Finally, certified "Tatay" December 8, 2009

My Wife and I are pretty much convinced that our first child is my New Year's gift to her. It was around February when i got home from work where i experienced the most pleasant surprise from Wife when she came out of the toilet saying "Jel,i'm pregnant...".

It's quite funny because i think she doesn't know what kind of emotion she's going to convey. I asked her if she's sure since i don't want to be disappointed. I'm so ready to be a Dad already.

Unlike in the movies 2 pregnancy test kit are accurate enough for us. It would make more sense to confirm it in an actual clinic.
Next day is saturday so we searched online and asked recommendations from friends for a Female Gynecologist however first lesson we learned...Call for appointment in advance. You can walk-in but you'll have to wait for a couple of hours and most of the doctors recommended to us are fully booked alreaady and won't accept walk-ins.

Finally we found a Male Gynecologist in Thomson Medical Center. We were so excited that we don't want to put off the check-up for any other day. Seeing the first ultrasound of my baby is indescribable even she's no bigger than a 5 pesos coin. I can't help smiling throughout the session.

Here in Singapore Male Gyne are not bad since they do Ultrasound almost everytime to check the baby.

Throughout the pregnancy sometimes i hoped the baby would grow faster like Renesme in the Twilight book minus the gore. Luckily the effects of pregnancy to my Wife is minimal physically and emotionally.

I think the most trouble that she experienced is constipation. She's already constipated before so she needs to up the ante on the fibre department. We also feared her clumsiness so from that time in the bathroom were she almost slipped i always make sure that we shower together.

Every checkup day is a happy day for me since i could take a glance again at my baby and see how she's developing. I think most first time parents would mutter to themselves "So...this is how it feels like".

My Wife went back to the Philippines on her 7th month. Airline limits the travelling of pregnant women to 30 weeks. However this might not be the case on some airlines.
You have to bring the medical certificate from your Gynecologist also.

Her due date is Oct. 10 so i booked a flight on Oct. 8. But it seems that my baby is ready to see the outside world and she came knocking around 6am of Oct. 3.

My Wife still managed to inform me that she's already on labor. They rushed her to the humble clinic of her Gynecologist where her sister and cousin delivered their own child.

It's past 3pm already and she still hasn't delivered my baby. I started to get nervous. Her mother called to inform me that dilation is still 5cm. My Wife is already asking for a ceasarian however the doctor told them that they will wait for another hour, if not they will rush her to the nearby hospital for ceasarian. They will just inform my parents once they hit the 10cm mark.

My imagination ran wild. 4:30pm, 5pm, 5:30pm still no call. I was going to call her mother on 6pm but then i she called first. I thought it was her mother...it was my father instead.

And at that very moment i stopped breathing. "You have a daughter!" he said. I asked him "How in the world you got there so fast?" From Antipolo to Muntinlupa it only took them 45 minutes and it's afternoon.

I guess my Mother-in-law forgot to inform me that around 5pm they already called my parents. At the very instant that my father and father-in-law arrived at the clinic my baby is delivered.

A healthy 7.11 pounds baby girl and her name is Jelene Margaux To-ong. Jel for Jelmarven, ene for Magdalene where my Wife's name, Madel, came from and Margaux from the character in the book Sunday's at Tiffany's by James Patterson. My wife nicknamed her Maije.

Things i learned so far...
- Be prepared. My Wife has a checklist of the necessary things to purchase in anticipation of the delivery. I'll post it separately
- How to properly carry a baby (support head and back). Her head is still very soft.
- 1st month to 2nd month her milk formula (Similac Advance 0 to 6 months) is for 3oz = 1.5 scoop, 2oz = 1 scoop, 1oz = .5 scoop
- How to properly clean and change diaper
- Using baby wipes, wipe from genitalia to buttocks so the grit will be away from her genitalia
- Apply Bottom butter to prevent rashes before replacing diaper
- Bottom butter works on neck rashes too!
- Stretch mark creams did not work on my Wife (it also doesn't mean it will not work on others)
- Use distilled water for the milk (not purified or mineral and specially not tap water)
- Help your Wife on everything (she just went through the most exhausting physical activity she ever experienced)
- Newborn babies are relatively easier to take care since they sleep most of the time. You just need to feed and change her diaper
- Her 1st week will be her first bath and massage
- Newborns cries when its time to change diapers, 2 months and above doesn't so you have to check and know the habits
- Habits don't last
- Ask for help if you need it
- Use alcohol on excess Umbilical cord. It falls of on it's own so don't forcefully remove it
- Don't change the diaper first specially if she just peed or pooped, wait for a couple of minutes for the aftershock (followup pee and poop) unless you want to get sprayed
- Changing mat is advisable
- Drypers are ok however it's noisy when you remove the belt, in EQ you can feel the pee and poop in outer skin. Huggies is our choice.

First Hawker Dinner Update

I got some nasty comments from my post titled "First Hawker Dinner" regarding the HOT20 mistake that i made. There is no such thing as HOT20. To the Auntie i'm sorry for the sarcastic comment in the post. Also i'm very sorry for those who i offended. I should have checked first before posting. Lesson learned for me. I'll try my best from now on to double check details of my post. I must admit i had that coming. Although i would have accepted the comments if there's a name or even just a nickname or alias along with it. Thanks anyway for the correction.

First Hawker Dinner

Hawker - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_centre

We are having problems with our gas range which prompted us to eat our dinner outside instead. My Wife and met in front of Novena Church after work. I forgot to take note of the name. It's directly in front of Novena Church located on the right of Cheers convenience store in front of the bus stop. We went to Cheers first since our housemate asked me to buy a prepaid card for her. In the counter i asked the Auntie

Do you have HOT 20?

She doesn't respond and gives me a WTF-are-you-talking-about? look. So i repeat myself and still she didn't understood me. Then my Wife comes to the rescue and said

Top up hot 20?

Finally the Auntie nods. Auntie told me that i just need to say either "top up" or "top up 20" next time. I just laughed at myself. The prepaid card name is HOT20 in bold text in front of the card itself so i assume that i should use that name in purchasing the card, right? No, they wan't the "top up" instead. I guess it's a little bit easier to pronounce and understood "top up" compared to "HOT 20"...sheeshhh.

Anyways back to the Hawker dining experience. I'm really not sure if it can be considered as a Hawker although it looks like one. We checked the menu and if i remember correctly it was divided into categories. Vegetables, Beef, Pork, Chicken, Noodles, Drinks, etc. They also have deer meat. I forgot the term they use in calling deer meat. Since it looks like a hawker i was expecting the price to be in the range of S$3.50 to S$6.00 but to my surprise the cheapest meal cost around S$5.00 (Small). They also have waitresses that take down orders. Their meals comes in 3 sizes or quantities, Small Medium and i guess Large. We chose Pork Rib King (S$5, S$8, S$16) and Crab Meat Fried Rice (S$5, S$8, S$16). We opt for the medium size. For us that's quite expensive already. We seldom shell out more than S$6.00 meal/person. My Wife brought our drink in Cheers while i ordered. I almost did not understood the waitress since i'm still having a hard time diciphering their chinese accent. She asked me

For 1 person?

and i answered

No, for two

After a couple of minutes she placed the plates, 2 wet tissues in a pack and placed the utensils on top of the packs. I said to myself "What the hell?" since the spoon and fork slid down to the table surface. She could have just placed those on top of the plates instead. I'm not that whiny so i just got my tissue paper that i took with me and wiped the utensils along with the plates since it's still a little wet. A copy of the order slip is placed on a small bottle in our table. Then after eating you need to bring that slip in front of the counter to pay. I guess that's their system. Another couple of minutes our order arrives. Of course i don't have a picture of the meals because i only decided to post this experience on the blog late at night. The Pork Rib King almost looks like sweet and sour pork with sesame seeds and strips of green vegetable garnishing. It also has a small fake rose bud but i don't know if it's edible or not since it looks like made out of styrofoam. The meal is good for 2 - 3 persons. The Medium Crab Meat Fried Rice is huge. The platter can at least feed 3-4 person. They also served free bowl of hot soup with chopped spring onions. At first i thought this was another one of the tasteless free soups that some of the stalls in food junctions gives but this one tastes good to me. Finally a free soup with attitude! We didn't got to finish it all so i asked the waitress to pack it for take away. By the way they use "take away" instead of "take out" in the Philippines. I went to pay at the counter and i saw the Aunties punching in two 8.50 and another .40 but i let it slide since i tought it's just tax and i don't really want to complain since i'll just probably have a hard time understanding her. I gave the receipt to my Wife and she told me that the wet tissues are 50 cents each so i guess the tax is 40 cents. Total damage? S$17.40!! Just like eating in a restaurant. Aside from the place, the Food is ok. I even ate the left over crab meat fried rice during lunch time today. The left over pork rib king is for dinner later.

Tips for the newbie

Ask a friend
- Ask a friend who has had some Hawker experience for recommended Hawker stalls and food. Sometimes doing trial-and-error is frustrating specially when you're hungry.

Observe
- Observe the eating crowd and look for the popular stall. Chances are its good there.

Our First Notebook

We bought it on a sunday morning (Jan. 6, 2007 ). My wife and I planned to go to Funan to just browse for notebook promotions and inquire the price of Sony Ericsson k550i which is a gift for her sister.

We were planning to buy a notebook on Mar. 6 - 9 during the anticipated PC Show of 2008 in Suntec. However i told her that if we can find a good deal that fits our budget and specifications then we'll grab it.

I've done my research since this is a big investment for us. For me shelving S$1,700 or more is no joke. Here are some links that proved very useful.

This link really helped me deciding what type of notebook should i buy:
http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?id=965&cid=27&pg=5

Based on the link I've decided on the things that i am looking for in a notebook:
- Our notebook should be a desktop replacement meaning it will spend most of it's time in the house so weight is not an issue

- Processor should be Intel Core 2 Duo minimum 1.8 GHz.
Why Intel? Because i have good desktop PC experience with Intel processors.
Why 1.8 GHz minimum? Because i want my notebook to last for a couple of years. This means that it needs to support applications and games within that duration.
Also it's acceptable on my budget. Not too old and not too new.

- RAM should be 2 GB since we will be using vista.

- Video Card should be either Nvidia or ATI Radeon. No integrated graphics accelerator for me. No work and no play... we'll you catch my drift.

- Minimum of 14.1" screen since i love to watch movies. Again this size is what fits in my budget.

- Integrated Camera would be a nice-to-have but not critical since we constantly chat with our family back in the Philippines. Less clutter.

- Integrated WiFi of course since i don't want to purchase it separately. And i think current notebooks nowadays always comes with a WiFi.

- Vista OS. I specially don't like to purchase this one separately also.

- Should look good but reliable.

- HP, ASUS or Fujitsu brands. This are according to numerous forums, reviews, tech-savvy friends advice and personal choice.


Back in Funan we came across 3 possible choices that within our budget. Here are the specs:

Fujitsu Lifebook
tbf

HP
tbf

ASUS
tbf

Upon deliberating with my wife a couple of minutes we decided for this one:
tbf

Box inclusions:
- ASUS optical mouse
- ASUS carrying case
- ASUS cable tie
- Drivers, Recovery DCD, Nero Installation CD
- User Guides, Quick Installation Guide, Battery Notice
- Telephone Cable

Now why ASUS? Here's why:
tbf

I've known ASUS during my desktop days to provide quality products that lasts years (4 - 6 yrs depending on usage and care).

Nothing beats 2 years international warranty although the 1 year warranty has been voided. I informed the salesman that they should remove or update their brochures since this will be misleading to the untrained eye. His answer is that they only use the old brochures for the notebook specs. well i didn't argue anymore since i saw that one and didn't matter to me anyways.

Another Plus factor for the store is the freebies they gave us:
- LCD screen Cleaning Kit
- Cooling pad with cool design
- 20L Cooler and Warmer

At first they gave us an optical mouse instead of the LCD Screen Cleaning Kit. But when the salesman opened the box a carrying case and an optical mouse (ASUS) is already included. I thought "Sean" the salesman will not exhange the freebies but he proved us wrong. He gave us the LCD Screen Cleaning Kit instead. As he handed it to us he said

Here's your freebie just as promised.

The Cooler and Warmer have a different story on how we acquired it. It started with a curiosity. My Wife asked me

What do you think that image in the box is?

I answered

Maybe it's a cabinet for plates or something.

But in the picture we can see that there's a temperature gauge so to make sure and to feed our curiosity i asked Sean what is that product. And he said it's a cooler.

One of the salesman heard me asked and he blurted out

Do you want one?

I asked

Is it for free?

He said

Yes, Sean can you get the stroller.

Our parents taught us not to say no to grace so we graciously accepted it (grin). Deep inside I'm laughing my heart out. The salesman told us that they are giving those coolers away as a freebie for another product.

We had such a nice first-time-purchase experience.

TIPS for Notebook Hunting
- Look at the specs carefully. You have to know the differences between models. Some of the specs that might caught you unguarded that i've seen in the posters, flyers and brochures:
e.g. Core Duo
Duo Core
Core 2 Duo or Core2Duo
As you can see you might mistake the Core Duo as Core 2 Duo at first glance.

- Useful Freebies

- If Sean is right, buy on a Sunday morning. Salespersons gets grumpy in the afternoon according to him and that lessens your chance on getting cool freebies.

Also he said that according to Chinese custom the first customer on a Sunday is considered as a good omen or good luck so they splurge the freebies on the first potential buyer.

- Do your homework or at least know what's your main purpose of buying a notebook (See link above for the article) before going to stores since most of the time they get tired of explaining every model specs but in the end the customer is still clueless about what they want.

I know it's their job to inform and "sell" but a little consideration won't hurt and it will save you time and money and shield yourself of getting "dupped".

- Do a search online for tips, pricing, promotions, recommended notebook models, etc.

- Ask a knowledgeable friend. If you have a Notebook technician friend the better. If not, a friend with first-hand experience on different brands or one brand that your aiming for will do.

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.