Getting my Police Clearance

Most of the process takes place in a small alley beside a building in the police compound as you see in the picture. The line of applicants isn't too long fortunately and the process is pretty efficient.

The process: First pay 10 to get your cedula which proves you paid your community tax, it's supposed to be a percentage or your salary but nobody does that. Next pay 100 to get your police clearance processed, renewal or new is the same process.

I am immediately noted by people working in the process that I am travelling abroad, they asked it several times because I wrote it in my application form. I guess the other people didn't write that down because they weren't being asked. I think I am the only one they asked if I could give them some money for a snack.

Next they get your finger prints. I am told I can wash my hands in their sink and I can pay any amount I want for use of their soap. I give a 10. (I know I'm cheap)

Next my photo is taken for the amount of 20 using a webcam. The 1st pic shows a computer setup in the alley and later they print your pic into your document from the printer there. Then I am asked if I need my document today, a rush process costs me 100.

Then I had to wait. I was told to sit by the fan and I was told it only costs 2 pesos. But I wasn't sure if he said something else because he murmured it. I asked him "what?" and he said never mind. Maybe I asked too loudly. I was by the fan and when the person next to me left and the fan was closed. But it was windy anyway.

While waiting I noted how evenly the pattern of finger prints are smeared all over the wall. no 2 finger prints overlap. See the pic, it almost looks like wall paper right? I guess some people rather not pay for soap.

Finally my name is called and I got to the printer to print my picture on it. I was asked again if I could give them some money for a snack and I said I would, and gave them 50 on my way out of the alley. That's not really a bribe since I did it at the end.

The process took no more than an hour. Pretty fast if you ask me as long as they don't mistype your name. A fellow applicant had to resubmit because of a typo.

Sunday at Greenbelt

My trip to the US is now pretty certain. So we went to Greenbelt 5 to buys clothes so I'll look presentable to the clients. Bought 3 long sleeves and slacks at Banana Republic. Total is around 15k, not bad.

We were supposed to buy shoes for me but ended up at Crocs. Mom, May and I each bought a pair of Crocs. Funny, how my fake Crocs costs 200 but my real Crocs costs 2k. The real Crocs seem a bit harder because the sole is denser, where with the fake Crocs I can feel the contours of the ground.

We ate at John and Yoko a japanese restaurant. May thought it was funny when a passerby commented: "John and Yoko? yoko jan!" (translation: I don't like that place.) Food was so so.

1st is a picture of Mom pretending  not to monitor me though she is watching my every move. 2nd pic is Mom and May after seeing an outfit that looked really cute for Caitlynn asked about it if they have the correct size. I think they didn't have the correct size so nothing bought. 3rd pic are my new Crocs!

Skype on the iPad

Finally saw the iPad being used for Skype. Gage is still addicted to angry birds. He has learned to use a mouse because of angry birds. Fortunately he has daycare and kinder school so he is not playing all the time. Angry birds isn't bad, but if there could be more variety in his interests I think that would be great.

May asked if he was behaving, Che says Gage doesn't usually like to eat his vegetables. She shaves carrots into his spaghetti to get veggies inside him. Gage will always do what Grant instructs.

Is there a competition between Caitlynn and him in eating or envy? Gage when he saw Che feeding Caitlynn also wants to be fed, he tasked Grant to feed Caitlynn and Che to feed him.

We also saw Caitlynn, she stared at us a bit. Gage also showed us his jump.

Lunch News: Bing-Bing's husband, Mom scented, Birthday dinner idea

I overheard Mom and Bing-Bing, Mom asking if her husband was successful in his job application. Unfortunately no, they needed a college graduate and they had a maximum age limit. He has been continually applying with no success. That's all I heard over lunch, a slow news day.

I gave Mom the scented sanitizer, she said she'll keep it in her bag for emergency, I was going to give the other to May but she took both.

May's birthday is coming up on Thursday. I suggested the Omakase at the Ayala triangle. May said the traffic might be bad but it was an interesting proposal since she'd like to eat there.

I asked Pie to buy a shared gift: iPod earphones. She's been looking for cheap versions since her ear phones break easily. Fortunately she does not read this blog so it will still be a surprise.

Scented Sanitizers

Bought some orange and watermelon scented sanitizers being sold by my co-worker seat mate. I though May and Mom might like them. Of course, I will them it got them as free samples otherwise they might save them and never use them.

Rockwell, Classic Cuisine, Aperture Laboratories

This Sunday Dad wanted to find the price for jasmine rice having acquired some in his bidding. We went to Rockwell and Dad asked around pretending to be interested in buying.

May went off to buy some chippy and carbonated ice tea. I bought a rolitoland toy for Pie and Portal 2. Mom bought a type of sugar for diabetes and flax seed powder. Dad went to look at the car display.

Max seeing Dad and Mom eating ice cream demanded some.

Later we are at C2 (classic cuisine). Food was pretty good: mongo and tilapia, bulalo, pansit, crispy pork with kare-kare sauce and crispy fish in coconut sauce. We didn't finish it all of course. We were seated near the rest room and kids kept on runnig out and into the rest room causing Max to bark everytime he saw anyone run like a hall monitor, I tried running too and he also barked at me.

When we got home May and I watched the Glee rendition of the song Friday. Afterwards it's time to revisit the Aperture Laboratories in the game Portal 2 in PS3. I tried to convince May to try the cooperative play version of the game, she rather watch Community because there was a cross over to Cougar Town.

A Snack Before Bed

Arrived last night at 4 am then I recalled there are still some left over meat balls from lunch. Add brown rice and vegtables and I have a nice snack before I go to sleep at 6 am. (I need to read a bit of "A Game of Thrones" first).

Lunch News: Boiled Peanuts, Salad and Cabinets Destroyed

 Found these dark peanuts on Mom's desk. She eating the left over peanuts from last week when Dad bought a kilo of it raw for only 50 pesos and had Luc boil them.

At some point after eating the expensive salads of the brand "goolai" so many times I grew tired of the taste and smell of their salads, but I had craving for some crunchy veggies so I bought again. Their salads aren't bad, but with the ingredients packed together their smells combine so something that is not so fresh smelling.

Goodbye to the 20 year old infested with termites. The wash room has so much space now but Dad plans to put a cabinet from the bidding in that is much too big. Dad and Mom, they love to get the items from the biddings and place them in the house though furniture always seem out of place and the wrong size.

Impending US Trip

Once again the possibility of an onsite assignment is looming in the horizon. In 3 weeks I will know if a team mate will be able to go onsite or if not, I need to go.

It's mainly the work load I am dreading, especially on-call week where you need to be available to handle production issues 24 hours a day. You sleep with a cell phone beside you. Then again it would be great to work late, eat little or a lot, go to church or drink alcohol, without there being an issue.

New Books from Dad

Dad acquired a lot of books probably through bidding. They are mostly for business but May found a few young adult books, perfect for Gage or Caitlynn when they grow up.

I said the books are probably form the 1800s, Dad heard and was outraged

Happy Mother's Day

We ate at Seryna at little tokyo, very authentic Japanese cuisine. The salmon roll had a crisp skin in the middle. we the vinegar, spicy oil, and soy sauce you had to mix on your own for the gyoza. The sukiyaki, used the raw egg to dip your hot meat and noodles in. Again we ordered too much.

How do I know Mom watches my every move? I was thinking I wanted more rice and just then she asks me to take her rice. Every need is anticipated.

Party at Dannyboy's place

All of Mom's side of the family were invited. Food was korean: dumpling, grilled pork, kimchi, beef stew... cake and fondue at the end. 3 events in one: (1) Kristine's going away party, Mother's day and Pacquiao's fight.

After lunch we played bingo and watched the slide presentation of the Boracay trip and a tribute to Kristine. Dannyboy gave a rose to each mother. And there were picture's from Boracay framed and given to the guests. Mom's picture's were pretty good, Dannyboy has recently taken of photography and photographed the pictures that were framed and in the slide show.

Pie, a big fan of Pacquiao, was watching the fight from a movie house. Before coming to the party, he texted that we should let Ado go home to watch the fight. Pie was not able to make it to the party though but was pretty close to attending. When he tried to get into the compound the guard would not let him in, this was because the non-owners were only allowed to go in thru the main entrance. Pie, irritated, went back home, which is just a couple of minutes away.

Night News: Heat, Rain, Shows, Nek Nek not hungry, Mahjong

We're almost done watching all the shows and it is night time already. It's been a hot day and it has started to rain. Nek Nek again does not want to eat, May suspects he might have gotten wet and gotten sick. Of course Dad has his Mahjong session again.

Saturday again

Another Saturday of watching shows until we vomit. Tomorrow Dannyboy invites us to attend Kristine's despedida.

Ryan wakes at 2:30pm

Ryan, after reading the the novel "The girl with the dragon tatoo." until about 5 in the morning, slept till 2:30pm. He did wake up several times because of the heat and then adjust him self nearer to the the fan. He thinks, better to get as much sleep as possible, there's no great need to come to work early, but he did not expect to wake at 2:30pm. Still he was glad he got a lot of sleep.

The novel he is reading is a real page turner and he has bought the other 2 books in the sequel: The girl who played with fire and the girl who kicked the hornet's nest. Yesterday Sunday, he bought a box set of the Game of Thrones after watching the 1st 2 episodes even though he found the 2nd episode depressing or unsatisfying.

We ate at Cerchio

Tonight we ate at Cerchio in a small street off of Tomas Morato. The dish in the picture is a grilled sea food and meat dish good for 3 to 4 people. It wasn't bad. As usual: Pie did not join us, Dad does his micro back seat driving, Mom watches every bite I eat and eats very little herself in fear I run out of food. But not so usual is May not with earphones listening to her podcasts.

We were supposed to celebrate Mom's birthday here in this restaurant but she was elsewhere on her birthday. He haven't celebrated her birthday yet.

Ryan at the Mightee Mart

After a quick hair cut that cost P80 + P40 tip, Ryan goes into Mightee Mart located near Tayuman station. He bought the following items:

• small wooden chopping board - we don't have one or it is very well hidden
• 2 small bars of soap - he needs them small for washing after a swim
• a small pack of Tide - to hand wash his caps, so they don't get ruined

The Chippy here costs P23.

Torrent Status

Another weekend coming up. As usual it will be spent watching TV shows. That is all we do, we are either sitting in front of a screen at work or doing the same at home. Looking forward to watching Game of Thrones, ABDC, American Idol, America's Next Great Restaurant, Top Chef Masters, Celebrity Apprentice.  

What we ate.

I am often asked what I've been eating or what I just ate. People are interested in other people's diet it seems, but I wonder what pleasure they find in that. I checked the tray in Pie's room, so I know he ate siomai with calamansi and iced tea. I realize then there is joy in the invasion of someone else's privacy. I can't wait to let him know later that I KNOW, hoping to annoy him.

For the reader's pleasure I give what I ate for lunch: Garlic broccoli and fried meat balls with rice of course. Enjoy in knowing!