Today marks the first month of my very abrupt move to Singapore. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT, YES I MOVED TO SINGAPORE!

Until now, I have been getting Facebook messages from former colleagues asking me why they can't contact me via the office communicator. In case you missed it, I already resigned from HP last month. And in case you don't know, I'm not here in Singapore for vacation, as what the rest of those who have also private messaged me originally thought. Nope. Not on vacation. I am here for work. I have compiled the frequently asked questions I have received in a separate post. But first, I want to share an anecdote that will forever be ingrained in my mind.

AKA My Week So Far Vol. 2

Hello, world! I am typing this blog post from my new phone (Yup!) while on the bus to work, running late (for the first time here, believe it or not) because I just came from the bank, where I got my very first MasterCard debit card. (What took me so long to get one?!) There's a LOT of "big girl" moments for me this past week-- opening a bank account, queuing for a postpaid mobile account and watching a movie alone while waiting for for my turn, leaving the mall with an iPhone 6 using my savings, and buying my first piece of "furniture" and carrying it all the way home, to name a few--and it's only making me fall in love with this Singapore stint even more.

Now, let me tell you about work. As stated in my sidebar, I'm an IT Consultant, a general term I use in place of SAP ABAP Consultant because the latter's harder to explain in layman's term. I program business systems. I code. I debug business application errors. Basically, I have the same work title like the one I had in the Philippines. I'm under a contractual agency, and got deployed to a company VERY close to my heart. Can you guess which? (Hint: It's the same company I used to work for.)

Work has been great so far. Although here it's much different. Working up to the late hours is a norm. And when you say work, people do not kid around. It's work. Period. BUT I'm not even complaining. Right now, I'm just very grateful to have a job.

Apart from that, it helps a lot to have Filipino teammates who are more than willing to help whenever I encounter work issues. It's just a bonus that they are actually very welcoming too. After work last Friday, they brought me to Jollibee because it was June 12, after all. Then, we went to Clarke Quay for beer and a very fact-filled tour of the bay area. Thank you to my good-looking AND rich teammates for the warm welcome! (#insidejoke, also they read my blog so hiii!)

I have moved the rest of this VERY long post to separate blog posts because you probably won't read it if this whole thing was that long. I know I won't!

I live in an HDB unit where there are no full length mirrors. If you've been to my place, both in college and while already working in Metro Manila, you wouldn't miss the full length mirror that I have owned for 10 years. (Read: As soon as I set foot in Manila, I had my landlady buy one for me. It was 1.5 meters wide and taller than I am. People say they look prettier and slimmer looking at that mirror. IDK if it is true, but it was a good mirror that I had to say goodbye to before leaving for Singapore.)

I tried being mirror-free for two weeks but I couldn't take it any longer. I finally bought a full-length mirror a few days ago from the furniture shop, about 300 meters away from the public library I frequent. Here are some facts:

1. The furniture shop was more than a kilometer away from my house.
2. The mirror won't fit the taxi or the bus.
3. The mirror was heavy.
4. The shop owner offered to carry it for me.

You see, even though I, admittedly, can get my way in things with a simple smile, I am actually very prideful. If you tell me you want to do something for me and I feel like proving to myself that I can do it on my own, I will throw away all logic and do it myself.

I said to the owner, "No, Uncle. I can carry this! I live not too far away."

(LIES!)

So there I was carrying the mirror through the sidewalks of Ang Mo Kio, and I made very sure that I'd look like I'm not breaking a sweat while at it, too, carrying it like it was a clutch bag. I was trying to mentally one-up all the joggers in the area. But did it work? That, I will never know.

This is the mirror during my stopover in front of the library. Cheers to pride, independence AND vanity!

It's like a fuzzy dream. Not more than ten days ago, I was still in an isolated island in Palawan, having problems getting urgent requirements sent over the internet. (Read: 3G in the province sucks big time!) I almost thought it won't happen as I kept on facing a LOT of obstacles along the way, every single day. I won't bore you with every detail but I can tell you that it's been a long while since I prayed as much as I have during the past two weeks.

Why is my polaroid not on that wall yet until now, Gap Year Hostel??

It's a tradition: Chicken rice is ALWAYS the first and last meal

Santy's Ma-Yey Treat. Thanks a lot, bud! Wine night soon!

WHY AM I HERE???

"Pinanindigan ko na itong Jen Never Blogs. I never blogged."

Obviously, I haven't written anything on this blog in a LONG while! I have so many food and travel posts in my Drafts but I don't have the will or the time to finish them. Life has been overwhelming lately. I was too busy running around, making things happen that when I finally got a full night's sleep the other day, everything finally caught up with me. Suddenly, it just sank in. After weeks of denial. I just finally let go of the longest relationship I had--my employment with Hewlett Packard.

That was six years, and three and a half months of my life, only two weeks longer from another long relationship, the one with my last ex. (I'm a very loyal ~bae~, you see!) It didn't end really well with HP in a way, because I kept to myself during the past few weeks. I didn't want to see people. I was in denial that it was finally happening, but now that I think about it, it was because of legit sadness from the thought that I will be separating myself from a second family in Manila. It was like being in a breakup. I knew it was coming but I couldn't accept it. I knew I needed this to happen, but I was still holding on.

I don't have regrets in leaving HP. It was a life decision I needed to make because I was already too comfortable being mediocre with my career. What I maybe should have done though was to have bade everyone in the office a proper goodbye.

Hewlett Packard will always be a part of my life. This is where I made and nurtured lasting friendships. This is where I knew what I wanted to be in life, and how to be courageous enough to try to go and get to where I want to be.

I never got to send my farewell email because I already lost my email access, so I'll take this space to thank everyone I crossed paths with during my tenure--my ITO-GSD team, SAP Practice team and managers (who can kill it at ballroom dancing,) my Coke Appdev team, my Sharp Girls, Groove@HP, my Friday Night Club, and even the ISS employees who never fail to greet me every day. THANK YOU, EVERYONE!!! You will all be missed.

XO,
Jenn


P.S. For updates on my colorful life (lels sa colorful!), follow me on Instagram: @jenndpelaez -->This was really going to be in my original farewell email haha #plugplugplug)