Filipino diaspora even at the meeting

(L to R: Charmaine, Sussie, Delia and Linda)

One of the things I like about going to meetings and conferences is the fact that invariably I will be able to meet at least one other Filipina, who either is representing our Philippine government, or who works for an NGO in the Philippines or like me, a Filipina who works overseas. The recently concluded UN ESCAP High Level Meeting to Review the MIPAA was no exception. In fact, there were six Filipinos who attended this meeting in Macau this week. Three were NGO people, two works for UN bodies and one representative of the Philippine government. It is always good as it is a good way to bond with each other, add to your list of contacts for future possibilities and even a comrade whom you can rely on to support your recommendation.

That is why am always proud to be a Filipino! Iba talaga ang Pinoy!

The cat is out of the bag!

(L to R: Su, Mary Ann and myself)

Murphy, Su's dog (who recently passed away) will not like my title here. But I have a very good reason for using it for a title here as indeed the cat is out of the bag. Well, what i really mean by this is that Su, my colleague of 5 years and 6 months and who has been with the foundation (on and off) for the past 14 years is leaving us in December. So she has let the cat out of the bag while we were having lunch together at a French restaurant in Macau. She said she did not know how to tell me but she has to as our CEO will be announcing it formally this coming Tuesday and she did not want to have it happen like that. I almost cried right there and then. For the past three years, Su and i have managed to become closer as we had to work on several projects together. We were together in Myanmar last December for the ASEAN meeting and i feel happy that i had this last opportunity to travel with her for work.

So i have to brace myself again for another journey diverging in paths. I am sure at some point i will have another posting of her last days leading to her departure. But for now, i am still coming to terms with her resignation and her impending departure from Singapore. But i admire her for her reason for leaving. I too would have done the same. She is leaving us to be with her husband who now works and lives in New York.

I wonder if i too will be given that choice? I wonder if life will be so kind as to allow me to experience as well that joy of deciding to follow my heart. I would like to....if only....we will see...

Excellent service from air stewardess of Tiger Airways

Tiger Airways, the budget airline of Singapore Airlines has proven to me that they do not compromise on good service. I took TR903 flight from Macau yesterday afternoon. As i did not want to fight for seats, i paid extra to be pre-seated at 2D (aisle seat). Unfortunately, I boarded the plane a bit late as I had to wait for Su (my colleague). To my horror, I found out that there is no space anymore on the overhead compartment for my luggage. I was forced to handcarry my luggage as it was damaged by the staff at the ferry station, when we took the HK-Macau ferry. Anyway, I had no choice but to put my luggage above 8D seat. But I did not let go of the situation. I went up to the stewardess and told her that I would like my luggage to be moved to the overhead compartment nearer to me. I told her I am sure I will not be able to get it when we land as everybody will be standing up and I will have no choice but to wait for everybody to go down. Which I could not envision myself doing. Anyway, she said maybe I may want to move to 6D so I can be nearer to my luggage. 6D? Was she mad? (I told myself! Lol!) I told her the reason why i paid extra to have the pre-seat arrangement was because i did not want to be seated somewhere else. Of course i did not give in to her. Am the customer here right? So instead of walking off and leaving me angry with her and the airline. She came back with her colleague (Dorinne) who assured me that they will try their best to move my luggage nearer to me after the take off. Yes, we managed to have this conversation while the plane was about to take off. Lol! Of course am a reasonable passenger and i appreciate safety so i said yes.


So true to their words, three of the stewardess, after the take off began to open overhead compartments and started to inspect which bags can be moved or which bags can be squeezed in. After only a few minutes, voila, i found myself carrying my luggage from 8D compartment to 2D compartment. Now that is what I call excellent service. Rather than giving up on me and my situation, the whole team helped me out and made sure i will have ease in getting out my luggage once the plane landed. I was so touched by their excellent service that i decided to offer to write a feedback to the management of Tiger Airways and commend this team for their wonderful service.

Now am more convinced that it is good value to fly Tiger Airways as they give excellent service for a reasonably priced ticket. Kudos to Dorinne and her team of stewardess from TR903! See you again onboard soon.