Day 2 (Feb. 05, 2009) - Visit to Phil. Embassy, et al

After going to bed at almost 2:00am last night (or should I say this morning), one should really understand what an experience it is to wake-up at 5:30 in the morning with the siren alarm from my hubby’s phone!  Ako pa naman, each time I hear a siren, pretty much what I have been doing during my early years, I pray that the soul of that person in the ambulance may guided by the angels send by the Father from above.  Haaay!  What a headache I had!

Of course, no reason not magpa-beauty  so here I go, off to charge with my hubby for our 09:00am appointment (mind you, we had to travel at least an hour from our hotel in PJ to KL). 

ARRIVAL AT THE EMBASSY: we were met by a nice friendly guard at the gate - who’s a Filipino  (not even a Malaysian - my hubby told me that in most posts around the world, the locals guard the gates - now this is something new to him).  We had a nice chat before he let us inside.

PICTURES INSIDE THE LABOUR ATTACHE’S OFFICE:

Our good Labor Attache in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is no less than Atty. Hji. Hassan Gabra T. Jumdain, or Sonny for short, a well-seasoned (over 13-years in service!) diplomat having served mostly in the Middle-East (Riyadh, Bahrain, Qatar, etc.) and KL being his first assignment in Asia.  He’s a very handsome, sort of Dolphy turned “Prince Jeffrey/Sultan Bolkiah” combo-look-alike! The succeeding pictures are his staff at the POLO (Phil. Overseas Labor Office) inside the embassy where 2 welfare officers (Ate Mel & Lourdes), a welfare manager (Ate Mitz), an organic staff from Manila (Ate Brenda) and a local hire for 13-years (Kuya Rey).  All very good staff devoted to their job - overworked and over-cramped in a 3m x 6m office (all-in)! For crying-out-loud! For a country with a concentration of 35,000 POEA-documented OFWs, 95,000 on-site registered OFWs, a few more thousands waiting to be documented (afraid to be deported back and lose their jobs), OFWs nonetheless, I can’t think of a better way how this office could possibly cope up!   Just look at this!  Worse, the highest position in this office does not even have a decent service car to go around places. He had to borrow vehicles from OWWA or any kind-hearted embassy personnel!  Kawawa naman. I just hope home office could really look into their situation down here. Of course, they never uttered a word, when I asked them why, just got the usual smiles.

Then off I went to visit an old friend,  ConGen Melchor P. Lalunio, Jr., or Mel for short. We used to be together in one affair in Manila, when he was not even posted then (those were the days), and now he’s the acting Ambassador! Another brillian man, fellow-peyups (from UP) of my hubby (although from a later batch), a lover of history and a no-nonsense guy. We were joined by some of the other embassy staff to look into my stuffs (fashion jewelries/perfumes)  and good enough, I had a good sale - if ever you will read this, MARAMING SALAMAT PO! Of course, “Buy Filipino!” po tayo ngayon - in order to face the global economic crisis head-on!

I never got to see so much of KL. Of course we just passed by the great Petronas Towers , this is the shot I took from the car, since we’re rushing to our next appointment, only to learn that we arrived a bit early. The venue of the meeting is at a mall, in a restaurant called Chili’s  to meet a certain Mr. Varkkey, whose wife Julia works at a local TV station, and a daughter who works for Malaysia’s # 1 newspaper, STAR.  You can see that our Ate Beng is always with us almost all of the time. This is true because we are borrowing her boss’ Toyota Previa (hope I got that right), to drive us around with his driver (Rosly - whom my hubby keeps on calling - Bruce Lee). The Varkkeys apologized for not having been able to meet us at the airport (thank God!) during our arrival yesterday - so they treated us in hefty lunch instead. The mall is cute and clean  although none of us can remember its name.  Mr. Varkkey said that it’s a mall constructed for expats mostly.  Hence it’s a bit pricey, although the goods being sold are absolutely A-1.

OFF we left and went to Ate Beng’s office, to pay visit to my hubby’s partner, Yen Mei Quay  and his staff.  In that office, they provide immediate post-arrival orientation of all workers like this one:    where an Indonesian maid just arrived. This other staff is a Filipina lass from Davao, who could speak Bahasa Malaya or Indonesia (their national language) fluently! Of course, I had to bid goodbye to Yen Mei’s staff  so I could go and see Big Brother Lim in his office at the next floor , met his wonderful an Australian-educated daughter  and other office staff (all Filipinos) .

From Yen Mei & Mr. Lim’s office, we had to waste a bit of a time, before our dinner with the POLO-personnel.  So we went to Amcorp Shopping Mall, very close to our hotel in PJ.  where I tried to look for some clothes that I plan to wear at STAR AWARDS. The prices are not bad - and the quality is great!  Before going to our dinner appointment, I saw this huge Chinese drum normally used in dragon dances, my hubby told me it’s made of elephant leather skin. Wow! Just take a look at this: , I have no choice but to believe him. For no other skin can manage to cover such huge diameter but an elephant hide!

Malaysian night starts with a wonderful dinner. LabAtt Sonny, who loves seafood, was invited (along with his staff - minus Ate Brenda who got struck with flu) in a most famous seafood restaurant in PJ. The dinner started with a ceremonial tossing of the entree:

   I really don’t know but, it seems the place is crowded with people still celebrating Chinese New Year! It was really a great meal. Anyone can see how pre-occupied Yen Mei was, making sure everything runs perfect to all , what a busy body! As usual, all things must come to an end, so we had to bid our goodbyes, of course with the head of the group, LabAtt Sonny  who was so much of an officer and a gentleman during same evening.

Traditionally, as Chinese as it could get, the evening ends with a sing-along at a posh KTV in KL called “Vegas”, where Big Brother Lim rendered a song a’la Lionel Richie & Neil Diamond  - I just couldn’t stand people smoking so I had to cover my nose, but the room was so huge, it even has (apart from the Karaoke area) its own dining area for 10 pax and a snooker table.  Having another appointment at the embassy the next day, we had to go home earlier than planned  here I am with Yen Mei (with his hubby Clarence - a lawyer), Ate Beng and her co-worker.