I'm awaking from a long hiatus to write about three major breakthroughs in my journey towards financial freedom. 

But first, a quick background because it's not something that I've written about.

A Quick Background

I grew up in a middle class family in a Philippine province--the beautiful island province of Palawan. What that means is that whatever the cost of living and socioeconomic standards are in Metro Manila, where I come from is automatically significantly a step lower because it's also a lower 'class' city.

My parents did well in making sure I get the best possible education in my hometown. And when I moved to Manila for my college education, my Academic Excellence scholarship significantly helped in ensuring I get a degree from a top computer university with minimal expenses.

As an only child, I will not say we had more than enough, nor were we comfortable.

Fast-forward to starting my first job out of college during the height of a global financial crisis, otherwise known as The 2008 Global Recession, I quickly learned that money was crucial for survival as early as the first paycheck that hit my corporate payroll account.

In stories here and there on this blog, you'll see how I have come (literally) far--from Manila to Singapore to NYC--and I'm happy to say that while I have not reached my Financial Independence (FI) goal, I'm now at a level that is comfortable enough for me to have multiple ventures and be less risk-averse to achieve my goals.

As far as growth goes, my salary trajectory throughout the years have been astronomical. That said, the cost of living also significantly went up. Lifestyle creep is real and it was only until the pandemic when I started getting more serious with building wealth. 

The WHY

Like any other objective, it's important to clearly state the WHY--the reason why the objective matters. I have several reasons.

1. My parents took care of their parents because their parents didn't have a retirement plan. My parents also don't have their own retirement plan. If they get sick during old age, Philippine pension from their jobs wouldn't be nearly enough to cover the expenses. They will rely on me to pay for medical bills and other living costs.
2. I want to build my own family and that requires a lot of money, in this day and age. Recent studies show that raising one child until they are 17 years old will cost up to $310,000. This number is bound to go up every year, with how inflation rates are going wild in the past years.
3. I want to be financially independent to the point where if I want to quit my corporate job, I can still support myself. Being free from money worries has a significant mental health correlation. 

Significant W's

Earlier this year, I created three different personal finance goals that I want to reach before January 1, 2023 and I'm happy to say that I reached them a full 2 months ahead of schedule.

Goal 1: Net Worth

This was something I always knew I had to hit so I can get real traction towards my FI goal. 

If I'm going to be honest, I would have reached this goal so so much faster if I did things differently, like shared housing with a roommate, not living in Manhattan, not paying for the many hobby classes I'm taking--basically not having a life would have gotten me to save so much more of my takehome pay. That said, I'm in a city that every kid has dreamed of living in, including myself. 

The cost of living here is arguably an investment in itself. I get to walk to work, to my every hobby and interest, to see friends--all without needing more than 30 minutes of my travel time. My yoga, pole, improv, dance, indoor cycling, gym classes are all below 10-min walking distance.

I will not change a thing because by being where I am located, I'm also exposed to the type of mindset that I need to have to continue fuelling my drive. New York City is truly as intoxicating and as frenetic as they say, in a good way.

Goal 2: Dividend Income

Back in December 2021, I opened a separate brokerage account in Schwab with an intention of making it a portfolio with only one objective--to create a passive income stream by the way of ETF dividends. No individual stocks, no growth stocks, no tech stocks--strictly ETF only that pays out dividends. 

I was so cute back then setting a goal of $100/year of dividends earned for the Next 12 Months. I quickly learned that it wasn't that difficult to get to $100. 

So in Q2, I upped my goal to a more ambitious $1,000/year of dividend income. That's about $83 of income earned every month without me lifting a finger.

Not only did I hit this goal 2 months from my deadline, I also take pride that I hit this goal during a period where the stock market is down. So this means whatever amount I have right now, it is bound to go up even higher when the market eventually recovers, like it usually does after a bear cycle. Oh, and also it's currently at $91/month or $1,100 in a year.

The rationale for having a goal for Next 12 Months instead of using Received dividends as a metric is so by my supposed deadline on Jan 1, I'm set to have $1,000 for the entire year. 

Because of this progress, I'm setting a new $$$ goal starting in the New Year, and I'm looking forward to hitting that too!

Goal 3: Start a Company

I have many ideas that I started but failed to fully see through because of my full-time work. So in a way, I 'cheated' to reach this goal. I recently acquired a French SaaS company called Coment, which I aim to relaunch by next year. 

It's an opportunity that I came upon by chance and I found it hard to pass this chance to really get my hands dirty at a project that can scale, unlike the personal coding projects I developed for myself in my spare time. (Some people baked bread during the Covid lockdowns, I picked up Python!)

This is obviously a big Work-In-Progress and I feel like for a long time, it will be taking up a lot of my weekends and evenings. I have plans to hire people to run the business once I get enough customers to cover operating expenses. 

2023 will be stupid-crazy and I am here for it.

And that's it! That's my life update. 

Here are several things I learned as someone not well-versed in the American healthcare system:

This was the last photo I took before I put my camera back into the bag. I was being severely optimistic by waiting until the very last minute before I crossed the Charles River from Lower Allston, where Harvard Business School is, back into Harvard Square.

Time check: 3:57pm

The sun was setting. Despite the dark, gloomy clouds, the red-orange streaks of sunset were peeking through the looming threat of rain.

I got into Harvard Station at 3:59pm. I remember thinking, “Oh there’s a 4pm Outbound train and I won’t make it. It’s alright, the next train usually arrives within the next 5 minutes.”

Of course, the ticket machines I tried weren’t working and it took a full minute to find one that works. As I was getting my ticket, the 4pm train arrived on time. I had no choice, even if I ran, I wouldn’t make it.

And there it went. The 4pm train left without me.

To up the stakes, here’s the background:

I needed to get back to my Airbnb to pick up my bags and then run to Alewife Station. My bus to Manhattan would leave at 5pm.

From Harvard to my Airbnb: 15min
From Airbnb to Alewife: 18min

In between that, I needed to pee, get some water, and drop off my Airbnb house key. I did the quick Math over and over again and I really didn’t have much time to spare.

And then there it was, the announcement that said the trains have stopped for an indefinite time.

Time check: 4:10pm

The train LED started getting filled with information again. Instead of ‘Train Stopped’ it now read ‘10min’ for the next train. The train would now be arriving at 4:20pm. 

To quickly set the scene, I'm listening to the newly released Taylor Swift album right now. Somehow it made me reminisce the really good moments in my life.

As I looked back on the time I lived in Singapore, I'm reminded of the amount of times I have used Changi Airport as my home airport. More than an airport, it was a place where I had experienced a plethora of strong emotions--The intense excitement from a start of every adventure, the equally strong feeling of post-travel blues upon returning, the immense anxiety of getting held in the immigration interrogation room multiple times (it's a long story, ask me in person and I'll tell you about it,) the pain of saying goodbye to friends who have decided it's time to leave the transient place, the even more painful heartbreak of hugging the person you love for the last time in a long time. Changi houses a memory collection of that small city-state that I will fondly remember throughout my life.

The fact that most form of air travel are restricted right now has only increased my longing for literally the best airport in the world. I don't know when I'll step foot on it again, and I thought it might be good to write about it so I can process this emotion better. It must be the Taylor Swift songs in the background because now I'm just a pure mess, tears streaming and snot uncontrollably dripping.

I thought of writing a list of the things I miss about Changi, but I'll leave this here for now. As with anything, short and (bitter)sweet posts are sometimes enough.

My Citizen app tells me that most of New York City were out on the streets yesterday. This music protest was one of the many protests that were simultaneously held in all five boroughs.

I will not lie--physical distancing was very tricky. I tried to stay on the sidewalk away from the main crowd as much as I could. Even though most were wearing masks as instructed by the organisers, there were still people who went without one or had their masks by their chin/neck. I was fully aware that this would be the biggest risk of attending a protest, but with any protest, there's always going to be risks involved.

In the year 2020, you know that the society has yet fully evolved when there are still so many cases of racism. As a minority in the US, this fact scares me. Yet having been in the minority race for the past 5 years as an overseas Filipino worker in Singapore, I cannot even begin to fully understand the pains brought about by people who cannot see past colour here in the US.

I joined the protest because I want an additional voice to be heard. I marched with a crowd to show solidarity. I chanted the battlecries to help add urgency to the cause. Most importantly, I joined the protest because I wanted to understand the issue more.


On the 6th Avenue leg of the protest, I saw a black man speak to his son intently while the marching protest was stopped for a music break. I did not hear what he told him but at the end of it he kissed his son's forehead. It made me recall Alexis Ohanian, founder of Reddit, and his blog post where he announced his decision to resign from Reddit's board. The reason was so he can make the world a better place, and so he can answer his black son one day when his son inevitably asks the question "What did you do?"

From that moment on, my literal perspective changed. Suddenly I was noticing a lot more of the protesters of all colours who were young parents. Some even brought their toddlers in prams. This is a protest filled with hopeful parents who want a better world for their kids. Probably a world where the kids won't even need to ask questions about racial inequality.

Soccer mom standing on top of her SUV while her husband and kid give away supplies to protesters

While stopped along 34th Street, the rain poured hard but the energy of the protest went even higher. An unseen organiser covered by the towering people in front of me took time to make a speech. His message on what the takeaway of the protest should be was clear--go out and vote. And while I cannot vote, the most I can do is start the conversation with my friends who can.

There's always a question of "What are these protests trying to achieve?" Aside from encouraging everyone to get out and vote, there is a Twitter compilation of all the positive change that's been happening due to the pressure from the people. Click on the Twitter link below to read the thread. Notably for NYC, the 2021 Candidates here are now calling for the defunding of the police department. As of yesterday, 49 candidates have signed their names. [Source]

A thread of positive change that is happening because of the protests:

— emma (@_nectarine808_) June 4, 2020

Back home in the Philippines, it's not too different. Different kind of oppression but oppression still the same. Like here in New York, the youth are spearheading the protests. I'm going to end this post with a popular Jose Rizal quote:

"Ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan"

The youth is the hope of the nation.

When I think about this, I think about all of my friends who are constantly fighting for a better country, whether directly or indirectly. I think about my friends who are always keeping our group chats active whenever there are new Bills getting enacted into laws and who are open to discussing what the ramifications will be, and what we can do.

I also think about the generations that came before us were once the youth. Maybe I'm just projecting my issues here. I get thoroughly disappointed whenever I find out that the people I love do not care one bit because it's none of their business, they say. I keep repeating to myself--what happened?

Unlike the first instalment of this newfound series, Unfinished Business, this is actually a fully written post. I chose not to Publish it because at the time, I managed to get a new contract job with the same employer right before my tourist visa ran out (YES!!!) only for my new work visa application to get rejected (NO!!!) due to a sudden change in Employment Pass criteria in Singapore. This consequently left a lot of foreign employees like me to be jobless. Most who were in the same position as me had to return to their home country and didn't get a chance to get new jobs.

Leave it to me to try and turn that disaster around and use the time to travel some more. Read about the adventures of my "Funemployment" in 2017 here. 

In hindsight, you guys this just happened in 2017! Almost 3 years later, I'm typing this intro comfortably at my Chelsea apartment in New York City! While I was trying to pick myself up by writing that post below, I wouldn't have guessed that I will be living in another one of my dream cities. I must say I'm patting myself on the back right now for holding it together through crisis and for choosing to persevere when I could have easily quit.

It's amazing where life takes us when we keep ourselves open to possibilities. Also, introspection is so fun, especially after the fact! Sending love and virtual hugs to everyone who need it right now! <3 font="">




I'm supposed to be writing about my recent Europe trip now. I could easily do it, I have time. I have all the time in the world, in fact. Behind the #jennevertravels Instagram posts, what I have not shared online is the fact that--without beating around the bush--I am jobless.

When a contractor's project ends, it means you're out of a job essentially. Here in Singapore, it means they cut off your Employment Pass and you get reverted back to tourist visa, if you're not a Permanent Resident nor a Local. It means you cannot work, nor legally find work during the stay as a tourist.

I'm trying to write this piece with an intention of posting it when I'm no longer unemployed, but right now is also a good time to get this off my chest first so I can proceed and make myself a more productive individual. I'm thinking maybe then, I'll finally be able to finish writing about my Europe experience, and then I can earn some freelancing money out of it. (I'm currently also a freelance "writer" or should I say blogger for Skyscanner Philippines.)

I have this true love and hate relationship with contracting. It gets me a contractor rate, which is a lot higher than a permanent role's rate. In short, contracting means I get paid more. My favourite part about contracting, however, is the feeling that I could do anything. You see, it gives me the freedom that I won't get in a permanent role. I'm like a broken record pointing out my recent trip, but yes I won't be able to suddenly just take off for 3 weeks to go to Europe. Not if I'm working permanently.

Right now, I'm thinking if my unemployment status doesn't change, I can go to Cambodia for a bit on tourist visa, submit travel articles from there and live cheap for 30 days. Whatever happens next, I could take one step at a time. It's very flexible and I can actually do it. No, hold that thought. I WANT to do it and I'm in that stage where I have no one depending on me, thus I can just move on from Singapore for now.

Contracting is constantly keeping me on my toes, like never before.

On the other side of the spectrum, contracting means I don't have stability. Everything has to be short term, because doing long term projects also means I won't be eligible for bonuses and other perks that I would have gotten if I'm employed as a regular employee.
Right now, it seems very lopsided. The only thing stopping me from running away and doing a nomadic life is that I still very much want my feet grounded for a while. I have just started to really feel at home in Singapore and leaving it, even temporarily, for a while is kind of disconcerting and saddening.

I'm on my last 15 days here as a tourist. I tried to say it here, albeit very briefly. To paraphrase Nelly, you don't know what this means to me.

In an effort to be productive at a time when it's tempting to do nothing, I have signed up to various courses conducted virtually. One of these classes was a Monologue Masterclass by my acting school back in Singapore, the Haque Centre of Acting and Creativity (HCAC). The obvious advantage of being able to attend lessons online is that I don't even need to be in the same timezone as the class. Thank you, technology! So on five of my early Monday mornings, I have started the day with a 2-hr session with my HCAC class.

• wax
• wooden stick applicator
• strips of paper
• finishing oil
• instruction manual

Note: This post was originally published on my Medium profile.

Because I have too many drafts that don’t get published...

June 1, 2018

Turning 3 

When I first moved here, I thought the excitement of working overseas will quickly lose its charm on me and that after a few months, I’ll feel normal about it. Three years have passed, and I can honestly say I’m still enamoured by this city. 

Today, I’m celebrating my 3^rd year living and working in Singapore. *clink clink*

The experience surely had its ups and downs and taught me so much about life and personal growth. Career-wise, it has challenged me while also fulfilled me in many ways I didn’t think was possible. 

From the initial contract of two months in June 2015, my service got extended longer and longer. Suddenly, it’s now 2018. 

I had the pleasure of working with the best people that a contract IT consultant can ever hope for. For the times I needed help, there was a spectrum of colleagues-turned-friends, whom I seek advice from. My bosses and even the client bosses have been nothing but amazing and supportive too. I had everything a person would need to be a better and well-rounded SAP ABAP Consultant.  

Turning 30

Couple of months ago, I turned 30. There was no big spectacle about it. I spent the entire day just sleeping and/or hanging around in bed. Also, I’m very happy to report that I didn’t automatically get bad hangovers the moment I passed my 20’s, as wildly believed in urban legends. 

On a more serious note, I have come to terms that I probably won’t have my own family or have a kid/s in the near future. But I want something, at least one part of my life, to be more than just temporary. Easily, career was the first area of my life that I looked into. 

Contract Life

At this point, I told myself I’m tired of having to rely on an IT agency to decide if I will have a job for the next months to come. Because that’s what being on contract means.

And then this happened too. 

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed and utilised all the perks of being on a contractual basis. Whenever a project finishes? I go off and travel the world, without having to worry about using up my vacation days. On my own dime for the time lost, but still that kind of independence was something I lived for and needed at the time.

The big caveat was that I was essentially unable to plan for the future due to this setup.

The Plot Twist

So I have been mulling about what I can do to uplevel, at least on a career perspective, where I can make use of my skills and also apply some under-utilised ones. I set some short term and long term goals and tried to back-trace several routes that I can take to reach them. I’m not gonna lie, I laughed my own ideas off. They sounded so impossible. 

Until one afternoon, I received an email from a headhunter for a permanent job and as it turned out, it was one of the plans I made that I initially deemed as crazy. For one, though related by industry, it’s a totally different role from programming. 

Cutting the story from that first introduction until today, so many things have happened—One of which is that I have gotten and accepted the offer. *clink clink*

As a result, I’m now on a weeklong break and next week, I’ll start working again. Only this time, it won’t be as an SAP ABAP Developer. 

Ending (also New Beginning)

It was pure excitement for me until my last day at work last week. That’s only when it hit me. The work I have been doing for the past 7 years won’t be the same work I’ll head into next week. The thought of it was equal parts motivating and terrifying. My natural reaction, of course, was to cry my feelings out until I felt better. 

Yes, a career change at this age seems to be daunting. I don’t even know if I will succeed at it. What I do know is that I’m extremely excited to be given this opportunity, in the first place. You can bet I won’t take it for granted.

Stepping out of my career comfort zone was the best gift I gave to myself three years ago, and it is the gift I’m giving myself again now. I can only hope that I’d learn a lot from this new adventure.   

If you're looking for an informative, value-adding video detailing the unboxing of an iPhone X -- this is NOT it.



My iPhone 6 died. It happened last Sunday for the entire afternoon until bed time, it still wasn't responding no matter what I do. It was turning on, yes, but it just froze there until it turned itself off. Frustrated, I just decided to pull the plug and move on.

After much deliberation between a Google Pixel 2 and the iPhone X, I realized I didn't want to make the big switch. Then, I found myself taking home a new phone from a Starhub Shop.

Finally, I get to write here again.

For the longest time this year, it felt like I had to put my life on hold. It was such a bizarre feeling having to take so many flights without certainty of what will happen to me in the next few days. Oftentimes, I had to book flights and accommodations even just a day or hours before.

It was just three months ago, but it feels a lot longer.

The Good
I just came back from my Europe backpacking trip feeling invigorated and brimming with positivity.

The Bad
My 2-year project and work visa in Singapore expired.

The Good
I went to Kuala Lumpur for a job interview. I got an offer the next day. I asked to be given the weekend to think about it. And I did. I weighed my options, made a pro-con list. I wasn't entirely sure about it but come Monday, I sent verbal confirmation. I was supposed to send my signed job offer letter the next day, but my company in Singapore called me saying they've already started to process my work visa application. I just needed to sign the documents so they can proceed.

I was doing a morning swim at my friends' condo pool when I wrote the email to rescind the KL job offer.

The Good
I have such great friends! I stayed in KL at Dave and Scott's place. They are parents of three lovely cats. They cooked and fed me really good food, and shared with me their exotic whiskys from their travels. I couldn't be more thankful. They were also very helpful in giving me insight on deciding which country I should live at in the immediate future. My pretty and cool former Project Manager in SG also moved back to KL, and had invited me to a few things during my short stay.

Another good thing was being able to take pole classes at a local pole studio. Always a good experience trying out someplace else.

The Bad
I got to go back to Singapore, not without hassle. I encountered some questioning across the border of Johor Bahru on my purpose of visit to Singapore and it took the good officers two hours to validate my situation. (The Good sidenote: Good thing I printed out my job offer letter and work visa application!!) Thought I could go on my merry way, but after the Singapore Immigration checkpoint, I lost my Coach handbag, which contained my camera, wallet, passport--basically my entire life.

For a few seconds, I was at a loss for words and then my adrenaline kicked in. I immediately ran to the ground floor escalator where I had just descended and saw that there was no escalator nor elevator going up back to the 3rd floor where I could have lost my handbag. I carried my suitcase with my right hand and had my backpack on my back, and sped-climbed the stairs until I got to the 3rd floor where there was a circle of people formed right on the right side of the escalator.

The Good
Thank goodness, I was in Singapore. Inside the circle were two security guards guarding my bag on the floor. I told them it's mine, and they reminded me to be careful next time. I took note and thanked them once again.

The Good
I got to spend some time, albeit short, in Singapore. I got to attend my pole classes and as able to settle some of the additional requirements for my work visa before I went home via KL.

Our classmate brought 9-in heels and we all got a chance to freestyle with it. Had so much fun, we all want to buy our own! #firsts #Singapore #poledance #studiosands #GashedMyFootWithAHeel #WentHomeWithMyFootBleedingButItsOkay

A post shared by Jennever (@jenndpelaez) on Aug 10, 2017 at 9:00am PDT

The Bad
I started my journey to go home and wait for my work visa to get approved. My stopover in KL started on a very bad note. Malaysia Airlines broke my luggage before it even got loaded to the plane. It was in a really broken state, beyond repair. I spent a good hour at the baggage service desk when I arrived at KL International Airport.

The Good
My "layover" was four nights long and we stayed at the Hyatt.

The Good
Good food, good wine and a birthday

The Bad
My luggage is still broken. Malaysia Airline still won't budge with a refund. On my 5th and last day at KL, I had to buy a new luggage out of my own pocket.

The Good
It's a good luggage and I got it at a huge discount at the Pavilion mall in KL.

The Good
I went home and saw my friends in Manila before heading to Palawan for an indefinite number of days. I stayed at our Palawan home for a week, and proceeded to solo backpack to northern Palawan. I stayed at Tribal Xperience ran by Isaac and Shel, the most lovely people in Port Barton, San Vicente. I also met a group of Spanish and Mexican travelers during the island hopping trip that I eventually went to El Nido with.

Port Barton. #jennevertravelswithmavic #travel #jennevertravels #djimavicpro #drone #explorephilippines #islandlife #portbarton

A post shared by Jennever (@jenndpelaez) on Aug 28, 2017 at 3:15am PDT

The Good
I booked my shuttle ride to El Nido and lo and behold, my whole island hopping group, which we named Port Barton Squad (lol), was also taking the same van.

The Bad
The state of the main tourist area in El Nido is so bad, I couldn't decide if I wanted to cry or get angry. I'm talking about those tours you take from Bacuit Bay. After just experiencing island hopping in Port Barton, El Nido Tour A paled in comparison. The iconic limestone cliffs were still as majestic as they can be, but there were several things that ticked me off.

First, the amount of tourists in an off-peak season was intimidating. Every island we were hopping had a queue of boats trying to dock.

Second, there were attractions where you can't even swim anymore. You have to rent a kayak to get inside the Big Lagoon, and rent another kayak to go inside the Small Lagoon. It costs 300 pesos for the small kayak for two people for EACH attraction. (If you want to go inside both Small and Big Lagoon, it's an additional charge of 600 pesos, excluded from your island hopping tour) I asked our boat staff why this was implemented instead of making the tourists snorkel our way in, like how it was at least 3 years ago. They said, "Patay na rin kasi yung corals dito banda." Translated in English, this means, "The corals are now dead in this area anyway." Unbelievable.

Okay. You know what, I believe it. With that amount of tourists, maybe El Nido wasn't equipped to preserve the natural environment as well. Maybe they wanted the locals to earn more money. Maybe Tours B, C, D are better options. I don't know now. I just know I'm super frustrated and disappointed about it. I will make a separate post about this.



The Bad
As if the bad news wasn't enough. On the way back to Bacuit Bay after the island hopping tour, I decided to check my emails. I was informed by my Singapore Project Manager to go to Singapore in 2 days since my new project was already starting. I was ecstatic about it for a split-second, then I went online to check my work visa status. I wasn't ready. I don't think anyone who hasn't been rejected before will ever be ready to see what I saw:

Status: Rejected

My heart was already heavy from the tour and just like that it became several levels heavier. I had already been traveling for a month, expecting I'll be back soon to Singapore. And just like that, everything was uncertain again.

I thought about rescinding the job offer in KL and laughed a bit. Maybe it was my karma?

The Good
I immediately took the next shuttle van back to Puerto Princesa. If there's one good thing about being funemployed, it's that I get to spend more time with my family and my two dogs. My worst case scenario of not having a job and getting stuck in paradise is really not bad at all.

The Good
My company in Singapore decided to re-apply my work visa.

The Good
Someone from Singapore flew to Palawan. We got a rental car and did a 10-day road trip from central to northern Palawan. We stopped over at the Underground River and saw a rainbow while swimming in Sabang. We went to a different side of El Nido, far away from the hordes of tourist and did private island hopping tours and I got to scuba dive. (It was my first time!) Then to wrap it up, on the way back we stopped at Port Barton and stayed again at Tribal Xperience.

During this trip, I got to learn some basic swimming skills. By Day 10, I was way more comfortable in the water compared to every other time in my life.



The Good
I brought my drone with me and got really amazing footage. There is a video clip compilation in the works!

The Bad
My work visa application could not proceed. The fun road trip ended. I had to go back to Singapore to pack up my things and leave for good.

I was extra active in commenting about politics on Twitter. I even got into a discussion with the staff of our local Congressman in Palawan. And no, they don't care about Palaweños' human rights.


At one point, I made a joke about wasting my entire life savings on another EU trip, consequently followed by a pretty bad internet meltdown.



The Good
I ended up not booking a flight to Europe and instead, I went back to Singapore. It was relatively hassle-free at both PH and SG immigrations. I got to attend 3 pole classes at Studio Sands, my home studio, got to enjoy a day at Universal Studios Singapore, and meet with a lot of my friends.

The Good
I had four new job opportunities just a week in. The first one to make an offer was my previous company. I went down to their office to sign the offer letter and prayed the work visa application will go well this time. Honestly at that point I had nothing to lose. I couldn't be any more disappointed than how I was with the past two tries with the work visa application.

In my mind, I was thinking if things go south again, it's not the end of the world. I can find something else, somewhere else.

Today's adventure express. Battlestar Galactica ride was exhilarating as usual! #bears #beets #battlestargalactica #universalstudiosingapore #singapore

A post shared by Jennever (@jenndpelaez) on Sep 21, 2017 at 10:27pm PDT

The Bad
My 30-day social visit pass was already ending and my plane ticket to go home was due soon. I met up with friends one last time, not knowing if it was a proper goodbye or just a regular drinks with the girls. I was checking the work visa status online every day, hoping to see a status aside from Pending. If I was getting rejected for the third time, I'd rather know soon.

I left for Manila last Thursday feeling quite nervous.

The Good
I stayed at my friend Kriz's family home. It was already late when I got there. He and his family were already asleep when I got there. I was thinking of jumping to a bus the next day to go to either Baler or La Union and wait for the status while there. If it's a good result, I could celebrate by surfing. If it's a bad result, I could turn the trip into a soul-searching trip and figure out what to do next with my life.

I couldn't sleep because my mind was racing and making me think of a next gameplan. I was conditioning myself for another letdown and I wanted to be prepared for it that time. Finally at 5AM, I fell asleep.

I woke up at 10AM and before anything else, I prayed for a sound mind, no matter what the outcome will say. I reiterated in my prayer that even if it's a rejection, it's not the end of the world for me. I still have some money tucked in. I won't starve.

I typed in the URL of the online work visa status check page, pressed enter and closed my eyes...

Status: Approved

It got emotional for me very fast. I let out a long sigh, laughed and cried all at the same time. Finally, it happened. I get to stay in Singapore.

...........................

I just wanted to share an update about my life in a bullet-style way so it's easier to read. It wasn't my purpose to do a tally of The Good vs The Bad things that happened to me the past few months. But now that I have counted both, The Good far outweighed The Bad.

They say hindsight's 20/20. At the time, maybe my outlook is a bit clouded by the unfortunate series of events but it's as clear as day now. There are many things we can't control, but we can choose to be nice and kind. We can choose to maximize every opportunity with friends and loved ones. Heck, we can choose to be fit. Or in my case, I chose to be better at pole than I was since I started, even with all this going on.

No matter how shitty the situation is, there are things we can control and life eventually sorts itself out.

While it's still relevant, here are some of my favorite answers to the question that Miss Philippines got during the Final 6 of the recent Miss Universe 2016 pageant finals.

Good answer by Ron Cruz. Click here for the original post.

Adding a bit of humor, this is what another person said in a iMessage that became viral. I also jokingly tweeted the same.