The Robinsons Galleria NBI Satellite Office is located at East lane Basement 1.  I took the entrance at Ortigas Avenue (Gold’s Gym) and went down one floor using the escalator.  After that, I went straight further and asked for directions from the lady  in that small stall nearby Digital Hub.  She told me to turn right and then go down using an escalator.  If you do not want to get lost like me, follow the lady’s directions. Otherwise, you would end up at the basement parking lot.

1. Turn right when you see the escalators, don’t use the first escalators you see, as it will lead you to the parking lot.  You should pass by Marks and Spencers.
2. Right before the end of this hallway you would find a narrow escalator, take this one.
3. When you reach the end of the escalator, get off and turn left.

NBI Requirements I brought with Me

Based on the information I found from other blogs (the NBI site is practically useless for getting information) I brought the following:

• 2 forms of ID (my drivers license and Philippine passport).
• my original foreign marriage license with authentication from the Philippine embassy with accompanying photocopies
• my birth certificate (just in case)
• passport photos (just in case)
• a pen (for filling out forms)
• 115 pesos cash (the fee)

1. I came in at around 10:30AM which was already too late.
2. The maximum applications they process is only 500 per day.  Your chances are higher to get a slot if you are there between 6AM to 8AM .

I am considering going to Quezon City Hall Satellite office but I heard lines are quite long over there and process is slower.  I could also try the Main Office, although it’s kind of out of the way.  They said it’s not that busy there, but who knows really?  So maybe, just maybe I will wake up at 5:00 AM on a Monday and go back to Robinsons Galleria to get my NBI Clearance.  It’s much faster, however, the question is, can I wake up that early?

I have bad news for European visitors and Filipinos who travel to and from Europe and the Philippines.  We have lost our last direct flight service to Europe: the  Manila Amsterdam KLM direct flight will end by April, 2012.

The main reason for KLM’s decision is the high taxes and exorbitant fees imposed on them to operate in the Philippines.  Among these are the 2.5 percent common carriers tax (CCT) and 3 percent gross Philippine billings (GBP), which is being charged on all foreign airlines.

This is definitely not going to help boost our tourism.  Our kababayans from Europe who go back to the Philippines for a vacation certainly need to find a new airline.  I am pretty sure this would mean paying higher prices for tickets.

So what would be our options now? The top 3 choices in my quick search revealed the following carriers: Cathay Pacific, Malaysian Airlines and Singapore Airlines with option of using our local carriers PAL and Cebu Pacific to go to the hub cities such as Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

There have been some  unpleasant experiences I’ve had with flying KLM but still we continue using it all the time because of their unbeatable prices and a 12 hour flight is still better than having a stop over, inspite of the bad food, dirty toilets and brusque flight attendants we occasionally have to endure with KLM.  I just hope KLM will reconsider their decision. Nothing beats the convenience of a direct flight of only 12 hours to Europe.

Another new thing on my list now is to attend a real estate broker review seminar and eventually pass the board exam to become a licensed real estate broker.  This would actually coincide with the real estate website project that I am venturing into the next few months.  Wish me luck!

What’s even funnier than this Planking mania are these photos circulating the web about the Floating DPWH Officials and these kids playing amidst the huge Manila Bay wave.  It’s definitely both an OMG and a LOL at the same time, at least inside my head.

The following are the photos and links to the sites… It’s definitely an “upper” for me after such a disastrous start of the week, power failures and all.

This photo courtesy of Mr. Paul Payumo (of Facebook fame)

Floating DPWH Officials

The Photoshop fiasco started when a certain Civil Engineer named Pierre Albert San Diego who claimed that those photos released in the DPWH Facebook site was a poorly done Photoshop fabrication.  What a shame, indeed.   Then after this, several more funny Photoshopped versions of the 3 officials was circulating from the web, like for example: 3 officials with Lord Voldemort, 3 officials with Shamcey Supsup. 3 officials inside a boxing match with Manny Pacquiao.  You can find it all here and here (DPWhere Facebook Page).

Here is DPWH’s response on this Photoshop fiasco.

DPWH Official Statement

And lastly, here’s another bonus:

I hope her iPad is still dry and intact

As for myself, I have focused myself totally in spearheading the second phase. I have gone through my last few months trying to latch on to seeing if “employment” is all worth it and realizing that the employment situation in the Philippines is not as good as I thought it would be. At least as far as my situation now goes, it would be far better if I become a business owner instead.

Yesterday, I just received the Certificate of Incorporation of my new business. This would be MrC and mine’s consulting firm and it will be PEZA certified. I am still working on the application form. The last few days, we have interviewed two accounting firms both of which we are quite impressed with. We have two more firms we are scheduled to speak with next week. We have also a law firm on retainer. I will also be renting a desk somewhere in Eastwood. It is also interesting that some interesting local opportunity also came up yesterday and they will probably call me on Monday to schedule a meeting.

After I get this new company up and running, my next major project would be the agribusiness venture. My family on both my mother and father’s side has some significant amount of land that has been idle over the years and I feel that now is the right time to do something profitable with it. Next week, I will be somewhere in Nueva Ecija to attend a wedding and then to visit my father’s family’s properties and take care of related issues. I also hope to get in touch with someone we can consult with, in order to come up with a good business plan.

The past months, I have been thinking about how I would go about being responsible for some tracts of land my mother would entrust to me once she visits me this week. First thing comes to mind is keeping documents up to date, and actually finding out where they are and probably surveying the land. Second thing is compliance with the law. I need to make sure that all taxes are being paid otherwise, it might become a big liability to us, and worst case we might even end up losing ownership of it.
Third, I need to actually visit the site and note down the improvements or crops that are currently being planted. Fourth, is to find out what I can do with the land.

One thing that comes to mind is making good use of these idle lands by planting crops. My idea as of this moment is to plant malunggay or the moringa plant. The moringa plant, is something very common to the Philippines but a bit underrated. The truth is, without sounding too much like an MLM scam, the moringa plant is indeed a “miracle tree”. Here are the nutritional facts: it is rich in Vitamins A and C, Calcium, Potassium and even Protein. It also has strong antibacterial properties which enables it to become a low cost water treatment solution. I know there are many others that are in this venture now so I wonder if there are seminars I could learn from. I am also thinking about raising goats as well. I prefer everything to be low maintenance, which means I only need to visit the place at least once a twice a month.

This is just the start of my new journey towards farming (hopefully). The next few articles would be about this topic.

Fast-forward to now.. I come back to the Philippines not knowing what is there for me. I have done my sabbatical. I have helped out start my husband’s team. But what is there now for me to do? If you have known me all my life (and read the first paragraph) you would guess it right — I would be trying to continue where I left of here in my old country. I would apply for jobs, like everyone else! That’s reasonable? Why not? That’s the first thing every Philippine-raised regular girl would think normally.

But think again, the job market I left 15 years ago is still the same, right? WRONG! I am still the same person after all, right? WRONG AGAIN! I know it will take years and many deep reflection before I really admit that I am not the same person that left Manila 15 years ago. Period. But..but.. First of all, it is not even what I think but what others think of me. Imagine you are listening to me in an interview and I tell you everything I did the past 15 years, would you even relate? This is not about me thinking I am superior or better but imagine having someone decide and evaluate if I would fit in their team I think either they would find me very interesting and worth hiring or they would feel threatened or even jealous, or worse they would think I am just bragging. I do hope it’s not the latter. I am now a foreigner. No! No! I was born here you see I am Fil-Am. But to the eyes of the local I am not. It doesn’t help me telling them I have a Dutch husband running an IT team here. I am forever different no matter how much I try. What about the stories I tell them? Would they even appreciate the new / radical ideas I have to offer? The non-competitive salaries don’t help either. It makes me think twice why I am wasting my time giving my time to greedy and conniving employers that don’t even care or value me or worse, have no plans on following the law. There are much more people competing for the same jobs as ever before. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, it is relative. It is a good thing for employers of course! They have the upperhand because they are scarce and we are not.

I want to do my part in helping my countrymen but I will be honest these will all be empty words unless I do something real. I could of course start a business. Yes, of course there are many opportunities. However, I will admit my business acumen and tolerance to risk is not something I have even started developing at a basic level. I am trying my best to discover another side of me which has not been tapped. To be an entrepreneur means hardwork (can do that!). It is discipline — working on it every single day without giving up. The temptation is still there for me to still continue pushing myself back towards the treadmill that is called employment. Having a career and hunting for the next job opportunity is what I do know, after all.

I long for the day when things will be clear. When that day comes, there is no turning back.

 I met a young cheerful lady applying for the same position I was applying for and found out that she has been working for the past 4 years on graveyard shift.  She wanted to leave her job for the sole reason that the night shift nature of the job has affected her health and relationships.  She told me that on the average she is only getting 6 hours of sleep a day and currently she has been taking sleeping pills regularly.  To add to this, she is not even able to spend time with family even on weekends because it is the only time she can catch up with sleep and let her body recover.  Oh and the way she told me..it’s like .. her bosses –  they are already deep into it for many years..  it’s like entering the dark side and you’re sucked into a different world and it seems that there’s no more turning back.   Through the years, they have managed to form their own “social night circles”.    They live in a parallel world.  Sounds like an M. Night Shyamalan movie, indeed.

Divisoria

Due to our hectic schedule, I had neglected to mention what we have been up to during the holidays. Our first-ever Christmas Party here in the Philippines as a couple and company Christmas Party was held at home. Like everyone else in our street, I wanted to decorate the house with a lot of Christmas lights and also to brighten up the surroundings of our house. A friend suggested that we go and visit Divisoria where goods are a lot more cheaper than buying from the mall. She also wanted to go there to shop for Christmas gifts. So the next day, I picked her up and her little boy who wanted to tag along. Now, how to get there using a car?

From Ortigas area, we passed through Shaw Blvd. in Mandaluyong all the way to the end which is in Sta. Mesa, Manila. Next, we went Westward via C. M. Recto Ave., then went down to Juan Luna St. and ended up in square with a small concrete park with statues, and parked right next to Binondo Church. It was already nighttime then. Luckily, parking was available and there were guards. We then walked towards the 168 mall. On the way, we were able to find multicolored Christmas lights for about 100 pesos per pack. I ended up buying 7 packs! After this, we went to the 168 mall to find more decorations. Inside we found a small store owned by a Chinese guy who was very eager to sell us a big Christmas tree with fiber optic lights! He succeeded in selling it to us for 3000 php plus we also took a lot of those huge Christmas balls which I later found out was way too many. We had dinner at the food court upstairs.

Overall, the experience of being there during the holidays was really amazing. Anyone rich or poor will probably have their own shopping “war stories” to tell. Our driver even told us that one time he and his family went there and they ended up not buying anything and just gave up and went home because there was so much people, packed like sardines that they could not even walk at all! While walking on the street, you end up dodging vehicles, big pieces of furniture being carried by people, elbows, little kids, fruits. They’re all over the place! Vendors peddling their wares. Firecrackers exploding. You name it! There’s also toys and lots of clothes. I almost forgot to mention the bystanders and bums too but none of these made me really shocked or annoyed– because I had so much fun! Next year probably I’ll come back there or better yet I’ll take my next guest from abroad there — that would probably be sooner than you think.