Just thinking

Finally

2006-11-14T11:32:00.000+08:00

The dream has become a reality. After almost an eternity of applications, follow-ups and rejections, I have finally arrived in Singapore. Yes, it is true, no hoaxes here. I arrived last week on my birthday and could not be happier. Everything I read about and saw on TV about Singapore were nothing compare to actually experiencing them. The nice cool weather, the warm people, the high-tech and precise transportation system and the beautiful tourist spots and vibrant malls all make this migration 10 times as fantastic.

Stayed with a family friend for the first week, then moved in to my new home last Sunday at Bukit Panjang. Very nice family: Singaporean husband, Filipina wife and their very cute daughter. They even treated me out on my first night to welcome me to the family which was very sweet.

My job here is your basic average everyday programming tasks. Maintenance, enhancement and development of in-house systems. Working for the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) of Singapore, a division of the Ministry of National Development (MND), one of the biggest goverment agencies here, so alot of potential for growth hopefully.

Anyways, as I type this, the aircon for my room is being installed and hopefully by next week I should get a TV and Laptop and subscribe to Cable and Internet as well. Not a lot of things to do here with regards to entertainment besides the usual fair of movies, arcade games and bars. Hoping to go to Sentosa, Night Safari and Marina Bay with my friends who moved here as well from the Philippines. Will post pictures of those trips hopefully soon.

Posting this partly because Im really bored at work. hehe.

All for now, peace and God Blesss!

One down ... Four to go

2006-02-22T18:57:00.000+08:00

Today I took my very first MCP or Microsoft Certified Professional Exam. It was 70-315 Developing and Implementing Web Applications with Microsoft Visual C# .NET and Microsoft Visual Studio .NET. I had been reviewing for a good 3-4 weeks now and felt that I was prepared for the exam. So early last week I called up DBWizards and scheduled an exam for monday. After speaking with the exam coordinator, I was moved to a wednesday morning schedule. No problem I thought, more time to review.

Fast forward to early this morning. Woke up early because an email from Prometric advised that I arrive at the testing center a good 15-30 minutes before the exam to fill out any necessary documents and to pay the fees. So I woke up at 615 and headed straight to the bathroom. To my horror, we were out of water. "Of all the days", I thought to myself. Its a good thing that there were 2 buckets of water at my disposal. They were ice cold, but what the hell. I then dressed up and met my girlfriend at her place so we could go together to Makati. The line to the shuttle was long, unfortunately, there was no shuttles to attend to the lines. After about 10 or 15 minutes, one arrived after the other, calming my nerves. I tried to keep my mind off the exam so that whatever knowledge in my head wouldnt black out when I actually took the exam. Once I arrived at my stop, my girlfriend and I parted ways and I proceeded to the testing center.

Once I arrived at the building, I was greeted by my former officemate who mentioned that he was to also leave his current company soon. Once I entered the testing center, I said that I was there for an exam and the receptionist asked me to take a seat. I was surprised to see another former officemate waiting there. She mentioned that another former officemate of mine was going to take an exam at the same day. When she left, the exam coordinator handed me a form containing all guidelines for taking exams. I read it carefully and signed. I then handed my payment, P 2903.04. That was a lot of cash and I was a little hesitant in paying. I would either get my moneys worth or cry and kick myself in the nuts soon after, depending on the exam result. I asked if I could take in any scratch paper. She asked why. I said that I just wanted to keep a tally of my correct, incorrect and unsure answers. The passing score for the exam, I had heard, was 800 or 80%, so I felt it was important for me to monitor my progress at any given time. She mentioned that a white board was in the workstation for me to use in anyway I feel.

So at exactly 9AM, I was escorted in the testing area and was told to click on start when ready. Now, I cant reveal what exactly were asked in the exam because of the Microsoft NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement), but I can tell you that you need to review, review and then review some more. When the exam was over, I wasnt quite sure about the number of questions I got correct, but I was sure that I got 80% right, I think. TO my surprise and delight, i got 98.1% or 981 exactly. I was so extatic, happy and overjoyed. I felt like crying, and I did. I cant explain why I cried, it was probably because I had started on the steps I needed to take to become an MCAD, then MCSD, then have the grapes to apply for a job in Singapore. "I am an MCP!" I cant believe it until now. It hasnt quite sunk in yet. Maybe when I get that email from Microsoft or when I receive the MCP welcome kit. Either way, im friggin happy out of my mind.

I hope this story inspires people that If you work hard and you persevere, dreams can come true. Peace out!

first day funk

2006-02-13T19:17:00.000+08:00

Today was my first day at work at WebWorks in Libis. I woke up reasonably early and headed on my way. Getting a tricycle this morning was no problem, plus I actually sat in the front this time. If I dont sit at the front, the trike usually does a wheely. Hehe. Took a while before an airconditioned bus came along. Now, Im not the type of guy who doesnt like the heat so I dont ride the ordinary buses. Its just that if you get on a bus thats ordinary, the stop closest to Robinsons is near the Ortigas MRT station. Thats quite far from the shuttle. Whereas riding an aircon bus drops me right in front of the shuttles. See, I told you I wasnt maarte! As I was positioning myself for a more comfortable position in the bus, I realized that the spaghetti given to me as baon had stained my white pants! My shirt was tucked in, so I had to tuck it out to save myself from speculations that I could not hold my bladder. Hehe. The shuttle also left as soon as I got in. I did get a call however from my agent asking if I was on the way to work. hehe. I can go to work between 7Am and 10Am, and it was only 915Am. The HR dude thought I wasnt going to show anymore. Hehe.

Once I arrived at the office, the HR dude oriented me on the basics of office life. He told me that I would receive a blue WebWorks shirt that was supposed to be worn on Mondays and Thursdays. He mentioned the shifting schedule and where to get some grub. We then left the meeting room and he proceeded introducing me to all the personnel in the office. After we made the rounds, he pointed me at my desk. I could not help but be pleased. It was a significantly large cubicle with lots of room for stuff. Around this time, my machine was being setup. The specs were also quite impressive: P4 3.0 GHZ, 1GB Ram, 15" monitor, 80GB HD. Woohoo!

After setting up my email account and other network credentials, my project manager and I met for initial project introductions. He explained the project specifications, team members, and my role within the group. I was then asked to install the necessary development applications on my machine and left for lunch.

When I got back, I was asked to review a document detailing the architecture of the project. I would be doing this for quite some time until a fellow teammate was ready to turnover his work to me. Needless to say, It got real boring real quick. I decided to review for my 70-315 exam to keep myself awake, but to no avail. I drifted off for what seemed like 15 minutes. I woke up to the calls of my project manager inviting me to join them for some birthday celebration in the nearby meeting room. I could never say no to free ice cream and cake. I had me some of that and proceeded back to reviewing.

As the day drew to a close, I inquired from my project manager if I could avail of the discount on the certification exams since they were a Microsoft Gold partner. He told me he would look into it. Woohoo! Those exams are not cheap. Without the discount, the would cost me almost 5K a pop! Im crossing my fingers.

Anyway, im on my way home now. its approximately 7:39 PM now. Hope I can still reach the cricket game when i get home.

Peace out!

coding $hit

2006-02-08T17:59:00.000+08:00

Next week im going to transfer to my 5th company, webworks os. But this almost didnt happen because of shit that happened when i was trying to be my usual creative self and almost destroyed the same program i created!

It all started with me wanting to create a setup program for the C# class i created. I wanted deployment to be a breeze. I wanted the program to initialize the IISRESET command, copy the files into the designated directory, then run the IISRESET command again. After testing, I decided to launch it and was able to succesfully install it. Confident of my accomplishment, I uninstalled the program again and proceeded testing the application. The initial files were already on the directory so uninstalling didnt really make a difference. When I checked the folder, the files were missing! Good thing I had a backup folder and just restored them. But when I tested, something far worse happened! The code didnt work anymore. It failed on a line of code that worked the first time I tried it before! WAAAAAH! Wha the fuck just happened was my initial reaction. Keeping it to myself to not alert my project manager (who assumed that everything was hunky-dory). I tried fixing it to no avail. I attributed it to some server error and hoped that restarting or shutting down the machine and booting again would fix it. But it didnt! Sweet mother of GOD was my next reaction. I was so fucking scared! What the fuck have I done??? After several hours of grueling testing and investigation, I saw that my uninstall also unregistered the COM object which I was using. FUCKING SHIT! So i registered it and then tested on my make-shift web app. It worked again. Now the next problem was that on the actual scenario where it was supposed to run, the application that would call my DLL and run the appropriate scripts. Well guess fucking what? It didnt! It didnt run SHIT! It didnt even run the simple write to file method i had created. Viewing the event viewer (hey, that rhymes!), I saw that there was a read access error on the config xml file on the main directory. What really fucking bugged me was that there was no problem before! Son-of-a-cocksucking-dickbrain! So i just added the appropriate permissions on the file and everything went back to normal. Well, almost. Now I think my project manager doesnt trust me as much cause I had to let him know what was going on because some bitch wanted me to demo my code. Ill show her my code, hoar cocksucker! He saw the program didnt work, and the bitch was all high and might and shit!

Thankfully, everything is ok now. Hopefully, ill deploy tomorrow to production and use the rest of the day to test the DLL.

Whats the moral of the story? If you think you're need program needs something extra or additional stuff, pull an ass hair and wake up! Its fine just the way it is.

THE END

Its been a year since the last one

2006-02-05T19:47:00.000+08:00

Its been a year since my last blog, and it was about valentines day. I wont be as mushy this year.... i think. What I will be talking about is all the stuff thats been going the past year and hopefully make updating this blog a regular thing.

When I last blogged, it was feb, so I was probably at my old company, Fuji Xerox. Believe or not, I'm on to almost 5 jobs in less than 2 years. Yup! no joke. First PCIT in makati for 6 months, then Fuji Xerox, also at makti, for 6 months, Trend Micro in Libis for 8 months, Soluziona in Ortigas for less than a month, then Im starting work at WebWorks next week. Damn, its been a rough year! I know what you're thinking? Why did I leave? Simple, I didnt. End of contract was the reason. Now would I have stayed if not for the end of contract? Probably not either! hahahahahahahaha

My girlfriend and I celebrated being 3 years in love last june 29. That was special. I admit, things get rough between us, and sometimes, things get really rough, but we have something that is really special, and we will have that for the rest of our lives, no matter what may happen in our relationship. I love you baby! I promise i wouldnt (sniffle) get (sniffle) mushy .... :)

Celebrated a birthday as well, i am now 23 years old. Funny, i dont feel 23. Actually i have never felt my age after 16. I think thats normal. I think.

I met a really nice bunch of people at work in Trend Micro. I have never had work friends, and I never thought i would have so much fun with them. They are really are a weird group of freaks! hahahahahaha

Nothing else happened this last year worth mentioning. Im looking ahead towards the near future. Im planning to pursue my Microsoft certification that will hopefully get me a ticket towards Singapore. Hopefully I will be blogging good news on that date.

Thats all for now. I might start another blog site for some random thoughts stuff, but its all in the conception stage. Will post a link if my plans bear fruit.

Peace out and Happy Valentines to everyone!

Valentines Day

2005-02-14T10:35:00.000+08:00

This is the day of days, the day that says to you, "If you can't think of anything romantic or sweet thing to do, you are better off eating the scum from the bottom of a ship than being with that special someone". This is how Valentines Day is to most people, women especially. But why? Why do we need a day to tell us when to be especially thoughtful and loving? Wouldn't it be nice if we could be romantic at anytime of the year, rather than a day demanding it from us? This is how I feel. Don't get me wrong, I think Feb 14 is wonderful. Everyone is happy and jolly. There is a certain spring in everyone's step that no one can deny. Strangers smile at one another for no apparent reason; a silent understanding that covers all cultures and walks of life. The world is definitely better off with Valentines Day. I think we can all agree on that. That being said, Valentines should be there for us to take that extra step to make someone feel more special. You know what I mean, If you take your girl out for lunch everyday, perhaps today you could bring her to a fancy restaurant and order some exotic food. If you give your man a 10 minute massage, maybe you give him a 60 minute one and throw in a little "show". Hehe. It's all about the little things. Make them remember today for the rest of their lives. That should be everybody's motto.

Happy Valentines everybody!

Working abroad and other stuff ...

2005-01-31T16:36:00.000+08:00

Working Abroad

A few of my closest friends and family know of my plans of working abroad, particularly, in Singapore. I chose to work there because of the quality of life there is significantly better than that of the Philippines, and opportunities for career growth are more than abundant there. I decided this some time after Christmas. Actually, I decided a long time ago to work abroad, Singapore as an option started only a month ago.

As soon as weighed the pros and cons of working there, I set out to research about working and living conditions there. I was pleasantly surprised to know that Singapore is very friendly and welcomming towards expats. This strengthened my resolve further to pursue migration there. I 'tweaked' my resume and started applying at JobsDB, JobStreet, AsiaOneCareers, and other Singapore and international job sites. As you may have already guessed, I haven't gotten any responses as of yet, but that has not stopped me from checking the above mentioned sites everyday and applying for jobs that I fell I am qualified for.

That being said, i wondered: "How many jobs have I applied for?" This question has been on mind for some time now with no clear answer. I now set out to answer this question by looking at my applied jobs record at the above sites and at my sent folder in my Yahoo! Mail account. This is the first time I am seeing these, I am quite anxious to know how many jobs I have not been selected for. Hehe. Here goes.

Sunday, January 2, 2005
- Programmer/Software Engineer
- Access / SQL Programmer
- .NET developer
- Visual Basic Software Engineers

Wednesday, January 5, 2005
- Programmer/Programmer Analyst

Tuesday, January 11, 2005
- System Analyst
- Software Engineer

Thursday, January 13, 2005
- Analyst Programmers/Software Programmers
- Software Engineer/(Web Programming)
- .NET Developer

Friday, January 14, 2005
- Jnr .NET Software Engineer, Developer
- Junior IT Executive

Sunday, January 16, 2005
- Programmers / Analyst Programmers
- IT Trainer (Full-time)
- Training Specialist

Monday, January 17, 2005
- School Teacher Asst(O/A) - (Sengkang/5 Days)
- Software Developer
- Software Developer
- Analyst Programmer
- VB/.Net Developers

Wednesday, January 19, 2005
- .net developers

Thursday, January 20, 2005
- IT Specialist - MS Access
- IT Trainer/Instructor
- Australian/New Zealander Customer Service Rep
- Business Analysts

Sunday, January 23, 2005
- Software Engineers
- IT Trainer (Secondary School)
- IT Temp (Access VBA)
- Programmer-ASP.net
- Analyst Programmer

Monday, January 24, 2005
- Web Application Programmer
- Software Analysis
- IT Officer
- .Net Developers (Ms Technologies)
- Software Engineer
- Junior .NET ANALYSTS / DEVELOPERS
- Junior .net developers
- IT Executive - Application Developer
- Programmer Analyst (1 year Contract)
- Software Engineer

Tuesday, January 25, 2005
- Business Analysts
- Visual Basic Developers
- Web Application Developer

Wednesday, January 26, 2005
- IT (Fresh Graduates)
- Webmaster / Web Administrator

Thursday, January 27, 2005
- Analyst Programmer / Applications
- MS Excel/ VBA Consultant
- Web Developer

Sunday. January 30, 2005
- ANALYST PROGRAMMERS

Monday, January 31, 2005
- Software Developers

50 jobs! That's insane! Well, like I said before, this will not stop my dream of working there. And as of today, I am going to keep a close tally of the jobs I apply for from here on end. Something for me to look back on and smile when I'm old and gray. Hehe.

That's all for now! Peace!

Yesterday and some Random Thoughts

2005-01-27T09:00:00.000+08:00

What happened yesterday ...

I discovered this cool site for blogging. Discovered isn't the right word though, I think a million people must be using already. I programmed a hell lot yesterday and got the job done. I plan to expand and improve on it today. Went home fairly late and, as always, was accompanied by the cutest girl in the world, my girlfriend! He. We didn't talk a whole lot on the way, think because we were very tired. On the way home, I thought a lot about the future and how it seemed so close, yet, so far. My family borrowed "The Village" and watched it after having dinner. The movie was well conceptualized and the beginning was built up quite well. The middle and ending however, which seemed to have been meshed, left more to be desired from. An Ok movie, not worth seeing twice though. Watched some "American Idol" before falling asleep. Boy, there are some real weirdos in the U.S. Fell asleep thinking bout the future again. I've been doing that a lot lately.

Random Thoughts

Why is everyone so pissed at Bill Gates? I haven't got the slightest clue. They claim that he has done some unfair business practices; that he wants to monopolize the market; that he is greedy. C'mon! Can anybody show me a businessman or woman who does not possess any of these characteristics? Some have probably worse. The only crime that he has committed is that everyone knows about it, and because of the scale of it. So is that the problem? The scale? Hypocrisy is increasingly becoming the religion of choice for businessmen.

How in the world did we get so addicted to mobile phones? I mean its borderline insane. When did it become necessary to change your unit every 6 months? Are we so pathetically lonely that we need the security of knowing that at any point in the day, or night, we can contact another pathetically lonely human being? I was almost certain that this would be a fad that would fade before we knew it, kinda like the brickgame. But it's here to stay and it's stronger than ever. Don't get me wrong, I like using it. It's certainly useful in many aspects. Making communication easier is definitely not a step back in any society, but blowing your P500 load in 2 hours is not exactly common sense. Hello? Have you heard of the landline? Did everyone forget PLDT all of a sudden?

My First BLOG

2005-01-26T10:28:00.000+08:00

First of all...

A place for my thoughts, a place where I can express what I feel and what I think without people judging on them. I think I'm going to like this.

My first blog will be a comment for all the bloggers out there who seem really, really sad. I read most blogs of people I know, and I'm really suprised with what I see, or rather, not surprised anymore. They all have this morbid and dark look at life. They have this tone of downward desperation that echoes throughout cyberspace, as if all hope has gone to the water drain of life. I know life sucks, believe ME, I know. But does this really warrant such awful and bleak comments? I'd like to think no. Why? Because although life is not it's all cracked up to be, a lot of people out there have it much worse, much, much worse. If your main complaint is that the person you've been eyeing and talking to for the last four years does not feel the same way as you do; or, your mom or dad does not want to give you that cell phone or car or bag that you've always wanted; or, you broke up and can't let go of your love; or some other meaningless crap that seems to only affect YOU, stop and look around. There are people with bigger problems than you my friend. Whenever you feel down and out, thinking the whole world is against you, here is some sound advice: IT ISN'T! Try and think about the children who can't go to school because he is to busy taking care of his sick parents; think about the single mom trying to make ends meet and still have time for her children; try and think about all the people in the world and you'll see that what you have isn't so bad.

Life is beautiful, and people on the internet need to see that. If you have a positive outlook on things and some net surfer, who's feeling particularly down, happened to pass by, it could make their day. So try and look at the brighter side, because the life you change could be your own.