Donate some RICE
Culture Shiok! A day in the life of an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) in Singapore, has been running for four months now. Two months ago, it was reviewed at Nice4Rice.com, where readers may vote by giving rice. Culture Shiok! has received 75 bowls of rice and was able to get the Golden Rice Bowl Award for 3 months in a row.
See the complete list of those who have given rice to Culture Shiok!
Philippines left out again: Straits Times’ NATAS 2007 Travel special
Singapore’s leading English-language broadsheet, The Straits Times, came out with a 48-page special for the National Association of Travel Agents Singapore (NATAS) Travel 2007 Exhibition.
What I did to get a higher ranking at Technorati?
I’ve been blogging at Culture Shiok! for more than a month now. It’s only been a month and yet I can no longer remember where I learned about Technorati and how I started to get links. I do remember quite vividly that I reviewed John Chow’s blog to get a link in return. I think that got me addicted to increasing my ranking. I started getting some ranking buttons from Philippine blog listings: Top Pinoy Blogs, Pinoy Top Blogs, Pinoy Blogs, Pinoy Top 100 and Blog Junkie. I also solicited links from other bloggers. I got listed in several blog directories (they don’t give links though). I signed up for Philippine blog aggregators PinoyBlog: The Philippines According to Blogs and Pinoy Blogosphere. I also joined Promote Your Site and bla.st. From 2.6 millionth when I started, now I’m ranked 83,319th by Technorati. Not so bad for a starter like me. What do you think? Read more
Jollibean in Singapore
Sa Jollibee?! Sigurado kang sa Jollibee?
Nope, there’s no Jollibee here in Singapore. Well, they used to have one outlet, but not anymore. The Philippines’s no. 1 fast food chain, Jollibee, failed to capture the taste of the Singapore market. Also, the outlet was poorly located and there were problems with the local partners.
What we have here now is Jollibean, and they don’t sell “Langhap-sarap” hamburgers nor “Crispylicious & Juicylicious” Chickenjoy. Jollibean is an ‘All-in-one Drink and Snack’ Concept Store. They sell soya milk drink complimented with pancakes (widely known in Singapore as Mee Chiang Kueh). Incorporated in November 1993, (Jollibee started in the Philippines way back in 1975), Jollibean is based in Singapore and currently have a chain of 35+ outlets. The pancakes comes in a variety of filling, corn, chocolate, green beans paste, green tea paste, lotus seed paste and red bean paste.
What does Singapore Permanent Residency mean to a Filipino?
One known reason (if it’s not the main reason) of why Filipino workers take Singapore Permanent Residency (PR) is security. If an employment pass (EP) holder leaves the company, the EP is canceled and he must leave Singapore unless he finds employment with another company.
This was addressed when the Singapore government introduced the Personal Employment Pass (PEP) scheme. The new PEP is not tied to the employer and will be granted on the holder’s individual merits. The PEP allows the holder to remain in Singapore for up to six months in between jobs to evaluate new employment opportunities.
Kung Hei Fat Choi is NOT Happy New Year
Congratulations and be prosperous!
Kung hei fat choi is always mistaken by non-Chinese as a translation for Happy New Year.
I got so used to Kung Hei Fat Choi when I was still in the Philippines. Most Chinese in the Philippines belong to either the Fujianese or Cantonese dialect groups of the Han nationality. As many as 98.5% of the Chinese in the Philippines trace their ancestry to the southern part of Fujian province, according to Wikipedia.
Here in Singapore, Mandarin is the common language used to unify the various Chinese dialect groups. The first two days of the Chinese New Year are public holidays. The Chinese Year celebrations are marked by visits to kin, relatives and friends, and the liberal use of the color red. Red packets (hong bao: Mandarin; ang pow: Cantonese) are given to juniors and children by the married and elders. A reunion dinner is held on the eve of the lunar new year. Yum!
Happy New Year!
Xin nian kuai le! (Mandarin) Sun nin fai lok! (Cantonese)
OFW: Bayaning Taksil
OFW: Bayaning Taksil
Bayani nga bang matuturingan
Kaming mga nagtaksil sa bayan?
Perang inilaan sa kaban
Anong patutunguhan?
Di ko mawaring isipin
Kami rito ay alipin
Ngunit kung babalik dyan sa atin
Ano ang aming kakainin?
