airport

soul sisters

The Royalville species’ characters can be likened to a “halo-halo”, a popular delicious Filipino dessert. (See Exordium to have a preview of Royalville)

A mouth-watering halo-halo comprises of:

goodies (suits Majesty’s colorful life)
crushed ice (matches Majestylet’s cool personality)
sugar (fits Fairylet’s sweet nature)
milk (goes with Beautylet’s upbeat attitude)

The abovementioned ingredients should be complete in order to have a delectable halo-halo. Like the halo-halo, the Royalville ilks bring out the stupendous facet of each other’s magnetism by being together. Their souls are intertwined that wherever they are, the connection can undeniably be felt.

Here’s a quick look of the Royalville Family:

Majesty

Mother of the Royalville.
Queen of all Queens (sorry Queen E.).
With her regal look and posture, she’s absolutely to die for! She can pull off any outfit like a Holywood Celebrity… and I must say, she does it even better!

Prominent Feature: Voluptuous Figure
Skill: Wearing 5-inch high-heeled shoes
Interest: Shopping signature items
Big No No: Unfabulous Creatures

Majestylet

Daughterlet of the Future King of Royalville
She has a classic and elegant fashion sense and carries it with a punk attitude.
Fate designated her as Majesty’s Love Earth Angel whether she likes it or not.

Prominent Feature: Petite Frame
Skill: Giggling
Interest: Writing unfathomable articles
Big No No: Hypocrites

Fairylet

Sleeping Fairylet of Royalville
She loves taking a nap, anywhere and everywhere.
She initially wanted to become a nun but decided to postpone(?) it… and maybe eventually marry?

Prominent Feature: “Koreana” Eyes
Skill: Sleeping
Interest: Talking on the phone with that mysterious and extremely soft voice.
Big No No: Back fighters

Beautylet

Snow White Beautylet of Royalville.
She’s the youngest and newest member of the Royalville.
She certainly can’t go out without make up.
She loves to pick up Majestylet at the Airport all the time.

Prominent Feature: “Coupon Bond” Skin Color
Skill: Folding clothes like they’re freshly pressed
Interest: Reading Twilight books.
Big No No: Liars

Want to get to know them in detail? Look out for the next articles about the Royalville Family… Until then! 🙂

snow!

It’s always been my childhood dream to see a real snow and experience the four seasons (Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall). I lived most of my life in the Philippines and few years in Singapore wherein it’s summer most of the time!

Winter just ended when I went to Europe but I did experience Spring for three months. So, I still have Winter and Fall in my bucket list. Also, I promised myself that when I see a real snow, I will definitely take a pinch and savor the taste. Ha! Pardon my naivety. I am what I am. 😉

Following Big Bro’s master plan, I quietly migrated to North America during Winter time! It was crazy in a way because there were different timezones in every airport I went to for my connecting flights. Thus, my body clock was in a total chaos and I reached my destination absolutely stressed out… for a moment. :p

Stress was replaced with unconcealed childlike grin and excitement! My cousin picked me up at the airport together with her family. She told me that my “Matrix” coat is for Spring and is not thick enough for the Winter. My “Matrix” look had to wait (sorry Majestic Mom!). 😉

When we arrived at their house, I took a pinch of snow on top of her other car and tasted it. It reminded me of the ice in Chowking’s halo halo (Filipino dessert). It’s absolutely delicious and refreshing! Wohooo!

Previously, I never bothered to do it because the season was either sunny or rainy, warm or cold. I always bring small umbrella anyway. That would suffice back then. 😀 In a four season country, I learned that it’s a must to know the weather forecast so that you will know how to plan your outfit (how many layers), what jacket to wear (how thick or thin it is), if you will need mittens, etc.

Time flies… Spring is just around the corner and it will be Summer soon! I’ve noticed that a lot of locals love summer! However, for me, I anticipate Fall, Winter and Spring rather than the Summer. I’ve had my fair share of Summer in this lifetime, I think. -_- I was told that I will change my mind in a year or two. We’ll see.

Next winter, I will definitely make my own snow angel and snowman. Yabadabadoo!!!!

o.f.w. journey (part 1 of 2)

I was planning to work in Qatar but it looks like it’s not part of God’s itinerary for me. I felt that he was whispering to me, “My child, stay in Singapore for the moment”. And so I did.

And the story begins…

I chance upon my fellow GI (genuine ilokano) and “dabarkads” (a.k.a. friend), James Lee, when I went to do my clearance in my previous work. He mentioned that his sister is working somewhere in Singapore and pointed out that maybe I can try my luck there. He was kind enough to refer me to stay and share the rent in his sister’s place while looking for a job.

I quickly grabbed the opportunity without weighing the pros and cons. All I wanted at that time was to bounce back from the terrible and chaotic event that transpired. Moreover, I did not ask for money from my family because I knew that they also have their own financial obligations to settle. My little savings back then was not enough but I was not even worried.

As I think about it now, God sent an angel to help me with regards to money matters. No wonder I was not worried! God is indeed very good! Hence, I booked my flight and went to that part of Singapore with just few clothes in my luggage and no laptop at all. It’s like going to a battlefield without firearms. Ha!

Furthermore, I haven’t seen Joan (James Lee’s sister) in person and in photo. So I had no clue at all on how she looked like. After a three and a half hour flight, I took a taxi from the airport to Joan’s place. I was a bit apprehensive because I felt like we were traveling in the forest with the trees looming at me. I had goosebumps but I tried to maintain a relax facade.

I relaxed a bit when the taxi finally dropped me off at the entrance of a building. A couple were sitting at the entrance. The girl looked like James Lee’s female version so I presumed that she’s Joan… and I was right.

After sharing the sumptuous meal that they have prepared, I unpacked my stuff and then Joan and Jessie (Joan’s boyfriend) showed me around and taught me how to get to one place to the other. It was a long weekend when I got there, thus, most shops were closed including the money changers.

FYI: Joyce lent me her laptop (isn’t she an angel? ) and told me to send my resume to at least 1000 employers. According to her the trend there is to apply online and only shortlisted applicants will be called for an interview.

Within two months, I must find a job and as well as get my work pass approved within that span of time. A real big challenge ey?

To be continued in a jiffy… :p

luggage

… and here’s what happened at the airport…
(lost? check out the article, “flying” for a preview :p)

The rigid baggage check at the airport entrance made me scramble towards the first check in counter that I saw. When I regained my composure, I double checked from the airport official if I was on the right lane… and I was not. -_- Apparently, the lane that I was in was for China Airlines and I was supposed to board the Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM).

The long queue on the Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM) lane did not dampen my excitement. Before reaching the check in counter, the luggage needs to be weighed and I was totally shocked when the officer told me that the check in luggage should be 20 kilos and the hand carry should be 10 kilos!

(Note: The school (Maastricht School of Management) in Netherlands booked my flight. I unwittingly asked the luggage details (30 kilos for check in and 10 kilos for hand carry) from my friend but I did not bother to read through the notes on the travel itinerary. Later on, I learned that my friend travels first/business class most of the time and I was on the economy flight. -_- Silly me… I should have known better. As they say, there’s always a first time. Ha!)

My original plan was to place all heavy stuff in my check in luggage and have my hand carry (sling bag) contain all important documents. However, my check in luggage weighed nearly 45 kilos. Ha! I was so embarrassed! I quickly left the line and went to a corner to remove some of the contents of my luggage.

I opted to leave some of my clothes as well as the heavy souvenirs and dumped it temporarily on the vacant chair. I felt helpless because I don’t have extra suitcase to put in the excess and there’s no shop nearby that sells a bag or a paper bag. One pregnant airport staff offered assistance by giving me a big SM (ShoeMart) plastic bag and proposing that some of the heavy personal belongings should be placed inside the plastic bag to lighten up my check in luggage.

courtesy of: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3047/2304129509_ee591da312.jpg — similar to this but bigger

She kindly watched the excess things that I placed on the empty chair as I went to queue again for the second time. Sadly, my luggage was few kilos more than the allowed weight. I don’t have budget to pay the excess kilos so I went to the same corner to remove some more “junk”. The pregnant airport staff advised me to add the other heavy things in the big plastic bag and asked me to leave the big plastic bag with her together with the excess stuff.

For the third time, with my luggage and sling bag in tow, I went to queue again. I was apprehensive when it was my turn to weigh because I don’t want to go through the whole process of removing junk again. Fortunately, I passed the weighing “test” this time. Whew! Finally, I was able to check in my luggage and get my boarding pass.

I took the excess stuff and gave it to my family. Good thing my father, stepmother and younger sister were still outside waiting for me to board the plane. The pregnant airport staff was patiently waiting for me in my little corner. I took the heavy big plastic bag and gave her a lunch money as a small token. It’s truly heartwarming to see angels everywhere… 🙂

The immigration officer looked at my “hand carry” then asked if I can manage. I gave a sweet smile and told him that its light but the truth was, it weighed more than 10 kilos. O_O I passed through the immigration and boarded the plane without a fuss. Indeed, the big green SM plastic bag accompanied me to Europe…

Lesson Learned:
Carefully go through the luggage details.
Weigh the luggage before going to the airport.
Bring extra bags. 😀

airport

After I knocked off from work, I went straight to the airport via train with few dollars in my wallet. I decided to exchange my dollars to ringgit (Malaysian currency) once I reach KL since my friend will be fetching me at the airport in Kuala Lumpur (KL). My flight was Friday evening so I thought it will be crowded at the check in counter but it was not.

At the boarding area, the officer reminded me to place my phone inside my bag. The baggage checked went well. I was looking forward to enter the boarding area to have a nap because

I was so exhausted. However, when I presented my boarding pass, the officer mentioned that I was in the wrong flight and my flight will be the next one. The officers were smiling while I muttered “sorry” and “thank you” with an embarrassed laugh.

I thought I was late so I was in a hurry. I did not check the boarding time because I was so anxious that my mindset was to get to the boarding area as fast as I could. Sigh… I went outside to wait for the boarding time. I was so exhausted from work, starving and sleepy. After about half an hour, I was permitted to enter the boarding area. When I went back the officer said, “you’re here again”, with a teasing smile.

Once the plane landed at the LCC terminal in KL around 10:45 p.m., hurriedly went to the arrival area to meet my friend. To my surprised, she was not there and my hand phone chose to be faulty at that time so I can’t even message or call her.

I was walking for half an hour trying to search for her and when I can’t find her, I went inside the airport again (although it’s prohibited). I explained my dilemma to the first officer I saw at the same time I asked where I can find the money changer. He pointed the location and mentioned that it’s near the coffee shop.

It must be pure coincidence or a blessing in disguise because my friend was waiting near the coffee shop which was incidentally the arrival area for domestic flights.

Whew! Until next adventure…