Pinoy in Singapore

Here’s a recent purchase I got online.  We use a lot of batteries at home for our gadgets and my baby’s toys. The baby’s toys alone consume a lot of batteries and it tugs on my green conscience every time we have to replace and throw away batteries and that’s quite often since we hardly turn off baby’s toys.  And I’ve always wondered how and where to safely dispose of batteries because they release toxic chemicals into landfills.  But for lack of information, I usually just throw them in the trash. 

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The Universal Studios Theme Park in Singapore is set to open to the public this March 18 at 8:28AM.  Tickets started selling yesterday but the online ticketing system wasn’t able to handle the overwhelming response.  The hotlines were also continuously busy. 

Tickets for the opening day were sold out right and tickets for the first weekend are selling fast too.

Ticket prices can be found here.

Maybe I’ll wait till the excitement about it simmers down before I go since I don’t think it will be that fun when all the rides are full and you have to go through very long queues at each ride. 

Here’s another reason you should watch your credit card bills closely.

Aside from making sure you are not paying for fraudulent charges made on your card, you should also take a look at the finance charges you are being charged with.

I usually pay my credit card bills in full so that I don’t pay finance charges.  I pay them online through BPI Expressonline.  But due to my own carelessness, I mistakenly paid my HSBC bill to my BPI card.   It was a scheduled payment but I only noticed the mistake after the payment was made.

The first thing I did of course was to call BPI and ask them for my money back which they returned a few days later.  Thank you, BPI.  The next thing I did was find out the rate of finance charge  – 3.5%.  When I was in college, I thought that 3.5% was applied to the balance after you’ve made the payment but actually that interest charge is applied to the outstanding balance before your payment.  So if you have left even 1 cent on your balance you would be charged interest based on your previous balance.

Up till recently, I thought that was all there is to it – until my booboo.

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Got this from facebook and Calvin’s hub. 

Watch Pilipinas Got Talent favorite Jovit Baldivino belt out Journey’s Faithfully. 

Ok, first let me say I don’t get to watch Pilipinas Got Talent.  But I am pretty sure that Pilipinas got a LOT of talent.  And Jovit is one of them. 

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It’s here again. 

When:  March 11-14, 2010
Where: Suntec Convention Centre Levels 1-4, 6
Time: 12 – 9 PM Daily

You can check out IT show supplements prior to going there here:

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One of my favorite food haunts in now in Singapore!

You can now get your tapa fix from Tapa King here in Singapore.  The new Tapa King is located at Lau Pa Sat Stall 92, 18 Raffles Quay Singapore and will open on March 1, 2010.

Yey, tapa!  Nom nom nom …

For Pinoys planning to work in Singapore who may not be aware, companies in Singapore pay a levy for every foreign worker (ie  non-citizen, non-PR) that they employ. Levy is defined in the dictionary as a fee that is imposed – like a tax.  But in the past, despite the levy, it still comes out cheaper for companies to employ foreigners who are willing to accept job offers at lower salaries than their locals counterparts. 

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2009 hit a record high of US$17.3 billion in OFW remittances despite the great global recession.  I can’t even imagine how much that is in Philippine pesos.

So with the inflow of US dollar into the country, the exchange rate is strengthening in favor of the Peso.  That’s good news if you’re online shopping in the US using your Pesos because it comes out cheaper.  But it’s bad news for me, and all other OFWs who are sending money back to the Philippines because it takes more dollars now for the same amount of peso that we’ve been remitting before.  [Read more →]

Lately, (well more like for a couple of years now) I’ve been concerned about my excessive hair shedding.   People always tell me it’s normal to shed lots of hair but anyone who lives with me will attest that I shed too much hair.  I knew it was serious when hubby suggested I go see a trichologist about my hair.

A few weekends ago, I got intercepted at the mall and was convinced into buying a S$28 voucher for a  hair treatment at the newly opened Beijing 101 in Sengkang.  I figured why not, I might as well give it a try.  But deep inside, I kinda knew I was up against major hard selling when I redeem that voucher.  After all, I’ve been in the same situation before and if anything, I should have learned my lesson.

So yesterday, I went to Beijing 101 to redeem my voucher.  [Read more →]

A little over a year ago, the White Tigers of the Singapore Zoo were put in a not so good spotlight even though it wasn’t their fault.

Omar

This year of the Tiger, get your chance to get up close and personal with one.  Get behind the scenes with 10-year old Omar the White Tiger at the Singapore Zoo and see how beautiful and majestic these animals are and hopefully be inspired to save the dwindling tiger population in Asia.  (If you should know, Omar wasn’t the tiger that was involved in the fatal attack last 2008.)

Learn how the animals are conditioned to follow certain instructions so that they don’t need to be sedated when being examined.

I’ve personally been behind the scenes with these tigers [Read more →]

One thing I like about Singapore is the convenience of almost anything including calling a cab.

There are 2 companies that are on my contact list to call whenever I need a cab especially when I can’t afford to wait during peak hours.  These are SMRT 6555888 and Comfort Delgro 65521111.  Comfort Delgro have newer model cars like the Sonata but it’s sometimes difficult to call for a cab during peak hours especially if you’re in the city.  SMRT, on the other hand, have older cars and maybe it’s because of this fact that it’s easier to call a cab from them during peak hours.  Both companies also allow booking by SMS.

Comfort Delgro also have an automated booking hotline whereas SMRT still uses operators.  A few days ago, Comfort Delgro made it even easier for iPhone users to book a cab by introducing its Taxi booking application that’s downloadable free from iTunes.  Similar to its automated booking service via phone, it allows you to retrieve your last three bookings by logging on to the app.  The user can then confirm his/her booking status through the app or through an SMS confirmation.

Here are sample screenshots of the app:

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Vote wisely! Parang awa nyo naaaa

Though this bit of news was announced last year, I think it’s still relevant especially to those people who are thinking of moving to Singapore and bringing with them their families as cost of education would eat a significant chunk of their budget.

In a move to further widen the gap between privileges enjoyed by Permanent Residents and Citizens, the Ministry of Education announced late last year its plan for fee hikes.  The increase in school fees will be done in two stages – a first increase in 2011, and a later increase in 2012.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in a speech delivered at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Students’ Union Ministerial Forum on 15 Sep 2009, said that the Government will, over time, sharpen the differentiation between SCs,
PRs and foreigners to reflect the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship.

For primary school pupils who are PRs, the annual fee is now $174. By 2012, it will be $612. For pupils who are non-PR and foreign-born, it can go up to more than $4,000.

Admission to government schools will also favor citizens more, then PRs next, then foreigners/international students last.

Here is a summary of the revised fees: [Read more →]

The Health Ministry is introducing more cuts to PR benefits like health subsidies to further distinguish citizens from non-citizens.
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Yesterday, we went to the Work Pass Services Centre to have our helper’s fingerprint scanned for her work permit.  When we got there, there were a lot of foreign workers.  Most of them, I noticed, were south Asians.  The office, though air-conditioned, looked something like what you would see in the Philippines except for the digital displays that showed which number was currently being processed.

In these situations where employees are dealing with so many people, all of them foreigners,  it’s easy to get exhausted and frustrated especially when there’s a language barrier even if both parties speak english.  I was ready to get snapped at – especially since we left our helper’s disembarkation card at home and it was one of the requirements we needed to present.

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This time they brought in some imports and it’s no less than MJ’s own choreographer. I wonder if some people have thought of stealing just so they can join these inmates. Just a thought!

I think this is the best performance I’ve seen from them so far.
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In Part 1,  I enumerated the steps I did to bring my own helper to Singapore without availing the services of an employment agency. The steps in Part 1, I was able to do from home.  In the succeeding steps will take some of your time and effort.  [Read more →]

Unlike in western countries where only well-to-do families can afford domestic help, in the Philippines, it’s pretty common for households to have domestic helpers or maids.  They are the ones who help out with household chores and taking care of children.  Some of whom have been with the families they serve for ages that they are already considered part of the family.

Before going on to detailing the steps on getting a maid, I’d like to emphasize that domestic help or maids are human beings.  I used maid, domestic help, and helper interchangeably as I believe that neither of those words should have a derogatory connotation.   They are not slaves and they should be treated with respect as any other person doing decent work.

First you need to be aware of implications of having a maid in Singapore.  The most important thing to note is [Read more →]

Four hotels at Resorts World Sentosa are now open to the public.  The ribbon cutting was done at 8:18 AM which is considered by the Chinese to be an auspicious time because its pronunciation sounds like “to prosper” in Chinese.

They are Crockfords Tower, Hotel Michael, Festive Hotel and Hard Rock Hotel Singapore. According to Yahoo, the Universal Studios theme park is expected to open in the coming weeks while the resort’s casino, Singapore’s first, is expected to open in March.

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Dear receptionist at the Healthway clinic below our block,

I went to your clinic with my maid for her initial medical check up for her work permit.  So being her employer, I approach you to make the inquiries on her behalf.  I then gave you her passport which is required to be presented so that you can make sure that the person giving you samples of her body fluids is indeed the person whose name is on the paper.

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