We didn't asked for a print out yet and the doctor told us to come back Feb. 21. I'm so excited by i try not to show it. After the checkup they gave us a baby bag which contains some magazines and diapers. Total costs is S$117. Initial checkup is costlier. The next one will only cost S$60 and ultrasound is S$30.


FEB. 21 (7 weeks and 1 day)

Ultrasound scan

Above is the ultrasound scan of our baby. Yeah i know...no shape yet. Printing costs additional S$10. It's a good thing the checkup is monthly.

Mar. 21 (11 weeks, 5 days old)

Ultrasound Scan



At last our baby is taking shape. Based on the measurement it's 4.87cm which according to my Wife's research is normal for 11 weeks pregnancy. No noticeable bump can be seen yet in my Wife.

By the way here in Singapore abortion is legal. I mentioned this because our doctor asked us if we want to do some tests while my Wife is pregnant. He asked us first what's our religion. It's some sort of an opening so that he can assess if he can bring up the question or not. At first i have no idea where he's going with the question. He mentioned that there's a test that measures the possibility of the baby having Down Syndrome while the baby is still in womb. Then i asked

If there's a test does it mean that it can be prevented?

He answered no. The reason for that testing is to have an option for abortion which we immediately declined.
(to be continued...)

In Re-applying Denied EPEC April 7, 2008

For those of you whose not familiar with EPEC it is a long term social visit pass for foreigners who wants to look for a job in Singapore. You can stay for 2 years. The cousin of my Wife applied for EPEC last December and got denied at the same
month. She re-applied in January and the EPEC was approved. Now i asked her what changes she made in her application that made the difference. She told me she changed her job title to something much simpler and commonly used here in Singapore.
Her first application she indicated here job title as "Senior supervisor assistant in purchasing" which at first glance doesn't look too bad. The 2nd application she changed it to "Buyer" and got approved. I asked her again why did she chose the
word "Buyer". She said she got it from job sites and this title are more commonly used here in Singapore. As simple as that can change the outcome of your EPEC application. Certainly knowing the market and its details will improve your chances in landing a job here in Singapore. Almost everything can be found online anyways so there's no excuse for doing your homework.

Good luck and God bless!

First time filling your tax? Read on...

April 7, 2008

Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) website contains some useful information.
http://www.iras.gov.sg/

They say filling of tax lands mostly on April. This year (2008) for tax filling for the year 2007 the due date is April 15.

Some say it's very easy to file your tax here since you can do it online. If you are eligible to file IRAS will send you a letter or your company/agency will send you the FORM IR8A which will contain the salary they have given you in 2007 to remind you that you need to file.

Now i got this from their website when i was asking myself "Who is eligible to file?". Browsing to their website i found out my category which is Individuals (For foreigners) > If you work in Singapore > If you are in Singapore for less than 183
days. (URL: http://www.iras.gov.sg/irasHome/page01.aspx?id=88)

Do I have to file tax? (URL: http://www.iras.gov.sg/irasHome/page.aspx?id=288)

You will need to file if you have received a paper form (Form B1/B/M) or a letter from IRAS inviting you to e-File.

Did not receive anything?
Even if you have not received any notification from IRAS to e-File, you need to file if:
=>your income for the previous year is $22,000 or more; and/or
=>you wish to claim tax deducted at source in respect of Singapore dividends that you received last year.

Please log in to myTax Portal to e-File your tax return by 15 Apr if you have not received any notification to file your return by 15 Mar.

If you are a new taxpayer who has not submitted any income tax form in the past, and you have not received any notification from us by 15 Mar , please complete and submit the registration form for new taxpayer (43KB) . We will activate your tax
account and send the paper form to you.

Tips to Avoid Penalty Being Imposed (URL: http://www.iras.gov.sg/irasHome/page03.aspx?id=116)

Income Less Than $22,000
Where an IRAS PIN Mailer / SingPass invitation letter / Income Tax Return has been issued to you, even if you are not liable to tax, you must file by the filing due date. If you have no income, you should declare ‘0’ in the respective income sections of the e-Filing template or Income Tax Return.

I also tried to call their helpline and had a pleasant experience. The "call agent" was very helpful and knowledgeable. For more details, other inquiries or confirmations call 6123-0000 if you're already in Singapore.
(URL: http://www.iras.gov.sg/irasHome/page.aspx?id=2374)

It wouldn't hurt to apply for Singpass ID in advance since it's very easy. Just make sure you have your Passport and EPASS Card if you're an EPASS holder or your SPASS card only if your an SPASS holder. The reason for this is because for EPASS
holders the Date of Issue is indicated in the Passport and not in the card. However in SPASS Card it's already indicated there. After the application you will receive your Singpass ID via Mail within 4 working days. You will use this ID for IRAS
transactions which e-filling tax is one of them. For more details go to https://www.singpass.gov.sg/sppubsvc/index.html.

Ministry of Sound Feb. 29, 2008

We planned to go to MOS as early as Feb. 24, 2008. My friends suggested to go to MOS on Friday night. This was my first

disco/bar gimik in Singapore so this has to be a blog-post. After office i went to my Wife's office then we went to Central

Mall in Clarke Quay to have dinner in Burger King. After that we met our friends near the Turkish Ice Cream stand. We waited

for a couple of minutes then we went in at about 10pm. Security checked our bags then we bought ticket inside worth S$17.00

per person. My other friend told me that MOS is pretty pouplar since it has different branches all around the world. He said

it originated in Europe or something. Anyway when we went in there was a huge disco ball lowered in the middle of the dance

floor. We toured the different levels and rooms. Each room caters to different genre. Main dance hall witht he big disco

ball is for techno and house, the other room is Hip-hop and R&B, one room is for 80's music. They have other rooms too for

Smoking. Although you might need a jacket if you're planning to stay inside it longer as they said it was freakingly cold.

Some of the things i learned are the following:

1. If you want to be seated throughout your stay reserve in advance. I don't know how their reservation works but i bet you

need money for that. We tried to get a table around the disco ball but the staff said we need to buy some drinks but not

just any drink. It will cost you around S$40+ but this will not guarantee your seat. If someone already reserved those seats

and once they arrive you need to give it up.

2. Don't bring anything that doesn't fit your pocket if you plan on dancing. No one's going to keep an eye on your stuff

since you and your friends would want to dance together right?

3. Obviously don't bring weapons of any sort.

4. Don't bring foods and drinks from the outside.

5. On regular days (no events) people will only start to come in at about 10pm onwards and usually the party starts at about

1pm.

It doesn't hurt to be prepared so that you can fully enjoy this experience.

The Arena, Clarke Quay Mar. 23, 2008 First Gig as a Drummer

How it started...

While me and my officemate were having a conversation after eating our lunch in Food Republic in Vivo City i mentioned that

i was a part of a band back in High School as a Guitarist and learned other musical instruments as well during those times

such as the Bass Guitar and Drums. I told him i learned the drums after our drummer taught me while in class just tapping in

the desk. Then my officemate told me that his housemate is looking for a drummer for replacement and it's just "jamming". So

i obliged since i really enjoy playing the drums although the only time that i got to play drums was way back in High School

and my "Despedida" last Nov. 5, 2007 in Roland's house studio. Then his housemate contacted me on Mar. 20 and we will be

performing in THe Arena on Mar. 23. MY instant reaction was "Say, what?!". I told him that i'm just a beginner and if they

don't like my performance they can just tell me directly and wouldn't feel bad about it. He assured me that there's no

pressure since this will be just like a jamming session. He e-mailed the final song line up so that i can listen to it. It

was all Beatles songs. I added those songs in my Ipod and from there listened to it everytime.


The practice...

We had a studio practice in Sembawang on Mar. 22 from 5pm to 8pm and there i met the band for the first time. We had a

keyboardist, bassist, 2 guitars and 3 singers. I made a lot of mistakes but i'm not alone. After the practice we requested

for another practice on Sunday before going to Arena. I didn't pay for anything. Sunday practice was a lot smoother but

we're still having difficulties in Here Comes the Sun.


The sound check...

This is my first time also to experience a real sound check. The sound engineer of The Arena asked each one of use to do

this and do that to check and adjust the sound accordingly. On my case he told me to hit the bass drum, then the tumtums,

the snare, the cymbals. On the guitar he would ask to play a high and low note, regular and with distortion effects.


The Arena...

Every sunday is PINOY SUNDAY in The Arena where Filipino gathers. I think it is organized by different Filipino Communities

here in Singapore. The place is great. I think it is one of the best looking bars i've ever been to. Sounds and lighting

makes you think you're in a mini-concert. The theme for that sunday is Beatles night that's why we only played Beatles

repertoire. Two of my friends came to support me and i'm very thankful for them for easing the pressure. Programs consists

of a Videoke singing. You can either choose the songs in the music sheet in fromt of you where you can find the lyrics also

or you can read off the lyrics in their laptop. Also when the band is playing anyone can freely jam and the best jammer of

the night will receive a price. The Arenam also welcomes other talents like dancing. It's like a stage for Filipinos to show

off their talents for free. Like an open mic or something. I'm not sure though about the procedure. The first performer is a

one man acoustic player. Very skillfull dude who admits to be a Beatlemania so he can play most of the Beatles songs with

his eyes closed. After that we thought it was our turn, but a band from Mauritius requested to play. Our singer said they

are mainstays of the bar. They didn't play beatles songs. They played 3 fast-paced songs. Their drummer is a showman so our

Singer keeps assuring me that they are professionals and telling me that i should not be pressured and just do what i have

to do.


The moment...

Our name was called, The Maharlika Band. The host ask our names and then i started signalling the guys to start with the

stick. At first my hands are shaking a little bit and quite stiff. Then i started breathing and relaxed myself while i

played. You can't see the audience while on stage because of the lights so it seems that no one is watching. After a while i

got used to it and hitting harder. After each songs the Singer would joke around and that relieved some of the pressure. I'm

amazed on how they handle the crowd. After the performance it was a good feeling. Although i made a lot of mistakes it

didn't matter to me. I said to myself "Ah...it's finally over". My friends congratulated me when i arrived at the their

table and teased me a little.

I just wished my other friends and my Wife could have been there but unfortunately she was in the Philippines for a

vacation. See our videos below. More to follow. I can't wait to hear myself (because i am hidden behind the drums).

Job Hunting

I woke up alone since everybody is gone for work. It was Nov. 12 of 2007. By the way if any of you is looking for a job here in Singapore here are my tips (although it may not apply to everybody or may not apply to the time of your reading):

1. Make sure you have at least 3 years of working experience on the job that you're looking for

2. Months before your planned resignation make sure you assess if your current job has a market in Singapore and if they accept foreigners because some jobs they prefer to hire Singaporeans or Permanent Residents (PR)

3. Register, create alerts and update resumes in job hunting sites e.g. jobstreet, monster, jobsdb and make sure it points to Singapore

4. Join Singapore forums. Just do a search in yahoo groups since there are tons of them. Make sure you configure it to send via Daily Digest so that you will not be overwhelmed

5. Ideally you want to be offered while you're still in the Philippines so always be on the lookout for job fairs and job alerts. Agents flocks the forums so check it out also

6. One good thing to do is create a spreadsheet that contains company names, agent/agency names and their contacts i.e. email address, address, tel. no. You can get it in your job alerts and forums. The idea is storing all of them in a single spreadsheet (ideally csv format) so that when you arrive in Singapore create an email informing your credentials, resume and that you are currently looking for a job in Singapore and make sure to include your current address in Singapore and mobile no. Yes, once you arrive in Singapore you need to buy a Sim Card. If you have a close friend who can show you how and where to buy the better. They have a Sim Card specially for Filipinos which is the Kababayan Card (i think). It can be bought in Orchard Road, Lucky Plaza

7. Make sure you know someone in Singapore to make life easier for you or at least learn how to go around and the Laws. Simple mistakes can be costly. It's also good to know someone in Singapore with the same job description as you are to ask for tips and advice

8. Apply for EPEC. Go to http://www.mom.gov.sg/publish/momportal/en/communities/work_pass/other_passes/employment_pass_eligibility.html
I'll create a separate post entirely for EPEC in the near future.

So far these are the things that i can remember. I'll just edit these post when something pops up again in my head.
Back to my story. As i said before after i woke up i started e-mailing all the contacts i accumulated since i know everybody checks their e-mails early in the morning. After a couple of minutes, to my amazement, calls started coming. I realized that they literally ignore you when you e-mail them and your not in Singapore. I could understand that since it's pretty hard scheduling for interviews if you cannot guarantee 100% that you will arrive. Anyways i got an interview scheduled on that day at about 6pm and another one tomorrow at about 3:30pm. The agent texted me the details and called my Wife for directions on how i am going to get there. Well hopefully i didn't get lost. I stayed at the leftmost side of the bus so that i can have a better view of the bus stop name. I brought my Wife's bus guide and i must tell you that it's a must. They also have the Streetdirectory boon with all the maps. The bus guide and Streetdirectory goes hand in hand in traversing singapore using public transportation (bus and mrt) but once you get the hang of it you can just bring the bus guide.
When i arrived at the building i went to the security booth first to get a pass. However the guard won't give me a visitor's pass. He's asking for some kind of an ID but i left my driver's license and SSS ID since i thought it would be pretty much useless in Singapore. What i brought with me is my passport but the guard won't accept it. It's a good thing i have the contact no. of my interview. I called and informed her that the guard won't accept my passport for the visitor's pass. So she went down and told the guard that i am scheduled for an interview.

The Interview*********
She asked me the basic stuff to be expected from an interview like my past job and responsibilities. Then she showed my some flowcharts and asked me if i would be comfortable creating test cases based on those flowcharts. To me it's much easier creating test cases with flowcharts so i said yes. I think the answer that made me won them is that how long can i create test cases for the entire flowcharts the she showed me. I answered some of the flowcharts are simple and some are complicated. I told her that i would need time to estimate and that i can't answer that question outright. Finally she admitted that if i answered with a month or some duration of week that she would not believe me. Whew! That was close. I mean i almost blurted out 1 month. If that question was directed to me a couple of years before i would have answered differently. Work experience really makes the difference. All those scheduling and estimating deadlines it's almost second nature to you. Anyways overall i felt good about that interview.

Road to Singapore

I arrived here in Singapore last Nov. 11, 2007. Thank God i haven't experience any problems in the immigration or in flight (not that i'm expecting it or anything). Maybe i'm just nervous since finally i got to see my Wife (naks!). However i did experience a minor problem in the NAIA.

TIP: Include in your planning to update yourself in the latest immigration law or airport law in both country of origin and destination ex: How much money you are allowed to bring, liquids, knife, etc. Most of this info can be found online.

Anyways in the Singapore Immigration i was asked where i was staying and of course the purpose of my visit. I forgot to get a candy since in the immigration they placed a jar with candies for free. My friends in Singapore asked me to buy a liquor in the Duty Free shop just a couple of steps after the immigration. Alcohols are pretty expensive once you buy it in Singapore. It's cheaper to buy in the Duty Free. However they only allow 1 alcoholic and 1 non-alcoholic purchase per passport. So if you want to buy more be on the lookout for friendly people to ask for a favor for them to purchase on your behalf using their passports.

However i need to exchange my PHP first to SGD. It's a good thing i spotted a fellow PINOY which looked like he's been in Singapore for quite sometime and asked him where i can find a money exchanger in the airport. He politely showed me the way. After that i went back to buy the alcohol.

After 30 mins. my Wife, along with my two friends arrived at the Changi Airport. By the way the airport is nice. Not crowded. We ate at the Burger King inside the airport. Its pretty much the same with what we have in the Philippines.

We took a cab to my new home. In Singapore most of the houses or units are called HDB flats. Ours is a condominium. While in the cab i got to see, for the first time, Singapore. Of course almost instantly I notice the cleanliness and the trees but i find it boring since i can't find anybody walking in the streets. It's very new to me since in the Philippines you can't find a street with no people or person in it or "tambay" (ok i know its exaggeration). I just thought maybe everybody is still in the office or we took the path less traveled or walked. The weather is just the same so that's nice. Actually you can tell that the air is much much cleaner. Cars doesn't emit jet black smoke, as a matter of fact i can't see any emissions. That's good since i have asthma.

Once we arrived at the house i was dumbfounded by the size of it. I was used to living in 30 - 40 sqm. of house and lot so this is new for me. The compound has an olympic size pool, gym, table tennis room and reading room. Veryyyy cool! At least i won't have to pay for going to the gym. After that i forgot what i did...hehe. What i remember is i slept early and left the job hunting for tomorrow morning.

My Chronicle

I decided to create a blog that will chronicle my life of pursuing my career and life here in Singapore for the following reasons:
1. So that i will not forget
2. So that others (FILIPINO) may benefit out of my experience e.g. mistakes i've made, different tips and advice regarding career, Singapore laws, housing, cost of living, etc.
3. To serve as an outlet

Disclaimer:
All posts in this blog are uniquely my own experience or others experience, opinions and personal outlook. I suggest that if you are looking for facts please do your own research. I am merely conveying my thoughts and experience in this blog like a personal journal. Quoting any words in this blog is ok so long as it refers back to the url of this blog. (Wow, as if someone will quote or bother read this blog anyways).