new friends, new life...

the wedpreps seems like ages ago...

i'm here on the island and i'm starting to enjoy myself. i found people i get along with and have been going out with them to the beach and even to bars.

I’m adjusting alright. Except I still don’t have an apartment yet. I’m temporarily staying with a Filipina who just got here, also works at EY and is on my floor. Her name is Lorie.

I also made friends with Laila, another Filipina. I was at church 2 Sundays ago for the 1130am mass at St. Theresa’s. An ex-SGVean recognized me by face, and sat with me. His name is Sonny. And he was friends with Laila and Jug who followed him into our seats.

We had lunch that day and went our separate ways. Lai and i kept in touch. And last Friday, we went to Hawkins' Island for the Carnival Party which was fun. I met Lai and her Irish boyfriend who was really really nice and sweet. I also met some other people there. We also went to the Hogpenny afterwards.

My first picture in Bermuda with Martin and Laila:



a really long weekend is coming up.. no work on Thurs and Fri due to the Cup Match for the Cricket games here. we'll probably head to the beach, as usual. just like we did on both afternoons and early evenings of the previous weekend.

eleven

i wrote this a couple of days back.

Blog 15 July 2005

This is my 11th day in the Island. And in 11 days, here are my accomplishments, discoveries, realizations.

1. Rent for a month here for a typical 1 bedroom or studio apartment is at $1,500 to $2,300 – depending on the location (dodgy neighborhood??), furnishings (washer, dryer, fridge, a/c, stove) and amenities (usually pool, garden), size, and accessibility (to the bus stop, groceries, to the city). With Forex at USD 1 = PhP 53, its PhP 79,500 to PhP 121,900 PER MONTH.
   FYI: Bermudian (BDA) $ is at par with USD $. (exclusive of fees to the money changer, of course)
2. No electricity means no work, no phone, no open shops, restos, etc. They don’t have generators. - we didn't have work for 2 days.
3. A bank certification from the Philippines or your old bank will facilitate easier opening of bank accounts elsewhere. I got my ATM/ Debit card within 3 minutes after completing the application while some of the people I know got theirs after 10 days.
4. The only thing cheap here are the perfumes and cosmetics. People usually shop at New York during weekends. I prefer to shop in the Philippines – much much cheaper!
   Example: I bought a black office bag (unknown brand) in a department store here for $32 = PhP1,696. Jeez…. I wasn’t picky bout the brand. I just needed something presentable for everyday use. I wasn’t able to bring my bags with me. Good thing I brought loads of shoes, though. And the cellphone I got in Pinas for about $189 or PhP 10,000 is selling here for $449!! (can I sell mine in the black market??? Hehe. Just kidding y’all.)
5. Gaah.. would you believe, they don’t have MMS?????
6. People here are really nice, friendly and pleasant. Walking down the street, about 95% of the people you meet with greet you a good morning, how are you doing, good day, with a nod or a smile depending on the time of the day. And you are expected to greet them back.
   My officemates have been really warm to me, supportive and helpful.
7. A department store here is just about the size of most Bench boutiques in the Philippines. And stores open at about 10am and close at 5pm Mondays to Saturdays. Stores are closed on Sundays.
8. I am anti social. I’d rather be alone, at the apartment, with my body aching from lying on the bed the whole day than try to be pleasant to company that though I don’t know that well, I feel I’d just end up offending in the end. (Tactless comments...)
9. There are a lot lot lot of Filipinos here – nannies, waiters, caregivers, accountants, auditors. You’d see them everywhere.
10. I love the Philippines – traffic, crazy drivers, rallies, etc. Words aren’t enough… I miss the malls, especially. Hehehe.
11. I need Olie. I’ve no enthusiasm to see Bermuda as a tourist would, to see the beaches and all the wonders the place has to offer, to taste and enjoy food and not just eat out of necessity, to be pretty and not just look presentable. I tried to go out with other people, but I find that I do not really have that much fun although they are really nice, hospitable, welcoming to me. Even with company, fellow Filipinos or other expatriates, I am still alone.
    He is my life. I’m lost without him.
    

Things I miss aside from Olie:

Wedpreps – scheduling meetings, oculars, payments
Chatting with the w@wies
Having access to the internet anywhere
Malls – glorietta, greenbelt, greenhills
Watching movies, popcorns
Iced Tea – Lipton and Nestea
Jollibee and Wendy’s

The wedpreps seems to be a distant past now.

a day late

hey glo.. you made me smile.. thank you for calling me. :-) miss you and data, marj and everyone. seems like i left you all back home when in fact i'm physically nearer to you now. haha.

haay. i was supposed to post some kwento yesterday but there was and error and what i typed disappeared. so to summarize:

fri night: Princess Hotel - drank gin and tonic (just 1 plastic glass) and met some of the other people. had dinner at Bistro J, part of Jenny's hen night. left soon after and didn't join the girls for partying and drinking at Pickled Onion.

sat: got my bike / scooter. yipee.. i won't have to walk anymore. now i'm just scared i'll hit a car, a person, a wall. went shopping a bit - bought two bags, a perfume and sunglasses for the rain. the thing is, since i bought the sunglass, it has been cloudy... haven't used it yet.

sun: a bit of rain here. effect of hurricane dennis, maybe. just went for a takeout and stayed the whole day in bed.

now, yesterday, i was able to send the Immigration form to Olie for him to fill out. YIPEE. another step closer to being with him again.

thank God, really, for gloria, and earlier today verna's call...

HELP NEEDED: STUDIO/ 1 BEDROOM APARTMENT HERE IN BERMUDA!!!!

its so hard to find one.. and i really really need one already.

maybe i need to settle with a house share. i don't really want that. olie will come soon. :-(

my 1st attempt to fit in

hey!! i'll be meeting some of the office people at Hamilton Princess Hotel later for a bit of drinking and socializing.

i do have to make new friends.

hope all goes well, cheers!!

to be together

right now, i just want to be with olie. simple. whatever it takes or requires of us.

i refuse to even think of the reasons why i ever left the Philippines in the first place. i can't find any reason that would outweigh the fact that in the Philippines, I was with olie. sometimes, this decision seems pretty stupid.

well, i'm here now. i've emailed our HR on how i can have olie here on the island as well and they have given me some options and requirements which i've emailed to olie for him to comply with asap.

i wonder too, if he is ready to leave the Philippines just to be with me. he has been in the same company since he started working (which is literally more than a decade ago), has close relations with his family.

it is gonna be a much bigger change for him than it was for me.

if he is not ready... i don't really know how we'd go about this. i'd probably be just out here to complete my contract. then back to the Philippines for me. No long term career for me here if that happens. oh well.

now, it seems i have the opportunity to make it big out here. i'm handling the 2 big clients of the company which is good, i get a chance to shine. and bad because i can fail big time..

hoping for the best always. FAITH.

getting here

ok.. so now i got time to blog a bit.

it was 8 hours from Manila to Dubai, 7 hours Dubai to London and another 7 hours London to Bermuda. plus i had a 2 hour gap between flights in Dubai and 8 hours in London.

both airports were great, offering Duty Free goods. i didn't buy anything. just walked around. rested.

by the time I got here I was wasted. I was met at the Airport by Jet (Filipino) and Yvonne (Malaysian) who are also working for EY. we got on a cab and delivered my stuff to the apartment.

which was really lovely. Rosemont Apartment.

then we took a walk to a resto Portofino Pizza Restaurant. i ordered ravioli. the sauce was rather good.

Jet walked me back to the apartment while Yvonne left to attend the Pink Party that night. Jet hanged around a bit. we talked about SGV and how things are in Bermuda, etc. He left later to meet Yvonne.

On Sunday, I went to hear mass with Jet, Gigi and Weenie. Gigi was working as a caregiver while Weenie was a nanny. Both of them are Filipinos. Mass is at 1130-1230 noon.

Weenie went ahead while Jet, Gigi and I had lunch at Pickled Onion where I ate burger and fries. We made plans to go to the Dockyard. but I fell asleep at the Apartment so I wasn't able to go. I woke up late in the evening already.

I took Alaxan, ate a sandwich and fell asleep again. I woke up at 3am, ate some cereals, took a nap again. By the time I woke up, it was time for me to go to my FIRST DAY at WORK.

Monday was orientation day - voice mail, phone, meeting my new officemates, office security, etc. I also spent quite a bit of my time exploring the web, particularly e-moo for possible apartments I can move into.

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Apartment thoughts

i'm not quite sure whether i want to join jet and yvonne in one big house or just find a place just for me.

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oh and Oleander cycles (a rental bike-scooter store) didn't let me get the scooter assigned to me. i needed a bit more practice. i'm to go back on Sunday. hopefully by then i get it.

i'm getting quite desperate getting the bike. its quite a walk to the apartment i'm staying in now. and i'm not used to walking AT ALL. i drive in manila. the only time i walked was when i'm inside the mall. here, walking takes me uphill and downhill. which can really be tiring.

by the time i get home, i'm wasted and dead. can't do anything but sleep at half past 7.

also the sun here is still up at 9pm. imagine that.

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looked at an apartment yesterday with Jet, Gigi and Yvonne. 2 bedroom but only 1 bathroom just off Harbour Road. costs $2950.

earlier today, i road with Barry to see a 1 bedroom apartment. it was quite nice actually. fully furnished. on top of the hill at Devonshire. for only $1300.

Barry wants me to look at other options. Imee wants me to get it already. I don't quite know what to do. It seems there's a bit more to consider here when renting an apartment - like water supply (water comes from the rain that is kept in a water tank). if the water tank gets empty, i have to buy water. but i think the price is cheap. i'm a bit worried about the location though. which Barry says is ok and i have nothing to worry about. i asked him about street lamps and he was saying that its ok since i'll be on my bike and my bike has lights.

it is rather hard to find a place to stay here. and i only have about 2 weeks at Rosemont. although i can extend (half of which will be shouldered by the company and half by me), Rosemont costs about $150 per day and that is way expensive.

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GMA as in Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is really big news. I mean news about her and the impeachment filed against her is also featured in the local newspaper here in Bermuda.

what is happening in the Philippines??

:-(

welcome to grace in bermuda!

hey hey hey!!!

am back! and i missed blogging, chatting, checking out the numerous mails i receive.

i left the Philippines 8pm Friday night. i got here at 530am Sunday morning Philippine time.. my body was aching from the really tiring flight.

its about -11hours from the Philippines here.

one thing i learned though. don't use the Emirates! coz they only allow 20kgs of check-in luggage to London!!

i have loads of story to tell but not enough time to do that. i'm hungry and waiting for lunch. hehehe.

anyhow, i have great news... i lost a lot of weight during my flight (talk about airline food!).. how do i know? well, i had suits made before i left and they fit me perfectly.. but when i tried one on this morning, it was really loose.. about a couple of inches loose on the waist.. uh-oh... wardrobe problem..