MERDEKA!

So, Malaysia is 50 years old now... As i write this blog, National Geografic is showing 'Becoming A King', the coronation of Malaysia's latest king. Suddenly, i felt patriotic... and decides to write a blog in honour of my home coutry, Malaysia, where i was born and raised. So, happy 50th Independence Malaysia! Home sweet home...

Flight back home..

Man was i early... arrived at the airport at 1:30pm just to find out that the counter opens at 2pm. Sat and waited and waited and then waited some more... at least the flight was on time. Guess was too excited to go back...as they call it, balikbayan. It's nice to be back... feels really good. Came back just in time to make credit card and other bill payments...sigh :)

Last day walk...

Well, my last day here in Makati...never felt more happy to leave. Would i miss this place? I dunno, 2 weeks later, i find myself asking a lot of questions on working overseas...am i cut out for this? How long would i be able to last overseas? These guys have been here for months without going back...I would say that Philippines is not that bad, very similiar with Malaysia. Not so much on the cultural impact and all. I guess it all comes down to "is all these travelling worth it?" "what will i get out of all these?" Sigh,I need more experience and time alone....just to figure it all out!

Smoking.... cigars?

Hahaa, this is a result of 'nothing left to do' on a lazy Sunday afternoon... Isa and i got some free cigars from the shopping mall and why not, try some! We've been out window shopping around Makati the whole day and ended up at our usual Starbucks hangout... in Greenbelt 1.

Wow, best view of the city...

This, my friend is my senior. Based in Philippines Rep. Office, his name... Eric. He's a good guy. The other photo is the fantastic view from the 53rd floor of PB Com tower. (highest in Manila) It's the best view of Manila i've ever seen.. miles and miles of buildings and houses...it's incredible, jungle of bricks. And the coast line is just there.... see, i didn't know that!

That night at the club...

MAAAAAN! That was a long friday night! Didn't plan to go out at all... didn't expect to be invited too.... but anyhow, we ended up in Warehouse. JAM was like usual, MAAAAD! took forever to get there.. picking Christine up wasn't helping either... but, she invited us, so... we managed. After a few drinks, we were all merry and joyfull... letting loose after a loooong week. really long.
Got back about 5am right after McD breakfast... that was a good night.... best thus far!

NO CELL SITES! NO CELL SITES!

Rooftop site with a 6m pole. This site is called Paddock. It's located on a hill about 1 hours drive from town.... Nice location, quiet and peaceful housing area. This particular site is
interesting because the neighbours are actually protesting the installation of this site... :) Like any other wealthier neighbourhood. "NO TO CELLPHONE TOWER" ... the site is almost completed. hehee, too bad.

Site visits everyday!

At last, we arrived at my very first "green field" site visit here in Philippines called Avis. This site has a 12 meters tall guyed mast. Interesting design. It took us about an hour of traffic jam to reach this site. Yea, you guessed, because of the traffic...

First few days... getting to know you

Well, soon enough, i've been sent out for site visits. "On-the site training" is what they call this. The guy sitting next to me is the Quality Control Manager from Shenzen. Ma Wen Bo is his name and the last i heard, he's in India. Apparently, he is the guy that made the arrangement for my trip to the Philippines...

This particular site is located right smack in the middle of what i would like to call the "PROJECTS". It's where the hard-core poors are living. Thousands of children running around the streets. This particular site has been halted because of some structural problems....

Hotel? nooo, service apartment la!

Ate with my driver Arman at Chow Kings... the local chinese fast food restaurant near the service apartment. Wasn't really my cup of tea but hey, i wanted to try something new and was quite hungry. So, we decided to stop at the first fast food restaurant we could find. It was either KFC, McD, Pizza Hut or Chow Kings. The decision was pretty obvious....

Arrived in Room 2002 of Asian Mansion late in the evening. Luckily they managed to get me a room because my application for room reservation was only done the day before. Quickly unpacked and got comfortable as soon as i could. Not a bad place. The lightings were kinda dim and gloomy though.

Unfortunately there were no internet connection in the room. That was really hard to get used to as i have always been living with an internet connection. So i uploaded the photos i took for the day and to email out the next day in the office.

First Impressions... alway lasts!

You know what they say, "The first impression always lasts"... well, in this case, the infamous traffic here is the lasting impression. I guess i'm just not used to it yet.

Attached is the first every Jeepney that i've ever seen. You can actually fit at least 18 grown ups in there. And it even has it's own route and stops. There are so many of them over here. Kinda like the notorious Bus Mini which was running around KL last time. They just stops and go as they please. Haven't seen any of them speeding though. Maybe because it's always jammed up here in Manila!

Been taking photos of every single odd thing that i see. Typical first timer and i definately pass as a tourist. It took more than an hour which feels like an eternity for me to reach the office which is still in town. Level 10 of Robinson Galleria or also known as GCC.

First day... my arrival

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please put your seat upright and fasten your seatbelt, we are landing in 5 minutes..."

Finally, i have arrived. Looking outside, man, the weather aint that good. Looking out the tiny airplane window, looks like it's been raining for some time now. Wonder if there is a typhoon this time of the year?

After claiming my luggage and nervously walk through customs (not that i have anything to worry about) waited outside for the appointed driver to greet me. I must confess, i was expecting him to be holding the 'HUAWEI' logo and "Mr. CHEW WENG SOON' printout waiting for me as i come out of the arrivals... but, instead, had to walk to the extended waiting area after receiving an sms from my colleague. ARMAN is the driver's name. Soh is the engineer that smsed me and apparently was in the same flight as i was in. So then, here we go...my journey has began. I have arrived.