jolly. awesome. jet planes.

the beginning of the end

Posted by: Sheereen on: January 30, 2009

In: Sheereen
1 Comment

And now, the end is near;
And so I face the final curtain.
My friend, I’ll say it clear,
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain.

I’ve lived a life that’s full.
I’ve traveled each and every highway;
And more, much more than this,
I did it my way.

Regrets, I’ve had a few;
But then again, too few to mention.
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption.

I planned each charted course;
Each careful step along the byway,
But more, much more than this,
I did it my way.

Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew.
But through it all, when there was doubt,
I ate it up and spit it out.
I faced it all and I stood tall;
And did it my way.

I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried.
I’ve had my fill; my share of losing.
And now, as tears subside,
I find it all so amusing.

To think I did all that;
And may I say – not in a shy way,
No, oh no not me,
I did it my way.

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught.
To say the things he truly feels;
And not the words of one who kneels.
The record shows I took the blows -
And did it my way!

we’re coming home soon. for real, this time. can’t believe i’m saying this but i’m really going to miss working at PETA Mekong. despite the hiccups and heartaches and tears and frustration…

every second was worth it. no regrets at all because the experience has just been brilliant

7 more beeeyooootiful days…

Posted by: Sheereen on: January 23, 2009

In: Interning at PETA| Sheereen
5 Comments

… TILL THE DYNAMIC DUO RETURNS HOME!!!!

actually, i’ve got a draft on our trip to Rizal Park sitting in my Drafts but errr… wizards of waverly place/the suite life of zack and cody/cory in the house are distracting me every night. haha promise i’ll get it done SOON.

Bahay Tuluyan tomorrow, Tagaytay with the sooopahvisers on Sunday and we’ve got a curriculum conference that we’re helping Arbie (one of the PETA staff) to manage. busy busy busyyyyy ~buzzes~

final evaluation next thursday. gahhhhhhhhhhhh.

Pictures of Room 213!

Posted by: Sheereen on: January 16, 2009

In: Living in Manila| Sheereen
4 Comments

Hello again! (:

Well, as promised, here are pictures of our living quarters!

Room 213!

Our beds (Upper – Rae, Lower – Mine)

Our fridge, telly and cupboard

Our bedside table and Hello Kitty laundry basket!

Stove and sink!

Cutlery Area/Microwave/Water tumbler/Food storage place

Dining table/working space

Kits! (One of the cats at St. Marks. There’s still Slinky and Singapore, but I haven’t managed to get pictures of them…yet)

The garden at Casatina St. Mark’s

So there ya go!

XOXO,
JAJ

tahoooooooooo

Posted by: raebo on: January 11, 2009

In: Living in Manila| Rae
12 Comments

this is taho. as mentioned in the previous post.

ran out to buy it a few days back. the man came at 9am and was shouting, “tahoooooooo! tahooooooooo!” and it woke me up. that’s how you get rae out of bed.

tasty nah!

it’s basically tau huey with sago pearls and a some gula melaka (i think) syrup.

i wish singapore hadn’t gotten rid of all the street hawkers. it gives you motivation to get out of the house.

rightey. imma sleep now.

ps. sheereen is snoring like a man! hahaha.

pps. i could really use some of huitze’s dad’s serious strepsils now.

ppps. the mozzie bite on the underside of my foot is going to kill me.

Intramuros, na!

Posted by: Sheereen on: January 10, 2009

In: 1| Living in Manila| Sheereen
1 Comment

… as continued from last post!

Plans to explore QC have been postponed to next week (hopefully) because we’ve gotta work from home for this weekend. *ROARS* PETA’s going to have an EOY-meeting-for-2008 of sorts next Monday and we’re presenting PETA Mekong’s ‘lab testimonies’ section. So-oooo, MS Powerpoint will be our best friend for the next two days.

Anyways, moving on to “The Horrific Tale of when Two “Small Ger from Singapo’ (as Soy, Kuch and Samnang would probably say) went to the Bureau of Immigration at Intramuros, Manila”. Alright, maybe I’m exaggerating. It wasn’t that scary, but it did make us (me, at least) appreciate the systematic orderliness back in Singapore.

With some help from Ed (the very nice dude who runs Casatina St. Mark’s), we took a jeepney to Lowton. That’s where the really big and fancy post office building is located.

TADAH!

Looks like a parliamentary building.

Pretty pillars!

The pinoy version of Postman Pat. Haha!

The nativity scene outside the building!

The Bureau of Immigration was about a 5 – 7 minute walk from the post office building but it was pretty small and well-hidden. In fact, the only sign that indicated we were going in the right direction was when we saw an angmoh dude and his Philippino wife/girlfriend walking towards us.

We got there, and boy, was it packed! The bureau was overflowing with international folks of all nationalities, races and colours. Filled up forms and proceeded to wait for one of the officers to certify we didn’t have any criminal records and stuff. After that was done (relatively fast), we had to make payment… and that’s when the true headache began.

Most of the payment counters near the entrance/exit didn’t have any officers nor did they have any of those plastic-y signs displaying that it was closed/off-duty. So we shuttled from one payment counter to the next, waiting as patiently as we could for someone to serve us.

There was one payment counter open, but apparently, one of the officers told us (in a not-so-kindly-way) that we were only supposed to pay at the designated payment counters (the ones at the entrance/exit). Oh. And the reason why those payment counters were closed? It was lunch break. -.-” much?

Can’t remember how long this took but it seemed like forever, no kidding i swear. Anyhoots, visa extension cost us a fortune (OW!). I think with the exception of taho*, everything here is at least three times more expensive in Bangkok. Not good. ):

After payment was made, we had to wait for about three hours for the bureau to process our visa extensions. So, we took a little jaunt to QC’s Ongpin street a.k.a Chinatown!

Like all Chinatowns, it was noisy, crowded and… Chinese. Didn’t take much pictures here but these are some interesting sights that we saw.

Candyman (haha!) peddling his wares.

We made a wish at this fountain xD

Pwetty!

Cathedral!

Other random pictures:

Next post, apartment pictures!

XOXO,
JAJ

*taho is the pinoy equivalent of tau huay. masarap** po!

** masarap means delicious in tagalog.

Salamat po! :D

Posted by: Sheereen on: January 7, 2009

In: Living in Manila| Sheereen
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And that, dear readers, is the very first Tagalog word we learnt. It means ‘thank you’, by the way. ‘Po’ is like the Thai’s ‘kha/krap’. It’s added at the end of certain sentences to make it sound more polite.

SO! Today is Day 5 of our stay in Quezon City! We’re in Manila, Philippines (for those of you who don’t keep track of our whereabouts *sniffs*). Touched down in Ninoy Aquino International Airport last Saturday at about 2pm+ and made our way to Stonehouse Apartelle.

Stayed in the Ruby room where it was dingy and we had a cranky air-conditioner that ’spewed’ singing (from the bar/restaurant), yelling and loud tagalog chatter the whole night. It was a truly romantic honeymoon experience of sorts because we shared a bed (for the second time) and I ended up unconsciousl(y!) with the entire blanket to myself (sorry Rae! :X ). Whooops!

Our bed

Our cranky a/c and dressing table

*without flash* this is how dark the room is even though we’ve got all the lights switched on.

our room key!

the uber small teevee

Checked out on Sunday and headed to our home for the entire month of January – Casatina St. Mark’s Home! Pictures of our ‘apartment’ will be up soon. Now, I shall regale you the tale of when two “small ger from Singapo’ (as Soy, Kuch and Samnang would probably say) went to the Bureau of Immigration at Intramuros, Manila. **Continued in next post**

watch out!

Posted by: raebo on: December 31, 2008

In: 1
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here at jollyawesomejetplanes, we’d like to wish you all a fantastic 2009.

but enough hallmark greetings. we’re about to leave on a jet plane once again. this time, for manila, philippines! it’s another work-vacation and we absolutely promise to upload more photos and blog more often. it’s a new year’s resolution for us!

so, here’s to 2009, everybody! cheers!

ps. we’re also planning jollyawesomejetplanes’ most-fantastic adventure coming end 2009. more of that coming soon.

)):

Posted by: Sheereen on: December 23, 2008

In: 1
1 Comment

4th day back home and i miss bangkok more than ever! yesterday when i went to grab some grub with my mummy, i realized that what i’d spent in one day on lunch was what i could spend for A WEEK’S worth of lunches in bangkok (no kidding there)!

UGHHHHHHHHH.why is everything so expensive here, darn it?! O.O *heart bleeds*

current financial status: very, very cash-strapped. i shudder to think of living costs in manila.

*sigh* so people, no matter how much you complain about how shitty your work is, be thankful that you’re actually getting PAID in three digits, yah?

i’m going to eat my probably-less-than-S$0.20 kanom bing now.

miracle

Posted by: raebo on: December 21, 2008

In: 1
1 Comment

you know what a miracle it is that we’re home?!

we were detained at the airport last night. our visas had expired and we were considered illegal immigrants. we had to be bailed out and all that. wasn’t cheap.

we’re criminals now. hahahaha.

*

Posted by: Sheereen on: December 11, 2008

In: 1
1 Comment

family and friends, ladies and gentlemen, enemies and admirers

…

The dynamic duo will be returning home for a two week Christmas/NYE/NY holiday!!! 201208. don’t say we never say or give warning ah! blink and you just might miss us! won’t be on home grounds for too long because we’ll be jetting off to Manila in January for the last 4 weeks of internship! so, start making appointments/dates with us NOW. kthnxbye. ♥

Hearts,
J.A.J!

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