Selamat Datang Ke Malaysia!

That is, in Malay, "Welcome to Malaysia!"

No, I am not on a tour. In fact, I just moved here.
Yup, you read that right. From the busy city of Metro Manila in Philippines,  I am now living here in Malaysia.

God has blessed me with this wonderful opportunity to be here, because of a new job. So I am writing this blog post (after my frustrated 30-day challenge posts, which only lasted me a week), in order to share some of my experiences of my (as of this day) three-week stay here in Kuala Lumpur.

Arrival

Since I took a Saturday night flight from MNL, I arrived in KUL early Sunday morning. That is 3.5 hours of travel (in fairness to Cebu Pacific, the flight was on time, unlike the usual delays in their domestic flights). Of course I thought that I would be landing at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) which is an architectural sight to see. But since I took Cebu Pacific, we landed at the LCCT (Low-cost Carrier Terminal).

I think I expected too much. Their LCCT? Well, let's just say that our NAIA Terminal 1 looks better. And if you'll be taking Air Asia (which flies from Clark, Pampanga to here in KUL), you'll also be landing at the LCCT. But if you'll take Malaysia Airlines, then you will go down at KLIA.

Transportation

From the LCCT, you can ride a bus that goes to KL Sentral (the "central" station of almost everything, from trains, buses, even flight check-in when you're taking Malaysia Airlines) that is just around RM8.

The roads and vehicles? Right hand drive. The wheel is on the right side of the vehicle, so the roads, and everything, are on the left.

The roads
In Metro Manila, you can only see "major" highways in C5, South Super Highway and Skyway. Here in KL, these kinds of roads are what connects most of the city's towns. So you'll be seeing SCTEX-like roads almost everywhere.

The cabs/taxis
Taxis, or in Malay, Teksi, has a flagdown of RM3, and increments 10 sens. A note though, some of them, like Pinoy cab drivers:
-choose/turn down passengers
-trick passengers (yeah, experienced this once, because he could tell I was new here, he did not use the meter and didn't even have change so I had to give him RM20 for a destination that would only cost RM10)
-and/or just be a total asshole (me and my friend, Donn, experienced one cab driver who did not even drop us to where we want to, and was hurrying us..he even sped the car as soon as we got out).

If like me, you don't have a choice but to take a cab most of the time, at least be vigilant and know that they are using the taximeter.

The trains
A better mode of transportation, these are waaaay better than what we have in Manila.

LRT Kelana Jaya line (Laluan Kelana Jaya)
-the pink line, travels from Kelana Jaya to Gombak. If you want to go to the Petronas Towers, take this train and go down at KLCC station. This station is underneath the famed twin towers. Usual interchange stations are Masjid Jamek (to Ampang line) and KL Sentral. Usually crowded since it is the longest and I think has the bigger "market".

LRT Ampang line (Laluan Ampang)
-the yellow line, travels from Sentul Timur, has a joint station Chan Sow Lin, and from here, the tracks separate, one goes to Sri Petaling, and the other goes to Ampang. Usual interchange stations are Masjid Jamek (to Kelana Jaya line), and Hang Tuah and Titiwangsa (to KL Monorail). For Pinoys, Plaza Rakyat (or Masjid Jamek) station is a landmark since this is near Kota Raya, a sort of like 168 mall in Divisoria, where most Pinoy stores are. Chinatown (Jalan Petaling) is also near Plaza Rakyat station.

KL Monorail (KL Monorel)
-yes, a train that looks more like a bus, that runs on one rail (hence the name, monorail). Usually crowded since per train, it only has two cabins. A bit expensive by 20sens. Interchange stations are Hang Tuah and Titiwangsa (to Ampang line) and KL Sentral (but is not directly connected to the mall-like train station).

Why is it better here than in Manila? Because even though there's a crowd when riding the trains, most of the time, people fall in line at the sides of the door and leave a space open in the center so that the people coming in and coming out are not blocking each other's way. Unlike in our prestigious MRT3.

Also, we have this electronic and reloadable (much like our stored value) card, Touch 'n Go. You can just load it in any LRT station and you can just tap the card the entry gate. It saves time spent on falling in line just to buy a ticket.

Food

Since Malaysia is a cultural mix of Malay, Indian and Chinese, expect all these kinds of food to be found almost anywhere.

Average cost per meal (bought in cheaper areas/restaurants) would be around RM5. That would include at least one meat dish, and rice, or if you're eating Chinese food, that's one order of noodles. If you're eating in a restaurant inside a mall, average meals would be around RM10.

Wherever you are, if you'll ask for (tap) water, it's not free. And if you won't have ice put in, they'll serve the water, warm.

Since Indian food is rampant, expect to see a lot of curried dishes. A tip: redness is the measurement of spicy-ness. If you see that the food is a dark shade of red, you might want to reconsider, unless you really are used to eating spicy foods. Oh yeah, hot is different from spicy. I just forgot the difference.

Also, Chinese serve their dishes, besides chopsticks, with the soup spoon, even though you ordered noodles. Well, it's a bit of common sense right? Since not all foods can be picked up with chopsticks. I was just wondering why in the Philippines it isn't such.

Accommodation

For working professionals like me, the usual is room rentals, most of the time in a condominium or apartment, or sometimes in a link house. For small unfurnished rooms, a month's rental would range from RM250-RM400. For medium to master's bedroom with furnishings, a month's rent would range from RM450-RM900. It could include the utilities payment, or it may not, but the utilities are shared will all the people in the house/unit. Usual initial payment is either 2 or 2.5 months rent as deposit, plus first month rent. It is good if you'll look for a unit near your workplace, and is accessible to where you can buy food and other necessities.

Need help in finding a room? Visit http://www.mudah.my and http://www.ibilik.my.

Filipinos

If you're beginning to be homesick or you are missing Filipino food, head to Kota Raya. As mentioned, it is a mall between Masjid Jamek and Plaza Rakyat LRT Stations. This part of the city is quite crowded though.

A few meters away from Masjid Jamek (Kelana Jaya line) LRT Station, you'll see St. John's Cathedral. This is the church where most Filipinos go to mass every Sunday, especially in the morning. You'll also find outside the church gates, a few food stalls selling Filipino food. Also, a few feet away there are Pinay manicurists/pedicurists. (Haven't tried them though, maybe one of these Sundays.) And one more thing, the parish church has a small building for Archdiocesan Single Adults and Youth Office, and one room there is called Tahanang Pilipino.

Places to hangout (well, from where I have been)

Bukit Bintang
A mixture of Eastwood (Libis), Session Road (Baguio), Greenbelt 5 (Makati) and Chinatown (Binondo).
How to get here: take the KL Monorail and go down at Bukit Bintang station.

Suria KLCC
This is much like Glorietta and Greenbelt, which is a mall beneath the Petronas Towers.
Get here by taking Kelana Jaya line LRT and go down at KLCC station.

Other things that I could share

-Thou shall not go to a tourist destination (most especially in Genting Highlands) on a public holiday. We tried once, and as expected, our tour was somehow a "fail".
-There have been reported incidences of misfortunes (including snatchers and acid splashers, riding a motorcycle) happening on the streets. Just be cautious on the surroundings. Petty crimes, like in the Philippines, are reportedly quite just as "usual".
-At least try to learn their language (Malay), even just the basic ones that you may use when buying food or something else. Some Malays do not know how to speak English. Indians and Chinese, even if they do speak in English, may sometimes be a bit hard to understand due to their certain accent. Don't get intimidated if they speak Tamil and Mandarin/Cantonese (respectively) around you. Just grab a Filipino friend then talk in Tagalog.
-Public restrooms are not as clean as what you expect. Also, females, be ready to squat. Most of their toilets are those that are on the floor.
-Planning to hop on to Singapore? It is just a 3.5 hours bus trip, for only RM40 one way.
-IT jobs are in-demand here. Interested? Leave a comment.
-Old Town White Coffee is a must-try, plus their Kaya toast. This coffeehouse beats Starbucks.



So, these are what I could share for now. I may add in a bit of details maybe as I go along. Watch out for my next blog posts. :)

Day 7: Yogurt and Halo-halo

Summer is officially in the Philippines! And what else is left to do besides swimming and outing? Look for cold treats, of course! :)

Yogurts

I am a fan of frozen yogurt, which is already taking different brand names, presentation, etc in every place that you'll be. My personal favorite is White Hat, in Glorietta 4. Their plain yogurt tastes like real yogurt (because I like eating those fruit flavored ones) and not just like ice cream.

So I wondered what a plain unfrozen yogurt tastes. I bought a small pack (well, the photo below is a big pack) of Nestle Creamy Yogurt.

I got a teaspoon, opened the pack, got a small amount, tasted it and...

"WTF??"

It did NOT taste like frozen yogurt!

You know what it tasted like?

Yes. That plain yogurt tasted like the garlic sauce we usually put in our shawarma.

I remember that detail being told to me by our officemate Mark (Mirandilla), because they previously operated a Shawarma business, and the sauce they used was yogurt.

Now honestly, as of this writing, that pack of yogurt is not finished yet. And frankly, I am not quite sure how to finish it.

Halo-Halo

Me and my boyfriend we're craving for halo-halo last Sunday. I wanted to have one from Goldilocks, but since SM Bicutan is about to close already, we just went to Sieg's, Better Living, to try their halo-halo.

Their Halo-halo Special is at P95, with a scoop of ube ice cream, and halayang ube, macapuno, red mongo, banana for the halo. The ube ice cream that came with it tasted good. And because I do not eat red mongo much, I just scooped every bean out of my bowl and gave it to my boyfriend.

But what is still the best halo-halo for me?

Razon's.

Aside from the finely crushed ice, what I love about Razon's Halo-halo is the fact that all of the things that I hate in Halo-halo (beans, mongo, pinipig) are not included in their concoction. Hahahaha! And yes, siyempre sobrang sarap. 

Haaaay, Razon's Halo-halo. Kelan kaya kita matitikman ulit?

Day 6: Moments inside an FX and PDH

Going to work, I usually ride an FX/Van with an Ortigas route. Its first stop is at Pioneer street, Mandaluyong.

Last Friday, I was riding the van on my way to work. I was seated on the second row, second to the left window. I was not able to have a lot of sleep the night before so I was really asleep during the travel, until my seatmate (whom I know is not quite comfortable because she is seated between the large and small seats of the row without leaning her back), shouted at me inside the very quiet vehicle, saying, "Ate, pwedeng umayos ka????!!!?"

Well, that time, I just said, "Ay, sorry...", and just went back to sleep until I reached my destination.

But when I arrived here in the office, those early morning people saw me getting crappy first thing in the morning. Grabe lang! Kala mo kasi siya may-ari nung FX eh! Kung pahiyain ako sa harap ng iba! Pasalamat na lang siya na kalmado ako nun at hindi ako sumagot ng kung ano at baka kung ano pang eksena ang nangyari dun.

Ok, back to my calm self now.

Because of that incident, I had chest pains the whole day, because in addition to the stress that FX scene gave me, the stress of filing my ITR also came along (after realizing on the last minute that I am required to do so). Until my choir practice that night, I was already feeling uncomfortable to the point that I asked my boyfriend to accompany me to the nearest hospital, Parañaque Doctors Hospital.

Inside the emergency room, I was just calm. The nurses was a bit panicky when I told them I was complaining of chest pains. I lay down on one ER bed. They took my blood pressure, it was normal. They took my ECG, again, normal. I was not having difficulty breathing. So the doctors concluded that it may just be muscle pains.

It was my first time to have a needle struck my hand for dextrose and hemlock. I was really scared, even to the point of having excessive chills. Thanks to my boyfriend for keeping me company during that time. He was  telling me the latest "chismis" while the nurse was injecting my hand.  He kept me warm by his embrace when I was having those strong chills. (On cue: "Awwwwwww, sweet.." :) )

After around two hours, I was discharged (thank you for my health card!) and went home. 

The next day, we talked to my mom about the hospital incident and told her that I was in the ER last night because of my chest pains. Her reaction? "Nako, namana mo.."

She was pertaining to the kind of chest pains that she occasionally has. Her mother, my grandmother, had it too. Now I know what those pain relievers I am buying for her are for.

I am just worried now because just like what my mom said, this pain is recurring. The pain reliever prescribed for me is a bit expensive, P73 each. I might need to keep a few ones in case the pain triggers again.

Guys, let us take good care of our bodies. Getting sick is a definite waste of money.

Day 5: Pooping right and my Philips GoGear

Ok, I have not posted for the past four days. I'll try my best to make up my absence of internet with all the things in my mind that are pending to be written on this newly designed blog. ;)

Pooping, the right way

Can you believe that our simple act of sitting while pooping is actually wrong?

I came across a lot of articles around the internet (Yahoo News, etc.) and found out that one of the things that people are doing wrong is the way we pass our bowels. 

Sitting down on the toilet bowl (just like all of us are used to) is actually making us prone to hemorrhoids. And the correct way to do it? See the second illustration on the below photo:

Which (I suppose) could only be (comfortably) accomplished (unlike the above awkward squat on the above photo), when our toilet bowls would be something like this:

And now I wonder if this kind is available in our country.

Hmm, hemorrhoids, eh?

Eh mukhang nakakangawit naman yung pag-squat! Sheesh! >.<

My Philips GoGear 2GB

I do not know if anyone of you are aware of the radio show, Good Times with Mo: The Podcast, where every caller wins a gadget.

I had a chance to call the show one late evening when Maxene Magalona was the guest (check out Mo Twister's site, March 31 episode) and had the chance to ask her what is one love advice that her late father gave her. I learned that the Master's rapper's advice to her daughter was to treat every relationships as a training ground for marriage. Very nice point.

Anyway, back to my title. Because I had the chance to be on the show, I won a prize! And here it is, my Philips GoGear 2GB, delivered here in the office last friday by Tradeport.com.ph!

To my excitement, I quickly removed it from the box, charged it and put some songs on it. Wow, I really missed having one.

I actually went on my college years until my working days having an mp3 player hung around my neck (I forgot the first one I had, but it was 512GB, then it evolved to my (first) square Philips GoGear 1GB). I just stopped when my Philips broke down (it does not charge anymore), and because I almost always had company when I am travelling (where I listen to my mp3 player the most).

And since I have one again, it just feels great. Now I will not be lonely or bored during long and stressful travel hours.

Oh, one tip when using an mp3 player on the road: I strongly suggest that you use earphones, instead of headphones. When you are commuting or driving, you MUST be able to hear the outside world at least, or you might end up dead because you did not hear the vehicles beeping while you were crossing the street, or you might end up not reaching your destination because you were not able to hear when the bus conductor or MRT already announced the current place you are already in.

Day 4: Problems I had with my phone

I own a Samsung Omnia Pro B7320. With my eight months of usage, I did encounter some problems. The minor ones are, I cannot end a call (often happens when the cellphone signal is getting jammed/lost during a phone call), often losing network signal even on standby mode (I am not quite sure if it is just with the network provider and/or my location here in the office), and the microphone volume does not have an option to be a bit more loud because sometimes my friends who call cannot hear me or I really have to direct the mouthpiece to my mouth for them just to hear me.

Thankfully, I only encountered two major major technical problems. I am writing down below those things I experienced so if any of you owners of the same phone encounter the same, at least you will not panic like I did.

If your phone does not charge, and the light indicator is not green nor red (kinda more like yellow):
Cause: the battery is super super drained. On my case, I think this was caused because I tried surfing the internet by Wi-Fi with just one bar of battery, so it got so exhausted.
Fix: since the battery is super duper drained, it cannot generate even a bit of electricity to have itself charged by your specified charger. Go to any authorized Samsung repair shop (I went to Wellcom in Park Square 1, Makati) and have the battery charged by the technician using the, uh, voltmeter? Basta, the device used to create electrical charges. When the battery has enough electricity already, it can now charge on its own specified charger. I'm also thankful that the technician did not charge me any amount, though I just had to wait for more than 30 minutes to give enough time for my cellphone battery to generate power.
Note: according to the technicians, most or all of the Samsung batteries experience this kind of problem so I recommend not to super drain your Samsung devices. Charge it as soon as it indicates that it is already battery low.

If suddenly your phone does not ring, the alarm does not sound, you are not in silent mode and yet all the sounds seem to have gone, and you cannot even change your tones settings:
Cause: I am not quite too sure, but it has something to do with 'cached memory' something. Hahaha. Sorry, I really do not know.
Fix: Follow these instructions:
1.) Go to Start -> Applications -> File Explorer
2.) Navigate to:  (root directory)\Application Data\Volatile
3.) Inside the Volatile folder, you will find a lot of empty folders. Just delete all of them (press the shift button then scroll down to select all the folders, then delete). Do not be afraid to do so, it will not harm your system.
4.) Restart your phone.
Note: I actually found this fix somewhere on fixya.com. To whoever discovered the fix to this problem, thank you so much! You just saved me time, money and effort to have this fixed in a repair shop.

There you go. I hope this entry could be of help to my fellow Omnia Pro B7320 owners. ;)

Day 3: The lost side of me

I used to play drums (the drums set, that is. I'll cover my Letran Band side on another blog post.). I learned to play when I joined our parish's summer workshop last 2004, under the guidance of Percussion Major from UST, Alvin Meneses (actually my first summer workshop was in 2003 but my course was Guitar then). I also took the same course during the next two summer workshops. I learned to study the drum beats of my favorite songs (isolating the drum beats while listening), and just practicing it on air (because my family could never afford to buy me one). This also started my love for Original Pilipino Music (OPM) and foreign alternative/pop rock songs. Moreover, I learned to appreciate live performances.

Back in high school until college, I had bands, in which I am the drummer. My high school band, we called ourselves, Heaven Street (and from where that name came from, ask AJ). Russell as lead vocalist, AJ as lead guitarist, David as bassist. We used to have unpaid gigs (haha!) on the debuts of our classmates. We composed two original songs (I just do not know how I can post that song here), Asa and Kasalanan (both inspired by their respective composers' heartbreak stories). We still get together, though, during our "get-together's", but unfortunately, we do not 'jam' anymore like we used to.

Heaven Street, during my debut. :)

On the other hand, my band back in college was called Fishballs (kasi may isa daw samin na mukhang fish? I know, it sounds mean). We were an all girl band, me on drums, Gessy on bass, Keena on guitars, April on vocals, Kat on guitars, and Ria on keyboards/vocals. We were active from our late first year until our second year, during the last few months of our organization where we all met, the Letran Youth for Christ (which were disorganized by the school administration due to a lot of issues).

Fishballs, during my debut. :)

Fishballs, during a fund-raising concert in our parish.

Aside from my schooling days, I also had opportunities as I joined in Singles for Christ, playing in the all-sisters conference (photo below), and representing our sector in the band competition (sorry I cannot find a good photo for this).

Ang bandang, Sila!

Now you're asking, what's up with my title?

Lost, because I do not do this kind of stuff anymore. I lost the opportunities, even in my own SFC chapter, where the last standing opportunity for me is.

And honestly, I miss it. Playing the cajon or egg shaker will never replace my adrenalin rush when it comes to playing drums. Seeing my slightly used drumsticks just breaks my heart. Sometimes I think I cannot do this anymore because I do not practice, and I do not have the opportunity, nor the drive to do so.

Hiling by Paramita

(One of the songs I used to play, and sing).

What made me write this kind of emo article is the fact that a new girl band in the music scene, really impresses me. Have you guys heard of the band, General Luna? They have already released their songs, Nandito and Tila. All of them are beautiful, sexy, gorgeous, not to mention their musical skills. They have really caught my attention, most especially the drummer, because somehow I dreamed of becoming like her.

Nandito by General Luna

I am not sure when I can play drums again. But if given the time, opportunity and with awesome band mates, I believe I can try it again. And I'll make sure I will give my best, performance level.

Day 2: Madz North and South American Tour 2011

Tonight, or let's just say, tomorrow at 12:00AM, The Philippine Madrigal Singers, or Madz, will be leaving the country and flying to the other side of the world (first stopping at Salt Lake City, Utah, USA) for their North and South American Tour. They'll be gone for six months, and will be back here in the Philippines on around mid or late October of this year.

I'm gonna miss them, most especially our friends Bianca Lopez (pagbalik mo kami na ni Ryan ang bahala sa jetlag mo, sagot na namin ang alak sa Kalsada Grill or sa Central BBQ Boy na parati na lang nauudlot!) and Meg Montes (thanks for inviting me to today's lunch out! I'll buy you Korean rice pops when you get back.. yung hindi cheese flavor para hindi maalat!), our officemate, whom I fondly call Mara because of a typographical error in her pigeon hole's label.

Speaking of Meg, it is not common for her to be seen (or heard with a solo), as far as my knowledge of Madz is concerned, so when I learned of a song which she did the solo, wala na, LSS ko na ito ngayon.

Superb singing skills! Just like every single one of them! The thing is, you cannot see her singing in the video because her 'official' seat is on the right side (facing the stage), which, as you can see, is against this video's view.

And if you are wondering who Bianca is, she can be easily recognized because she's the smallest in the group, and can be usually seen in the middle of the crescent seating arrangement (as seen in the above video). You can see and hear her sing in this video below, standing on the right side. And with regards to her vocal powers, all I can say is this Love Radio tagline, "Kailangan pa bang i-memorize 'yan?" ;)

Yanni's Aria

*updated attached video, Apr 14, 2011*

I hope not one member of the group gets homesick too much, though...as this will be their longest tour. God bless you, Madz! See you on your homecoming concert!

Day 1: Crystal, Shamcey, and Taal

Account hacking...by kids!

Poor daughter of actress/comedienne K Brosas, Crystal Brosas, has had her twitter account (@crystalbrosas) hacked by a fan of her age, Carmela Ozoa (@osowaa), a few hours ago today.

Both just around 13 years of age, the envious fan was able to guess the victim's password. So, to all the kids who are here in the messy world of social media, please secure your accounts! Learn how to create strong passwords!

I also checked the tumblr account of the inggiterang fan. She's an emo! Walang magawa. Nagpapapansin. Parang tanga lang. I feel sorry for Crystal, though. Good thing her mom was not active in twitter at that time.

As of this writing, the real owner of the hacked account finally got in-charge and deleted all of her previous tweets, which includes those written by the hacker. She also said that her mom, K Brosas was mad because she thought her daughter was the one tweeting all of the nasty stuff.


Our Bb. Pilipinas Universe, 2011

Get ready, world, for the Philippines' bet for this year's Ms. Universe, is Ms. Shamcey Supsup.

Hailing from General Santos City (where my boyfriend's parents and our great Manny Pacquiao is from), and standing 5'7 1/4", with vital statistics 32-23-33, this lady is THE complete definition of beauty and brains. Aside from her slim bod, very confident catwalk skills, Penelope Cruz look, Anne Hathaway smile and her long, gorgeous waves, she graduated Magna Cum Laude from University of the Philippines Diliman College of Architecture, and the June 2010 Architecture Board Exams topnotcher. In line to that, she drew a Madonna and Child pencil/shading artwork in less than three minutes during her talent portion.

What else is left? The Ms. Universe 2011 crown, that is! I have full confidence in this candidate that she will surpass Maria Venus Raj and all the other Filipina beauty queens. Good luck to her competition in Brazil!


An active Pacific Ring of Fire

On the monthsary of Japan's worst earthquake in history, another earthquake with magnitude 7.1 hit an eastern part of the country hours ago.

Also previously noted was a tsunami warning on the nearby shoreline with a maximum height of 1meter but was later revoked by authorities (thank God!).

All I can say is, let us all pray for Japan, and hope that Philippines will not be next, as we also sit in the Pacific Ring of Fire. I pray for my cousin and her son, both living in Chiba, that they may live peacefully and as normal as they used to be. May God provide them with their needs.

Speaking of the Philippines being next, to the people living near Talisay, Batangas, Tagaytay, Cavite area, please do necessary precautions and evacuations, as the world's smallest volcano, Taal, is about to erupt at any time as per PHIVOLCS head.


Lord, please spare our poor country from any disaster, as we cannot afford to be in a state of calamity. Amen.

2011 Blast-off!

Warming up!

Starting April 11, 2011, our company will hold the unofficial 30day blog challenge. I'm joining this blogsite for this to be updated. I was already thinking of doing so a few days back however my emotional and mental capacity was not quite ready yet.

Now, what am I going to write in here for those 30 days?

Expect me to write about my previously undocumented realizations.
Travels and adventures.
Love and relationship advices? Yeah. I'll be your Dr. Love. :)
Technical articles. (Expected from a programmer) ;)
Music. Dance. Performing arts.
Religion and morality stuff (please be forewarned of my Anti-RH Bill write-ups).
And everything else under the sun, and within the perimeters of my workplace.

So stay tuned!