All About me

If I may introduce myself - I am Elaine Buenaventura-Malonzo, I live in Las Pinas now, but my hometown is in Pasig both in the Philippines, My family (Noel-My Husband, Nike-Our Daughter and Myself) is planning on migrating to Singapore really really soon - like January, My husband is already there working, and I am going to follow him there in January 2011, then Nike will follow us there in July 2011. We will be trying to build a new life in a country full of possibilities and full of fruitful future.

I am married with a daughter, as you might already guessed. I love the color Old Rose (a grayish rendition of pink), I adore sun flowers, tulips and calla lilies. I am 26 years old and have been writing my entire life. I used to write poems while I was in elementary and highschool and started blogging around college. Some say I am a pretty good and convincing writer but I think anyone can be convincing and good as long as s/he writes about his or her interests and passion.

I graduated with a Commerce Degree in Management of Financial Institutions in De La Salle University - ID 100, 04 graduate (delayed 1 term :P ), but I do not practice my degree, instead I am a BUM, a full time mom lovingly taking care and raising my 3-year old daughter and 3 year old Lhasa Apso.

I am a passionate person, mentally, psychologically, and physically. I am a woman and I am not afraid to speak my mind. I have power and poise and I have strength and courage. I am a mother and a wife, a sister and a daughter but most of important of all I am a friend.

Thanks so much for dropping by and picking my brains, hope you can follow me, or just be a fan of my Facebook Fan Page - its just a click away :)

What else is there left for me to say about me…by reading all that I’ve written you could probably say a lot things about me…based on the pictures you could already see how I look like…You all know me…Inside and out…so what else is there left to say? Nothing I suppose…but then again there is always something…

Do you really know who I am? Do I really know who I am…well let me just put it this way…we all know each other…in one way or another…I am you…look inside your self and you will see that we are the same…we think that we have unique characteristics that differs us from one another but then again we feel the same, we act the same…we probably don’t know the same things and we might react differently in different situations…but at the end of the day, when you look at me and you look at yourself, you will say…Hey we are so different yet so much alike in so many ways…

So then…what makes me, me and what makes you, you? Nothing…Absolutely nothing!! The face? The smile? The look and the voice? Its nothing! They are all illusions that every one of us believes…We are blinded by the physical characteristics that we see hear and touch!! But that’s not what makes us…Now without that ask yourself…Who am I? Or who is this girl whose journal I’m reading? Can you now describe me differently with how you might describe yourself given the same situtation? We are toys of life and we are happy being one…we live each day knowing that we are being played by life and yet we accept it…because that’s all we can ever and we will ever have…we never strive for more than what life can offer us…we even call it unethical if we dream of such things…we call ourselves free and we love the freedom that we believe we have and yet we are imprisoned by ourselves in a life that we never even chose to live…And then sooner or later when you are drowning with the freedom that you thought you have you wonder, who am I? What makes me? And that’s when you realize…I’m no different than the person I’m talking to…we are both naïve and foolish to believe that we control all our actions and nothing is above us…we are both happy being just the way we are yet unsatisfied…we are both living each day as if we need to live…our actions are both a reaction from life and the way it runs as it always ran…we both think that nothing measures us and that life is with us and not against us…We both believe that there is a higher being that protects us…from what? We are the same because we both don’t know…we make mistakes…we probably do not make the same mistakes at the same time but we do make the same mistakes…and do we really learn from the…actually we both do not…and we both keep on doing the same things over and over again…everything about us is the same and we are both Life’s routine…And are we really happy knowing this…we actually are…we are even thankful that we are living this life and we preserve it any which way we can…But who am I really? Who are you? We still don’t know…we would never really know… But we are the same…I am you and you are me…in every way…

Loving Singapore

When I went to Singapore last March I was able to go on some of the child friendly tourist spots in Singapore. But before I enumerate all of them I want to emphasize how beautiful the country is and how organized everything is in Singapore and any place that you go to or visit is like a tourist spot in itself.

Some of the amazing places I visited with my husband and daughter is Jurong Bird Park, which holds the biggest man made waterfall in the world. They have bird feeding times where you will be able to feed the birds with live worms and see gorgeous birds and even the weirdest birds that you have ever seen up close, they even have the birds and friends show where people get to participate and interact with the animals, it is really amazing.We were also able to experience the Singapore Zoo where they have feeding times for a white rhino and a giraffe.  

The zoo also offers a lot of shows and entertainment and bathing suits and change of clothes is a must if you will visit the water slides within the zoo. 

The Night Safari is also a great experience for us, seeing nocturnal animals up close. Although the walk around the park is a bit intimidating as it is really dark, and sounds of the night gives me chills, but all in all a great experience. Underwater World is also a good place to spend the day in. They have a small indoor tank where you can feed the sting rays, fresh water fish and salt water fishes. You will be able to see enormous fish that even taller than Yao Ming. 

The end destination of the underwater world tour will bring you to a large outdoor pool that holds 5 or more dolphins that shows off a bit when they see their trainers holding buckets of fish.

More unexplored tourist spots for me is the newly established Universal Studios Singapore in Sentosa. They have great new rides that the whole family can enjoy. Street shows and delicious food also awaits their guests. And currently being constructed is this kind of wild safari for water animals that will be finished in 2012, so thats also something to look forward to. They also have Jurong Reptile Park, this is somewhat similar to Jurong Bird Park only the reptile park will have, well, reptiles instead of birds. The Singapore Flyer in Marina Bay, G-Max Reverse Bungy in Clarke Quay, Songs of the Sea in Sentosa, Chinese and Japanese Gardens, are must sees too, and I am sure there are lots of not very common but very interesting places in Singapore to visit too.
But the best place I loved in Singapore is theirCommunity Playgrounds and community pools that is just extremely beautiful and great for my daughter and my family to bond. You would not have to spend a penny to take your child to a beautiful clean park, because it is there free for everyone to use. And the public pools are unbelievably clean, fun and is like a water park that should cost more than it actually does.

I am just loving Singapore, every bits and pieces of it is amazing, truly amazing.

Sophie Kinsella's - Twenties Girl

After so many years, I was finally able to buy a new book. Actually Noel (My husband) bought me a book in Harris in Jurong Point Mall in Singapore. It was one of his gifts for me for visiting him there. At first I was very reluctant to let him buy me a book because A. Books, Clothes and Food were more expensive there and B. I thought I can just download a PDF Version. Then I realized, I will buy this book sooner or later anyway, because I have a collection of Sophie Kinsella Books, yes, I adore her to bits, so I let noel buy me the book. Sophie’s books are always Fascinating and Hilarious, always light and very easy to read. Sophie is the Author of the Book Series Shop-a-holic , and my sister (Tiggy) and I loved her even before the movie was released, and forgive me for saying the brutal truth that the movie was nothing compared to the book. Did you know that Sophie Kinsella’s Shop-a-holic was the first book that I read that made me really laugh out loud, Her writing is amazing! and her humor is captivating. Anyway so I bought this book in Singapore, during my Third or Fourth day there, but I promised myself that I wouldn’t read it while I was in SG because I wanted to spend every possible second with my husband. So I read it on the plane during my flight back home to the Philippines.

In between my sobs and my tears, not because of the book, but because I am leaving my husband alone in Singapore, while my daughter (Nike) and myself will go back to the lonely and unorganized country, Sophie’s new book kept me entertained and pre-occupied enough to forget my miseries.

I wasn’t expecting The Twenties Girl to be as good as Shop-a-holic because Rebecca Bloomwood is my ultimate favorite fictional character, but Sadie and Lara’s tandem really went close to Rebecca’s pedestal in my opinion. 

The book is not just funny and entertaining, but when you think about the actual story and how it ended, it will make you realize that we often take for granted the people around us, and when they are gone thats when you feel sorry that you have not given that person/s the chance to get to know you or you haven’t taken the opportunity to get to know that person a little better. It shows you the value of knowing your family, take time to know where you came from, what your roots are, know your history and you might be surprised at how similar you and the people around you are.

At the start of the book, Sophie Focused on the fun and the hilarious moments of Lara and Sadie. It was light. And the story will keep a smile plastered on your face. It will even make you wish you are haunted by a ghost yourself, because of the perks that was illustrated in the book.

Towards the end, I feel Lara’s sadness and reluctance in completing her task, Sadie’s unfinished business. At first I thought it was her selfishness, that she only wanted Sadie around because it benefited her in so many ways, but Sophie was able to illustrate that Lara has grown accustomed to having Sadie around because she fell in love with her as a person, Sadie has become her greatest friend.

What this book taught me is that I should not let time pass to get to know anyone and everyone around me, not to take people for granted because not everyone is like Lara, who was given a second chance to get to know her great Aunt Sadie.

I would recommend this book to everyone I know, even to those I don’t know. If you are reading this blog, I suggest you go to the nearest bookstore and grab yourself a copy of ALL Sophie Kinsella’s book, and you will know why I have fallen madly in love with her books.

My Thoughts are Jittery and Scattered

So I started my day at 10am - like I usually do. I love sleep and I tend to do it 12 hours a day, but last night I slept late, well, not really, around 2 AM. So I woke up and directly went to my Laptop trying to make it Shush because Skype was ringing, My husbands calling me from Singapore, and my daughter Nike is still asleep. This is how I usually start my day since my husband changed his shift.

I faced my laptop with a smile on my face, morning breath and a morning glory in my eye, yeah, true story. But just like the previous days it is always a good way to start my morning, seeing my husband who is currently in Singapore…Far…Far…away from us.

So he showed me a little bit of magic card tricks that he started learning a few days back from this video that his officemates showed him. One thing I love about Noel is that he is so child-like and gets excited about little things like Magic and toy cars that does drifting, little remote control airplanes and cooking a successful meal for the first time.

later in the afternoon I just can’t stop thinking about Passport Holders, yep, they are my latest obsession. But I can’t seem to find ONE piece of cute but affordable passport holder online, when you search google, you will see plain-leathery-serious looking passport holders that are not cute at all!! I want something that looks like a cute wallet with slots for boarding passes, Luggage Tickets, Embarkation / Disembarkation cards and other things that you use when you travel like Identification cards and credit cards and what-nots. There’s not a cute Passport holder out there! HEY WALLET MAKERS maybe its time you created cute funky Passport Holders, Ticket Holders, Check Holders, Bank Passbook Holders, Card Holders and all the holders you can think of! Its time to make a niche! and I am definitely one of the first people to buy or maybe even buy and sell your products, just make sure they are cute and affordable. Anyway so yeah I was looking at google, amazon, and practically everywhere on the Net and I was only able to come across one Multiply website that sells Gorgeous Korean Made Passport Holders seibufashion shop - a shop in Multiply. Sadly for me the prices are too expensive, although they just range from PhP480 - PhP1500, but I am looking for something thats a bit cheaper, something like PhP200 - PhP300 Per piece but is of the same quality and cuteness. So I continued looking online but found nothing and I suddenly had this craving to go to the Mall, I wanted to go to SM Megamall at first, and then a thought hit me! I WANTED TO GO TO GREENHILLS, just to see if there are shops there that sells cute Passport Holders, yes, I am very Obsessive.

So having no money, I decided not to go out today. Passport holder shopping, rather window shopping will have to be done some other day, specifically pay-day. So I just watched Ugly Betty Season 4 Episodes 15-18 the rest of the afternoon.

And after watching I decided I wanted to get my mom and my dad a valid passport. My dad’s passport was already expired maybe 20 years and my mom never had one. The problems we are facing right now in getting my mom a passport is that she doesn’t have any Identification Cards with her maiden name on it. So I called DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) to confirm what documents we will need in order to get my mom a passport and I got a list:

Mommy’s requirement for passport new application

NSO Certified Birth Certificate - get in http://www.e-census.com.ph

Baptismal Certificate - with daddy

NBI Clearance - go to megamall

Old Transcript of Records or report card - maybe still with daddy

Daddy’s Requirements for Passport Renewal

Old passport and photocopy of passport pages 1,2,3 (amendment). The pages showing latest Bureau of Immigration departure and arrival stamps. - get from daddy

Birth Certificate from NSO in Security Paper (SECPA) or Negative Birth Record from NSO if born 1950 & below - Get from NSO (ecensus)

Drivers License photocopy - get from daddy

SSS ID PhotoCopy - get from Daddy

So once my dad wakes up from his afternoon nap, I have something new to obsess about…GETTING BOTH OF THEM PASSPORTS!

Once I get all of these documents I will just get their application processed online via PILIPINAS TELESERV, Thats the same agency that helped me get mine and my daughters passport last October 12, 2009.

Although my obsession shifted from Passport Holders to Passport, they are still directly related aren’t they? but the other obsession I am having right now is trying to look for an employer in Singapore. Thats Right! I want to work there, because first and foremost it sucks to be away from my husband and Second I was able to visit Singapore last March 18-27, 2010 and it was just so gorgeous. I just fell in love with the place. It seemed so safe and so organized, I was jealous that my husband gets to live in such a beautiful place and I get stuck HERE. Don’t get me wrong I love my family, I don’t want to leave them here (hence doing the first step of getting them passports *wink* *wink*) but I’d really really love to raise my daughter in a place where I wouldn’t have to worry about her getting kidnapped or taken and sold, or raped or murdered, or getting hit by speeding car. I want her to grow up realizing the good things in life and not having to worry about strange murderous people that is lurking in the shadows.

So I have been applying online, via Job Search Engines and via email for the past week and its somehow getting frustrating, because my resume is really bad, and I think no Singaporean employer is interested in me. I have been trying my hardest to find work online, but I guess I will have to go to Singapore to hunt for Jobs personally, Just waiting for my Singapore EPEC (Employment Pass Eligibility Certificate) to push through.

So whats the EPEC? well its a certificate and a 12-month Social Visit Visa to Singapore that will tell your prospective employers that they will not have a hard time getting an S-Pass or E-Pass when they decide to hire you. And as mentioned its a 12 month social visit visa, which means you can stay for a duration of 1 whole year in Singapore to look for work, granted that you can support yourself while you are there. Because you know tourists are only granted a maximum of 1 month stay in Singapore. So for me, knowing that I may have a hard time looking for work, since I have a really bad Curriculum Vitae, I need this EPEC.

Anyway thats all my scattered thoughts for the day. See yah!

Who am I?

Hey! I'm glad I decided to start writing my brain farts again!! I am really happy. I used to love writing and thinking and writing some more when I was younger. Well I'm still young, or at least I'd like to think that I am still young since I am only 25 years old.

I am married and I have a beautiful daughter who looks NOTHING LIKE ME!! yeah, sad as that may seem, she looks so much like her dad. And that's a good thing, because I'd like to think that my husband is handsome. all my daughter got from me is her gender and her vanity.

I am a writer, or I used to be. So now I want to rekindle my passion for writing and I hope I would get to entertain some of you along the way.

Cheers!