Category Archives: work

teeth check!

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I know I had a number of posts already on how expensive it is here in Japan. Trust that there’d be more every now and then.

So yep, it’s about teeth this time. Dental services has got to be among the most expensive here in Japan. I had my wisdom tooth extracted late last year and it just cost 500pesos in the Philippines. Okay it was discounted as it was done by my ortho and yes it was braces related. But still, I think the most you’d pay for teeth extraction (save for root canal; and well, that’s not really extraction per se) in the Philippines is 1000pesos. But. I had my other wisdom tooth extracted here in Japan back in 2007 and it cost me 10,000yen (roughly 5,000pesos). Needless to say, having your teeth corrected by braces and retainers here would cost you millions of yen.

Given that, dental services is honestly one of my worries whenever I’m here in Japan. Thankfully, dental services are included in our company health insurance and up to 70% of what we pay, including medicines, is covered by insurance.

What’s even better is that the company holds periodical health and dental checks in the office for their employees; probably because they know how their employees are such workaholics that they might not have time to have their regular checkups. Hence the health and dental check venue.

Had my first dental check earlier in the office. Yey! Teeth were declared all healthy and well taken cared for. We were also given a loot for takeaway.

And look how fast time flies! It’s been exactly one month since I joined the workforce again! Thankful for the blessing.

a Process Engineer once again

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As we prepared for our wedding, Atsushi and I both held this hope dearly between us – that I would be able to work as an engineer again, after settling in Japan. For somebody who really loves her career (and I hope my career loves me back twofold haha), I was teary-eyed when hubby told me it makes him proud to have an “engineer wife”. A lot of factors could hinder me from working again. And so I prepared myself to that possible reality. But our fervent prayers were answered; from tomorrow, I will no longer be a shifu or housewife and will work again as a Process Engineer.

But if truth be told, I am nervous, for reasons that I really couldn’t quite fathom. Hubby has been reminding me of the reasons why I need not fret in that our talk always ends up with me blushing and hugging him or me squeezing his hand because of happiness that my husband (and our colleagues as well, he argues) believes in my capabilities.

I’ll be working at a company that is both old and new to me.

Old, because I have been previously assigned here; sent here to work from Manila. Hence, I already know the nooks and crannies of the office (well, except the 36th floor which is for the CEOs and top management).

But new, because this time, I will not be working as somebody assigned from our branch office in another country but as somebody who is already based here in Japan.

Old, because I have already worked with a number of colleagues in the company and ergo I know a lot of people already.

But new, because the first project I will be involved in are composed of engineers that I haven’t worked with before.

I will be meeting again a lot of colleagues who wished me fare well during my last assignment here, two years back; colleagues who kept on asking me when I am going to marry and to whom I replied that I have no plans to get married and to which they would reply back it’s mottainai.

So again new, because the last time I was in the Yokohama office, I was very much a single. But I’m coming back now, very much a missus.

Nervous, yes. But nonetheless, very excited.

To God be the glory.

corporate greetings and some progress

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Hubby advised me last week that we will be receiving a card from his company (our mother cum affiliate company in my previous workplace – gosh i miss work) yesterday. Indeed, I woke up just in time to answer the postman’s doorbell ring. Had to wait for Hubby till I can open it though because it’s supposedly a congratulatory card for our wedding.

My name was nowhere in it though. 😛

Isn’t it just a bit weird? This is supposedly a wedding card, and they even supposedly send this to the actual wedding date but since our wedding is in the Philippines, Hubby advised to have it sent home. But where’s my name??

Anyways, it’s the thought that counts. And the CEO of the company himself is the signatory (although it probably was processed and done by HR). We’re thankful as it is that their company has this kind of thoughtfulness. My previous company doesn’t practice this stuff, although we do receive some “amount” as congratulatory token.

Although I really am not bothered that my name isn’t in the card, I playfully hounded Hubby about it. To make me feel “better” we ate the Godiva chocolates that he gave me for my birthday. But actually, it’s our dessert for the night. It’s been aeons since we saw a yogurt in the supermarkets. Lack or nada yogurt supply is one of the mundane effect of the March 11 Tohoku earthquake.

Isn’t Hubby just sweet? 😀

Godiva chocolates is really good. Even if you eat the whole bunch in one sitting, your throat won’t hurt at all, even for me who’s prone with tonsilitis. It’s one of those once you pop, you can’t stop – and this coming from somebody who really is not too keen on eating chocolates.

As oh, there’s been considerable progress lately, thankfully:

  • misalette draft already approved by officiating priest, with all readings the one we preferred. yey! Answered prayer. 🙂 thanks as well to Ivy of Lipa Chancery and to Erika (Detalye) for talking it out with Fr. Dong
  • already purchased our gifts for the principal sponsors. We were so happy that we can customize the labels – for free!! Japanese customer service is just simply awesome. I’m excited with our labels as well. 🙂
  • our unity coins were also already delivered. Thanks to Kat for receiving them. And since i’m w@w tag holder, i got a discount.

Hope there’ll be more considerable progress soon.

The Rise of Philippine EPC: When??

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I posted below article in my personal blog and deemed of reposting it here when I realized that I know of two wedding suppliers who did the other way around.

I know that Richie Ortega-Torres went to New York to study about fashion design. After a few experiences, she packed her bags and went back here, established a couple or two fashion-related businesses employing 50 or so people.

Roughly, i’ve gathered that Pat Pastelero also studied in New York, and later on went back here to apply and share what she has learned.

There’s a big possibility that they had others reasons of going back here; reasons that I wouldn’t know about. Still though, a number of things are certain:

  • the fashion/events styling /wedding industries benefited with their return
  • not only do they offer services that are world-class but that they also share their world-class knowledge
  • they helped in getting more people get employed with the shops they’ve opened.

I am not pointing fingers on this though because I myself don’t want to live here in Manila for the rest of my life. Of course, I want to be with my husband in Japan! But then, given this, maybe I shouldn’t expect that I’ll ever witness the “rise of Philippine EPC”. But then again, who knows? We have enough brains here still, in the current Philippine EPC industry. Who knows indeed? Because if they can do it, why can’t we?

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A contact in Twitter retweeted the article below in Arabian Oil and Gas website about the rise of South Korean contractors. True, our company has actually lost a couple or two projects to South Korean contractors where one (or two) was a project owned by our company’s long-time Client.

Sure, they pose a threat to other competitors, especially to our company (or at least my husband’s, since I have just already recently resigned). But then foremost in my thoughts is the question: When will Philippine EPC have its own rise?

Our engineers and professionals has been highly appraised worldwide. My husband even attended a lecture recently, held by an esteemed Japanese lecturer with international credentials under his belt, where that same lecturer has talked highly of the Filipino people having a lot of potential and being very capable.

And yet, “The Rise of Philippine EPC” is near impossible at the moment. Brain drain does the job. We gather enough experience here at home and when we have enough, our wanderlust, our longing to prove our mettle in the bigger field, our wanting to have better salaries, makes us want to pack our bags and be part of the working force of other countries.

I myself am guilty of this. And if truth be told, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life working here in Manila – the city stresses me out (it’s not the same story with other cities though). But if each engineer or professional thinks in exactly the same way, give or take a few other reasons besides, then I do think we will not ever witness “the rise of Philippine EPC”. Not in our lifetime anyway.

http://www.arabianoilandgas.com/article-8505-the-rise-of-the-south-korean-contractor/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

9 years

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Last Friday, January 28, I celebrated my 9 years as a Process Engineer. And indeed it is a celebration. For I believe that God has blessed me with a career that is truly fulfilling for me. Ever the drama queen that I am, that very day and now a Senior Engineer, I also submitted my resignation letter; sort of like my way of “coming to full circle”.

Today was my last working day in the office. When I got home this evening, it was only then that I realized that my last working day and my first day as a “freed” engineer (please, i’m not saying this in the pejorative sense) coincided with the last day of the previous Chinese Year (okay okay i’m not Chinese, just having some drama and trying to make some correlation here hehe). In some sense, it’s like i’ll be working on a clean slate or a clean drawing board this new year. A new year full of promise, full of hope, full of exciting things yet to come.

At this point you may be wondering why i’m posting this in our wedsite and not just on my personal blog. But no, wait. Today also marks the first day that I’m totally Atsushi’s dependent. Well, until after I get to find a job again, hopefully. And for somebody like me who has been a very independent person, who has totally relied on the abilities God gave her (and on the opportunities God gave her) to earn her keep, feed herself and help provide for her family, being dependent like this is a major crossover. One that I have to learn and yet to fully grasp.

And yes, this is part of what marriage is about. It’s about shaking you in your old comfort zone to bring you to a yet better comfort zone. It’s about shaking you from what you’ve been used to, leading you to better experiences, newer places, meeting new people. It’s about having faith – faith in God that what you’re doing and about to do is part of God’s beautiful plan for you; faith in your husband that he will love you, take care of you and provide for you; faith in the goodness of the people around you; faith in the future that something really good is in store for you.

And of course, yes, there’s love, great love.

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Feb 5: Was cleaning my workspace today. Found a lot of diskettes from a long-gone era. Haha. Gosh. Ancient.