MEETING OLD FOLKS

Few days went by just playing civilization 5 "brave new world" expansion game on my PC, just to kill a few days off before reporting back to career shipping last Wednesday May 14th, 2014 . Due to the limited money I had currently, originally my only agenda at that day was to attend the accounting briefing and had the accounting slip be signed by the accountant (which I accomplished within two hours), But I figured that I still some spare time and I do wanted to know what's

Character I use in Fallout new vegas

the deal behind the new "Marina COP" document . I do know that it’s a replacement document for the TESDA C.O.C. (Certificate of Competency) , but don’t exactly know the further details on what kind of documents I'd be needing to get one. I went to the PRC / TESDA booth and asked on how to get one , Mrs "Teri" wasn't around and the fat lady with glasses gave me a small paper slip and told me that this is the document I'd be needing , give it to her first and she'd return it back to me in a few minutes.

Immediately took out my Filo fax folder out of my bag that contains my documents , Unfortunately when I plucked out my folder some silvery blue colour  packet just came out of my back pack and when I took a closer look and to my embarrassment , it was a pack of condoms that fell off my bag. Everybody saw it  and just told them that pretend they saw nothing. Anyway the conversation on PRC / TESDA booth on my company ended up me knowing that I need to get it directly to MARINA and there's no other alternative to it. Due to the lack of money I had at that time It would be best I decided to postponed it until I got enough money. In the meantime while I'm waiting to get the money , I just stayed on the house and played Fallout New Vegas Videogame on my PC.

Having lunch with my college friends on the reunion,

Last Tuesday May 20, 2014. I went to Cubao to meet up on my old folks during college days and hear how have they've been doing over these past few years. We met on a  small restaurant inside Ali mall and had a chat over our other classmates during college years. Well what can I say ? I haven't been in touch with my college classmates for the past 8 years and I often wonder to myself how have they been after college.

Joenar Palomas has been successful in his sailing career and relatively has worked without any problems as a ship officer. Rommer Banal on the other hand seems to be having difficulties being a sailor, apparently because of his age. We discussed on what happened to our other classmates during college, which most of them have already had ship officers license and from the looks, it seems that I'm a bit backward in progress but no big deal, I just wonder sometimes that those folks who would cut class often are now successful in their career as sailors, (makes me think that I should have done the same). I heard from my friends that one of our classmates Nathan Calunod have proceeded in studying law (Well from what I heard he became a sailor first then return to study law). There's also some news that one of our classmates have died on an accident in work though it's not confirmed if "Pragmac" really died.

We discussed on what happened to our fellow Yérs as well (The school club we joined during college). From what I learned on the intrigue is that Mike Cuba has recently converted to Islam while working in Dubai , which puzzles me a lot - given that Mike Cuba is a devout religious Christian guy during our college years. Never occur to my head that he'd be a Muslim one day and if there was a last person on my list that would convert into a Muslim , Mike Cuba would definitely fit in on the last person on my list. Anyway I'm not exactly sure what's the real deal why he converted to a Muslim either it could be for practical reasons (being a Christian on a Muslim land is big misfit, and better sign up as a follower of the Koran for the time being to avoid trouble )or because of influence ( Some smart ass Muslim guy practically brainwashed him and decided he should sign up for Allah ). Other Yérs like Che Manalo , "Arnie" , Jack Delos Reyes - had been happily married to their respective husbands and had kids.

On our get together, Joenar mentioned our zany professors like the bald Captain Penera and Chief Mate Chua (an instructor who has a terrible hearing problem and wears a hearing aid on class). Our mini reunion was really interesting on the fact that I was saying things as a sailor in a "Ratings" perception while Joenar Palomas was saying a lot of stuff that was in a "Ship Officer's" perspective. I would say things that is very different on Joenar's look of things such for example on how we ratings treat each other during on and off work, Somehow he could sense my disgust over Filipino visayans (ethnic Filipino's living south) though I did not point it directly.  I just kept those opinions to myself and to this journal.

(public service announcement here !!)Remember children when the Visayans come there ain't no shame in locking your doors, barricading your windows and cowering on your cabin beds. When this psycho's come to play, they have one thing on their minds - making your life as fucking miserable as humanly possible. Visayans CAN'T BE BARGAINED - OR REASON WITH and aint no use in surrendering, cause they just maltreat you anyway. So run , hide or fight if you got the balls or the weapons but for god's sake don't go waiving the white flag, they just strangle you with it.

Anyway It's really wonderful that my closest friends in college are still doing well after all these years. There are is so much surprise among them, maybe who knows after a few years' time again , there would be more improvements. We bid farewell to each other, and maybe we'd to have a mini reunion in a couple of years again.

In other matters ….

After nearly two weeks of waiting, I finally got the money I requested from my sister and hopefully I could now proceed in getting and renewing my MARINA COP certificate. I'm not exactly sure on how much this piece of paper cost, but  I'm sure that my sister gave me enough resources to cover the cost for this.

In early preparation, I had these documents photocopied in two sets. Record pages of my seaman's book , My sea service certificate from my previous company and current one, My old Certificate of competency from TESDA, NAC certificate of PSCRB (Personal Survival Craft and Rescue Boat certificate). I Had it photocopied a day before I set off and went to MARINA.

As anticipation that MARINA will provide a horrendous treatment to C.O.P. applicants, I left home as early as 3:30 Am in the morning and reached MARINA office in TM Kalaw street at 4:45 AM. (only stopping briefly during transit at cubao area to take breakfast in a nearby 7-11 store). When I arrived it was not a surprise to me that the line was already a long one this early in the morning, just as what I saw in the local TV news months ago. I estimate that it will take me awhile to accomplish my objectives. 

MARINA Office started letting people in at about 7am. It was gruesome applying for a COP certificate and was never easy as the office was terribly overcrowded and I literary have to wait 11 plus hours on the line just to get a chance on the Booth and submit my documents, not to mention I was given a wrong application form. I fell asleep a couple of times and woke up with still waiting for my turn. The annoying fact was that I had spent more time waiting rather than the actual submission and compiling of documents to the evaluator (which by the way only took less than 30 minutes all in all). It was very noticeable that MARINA is giving crappy public service to everyone, and I bet they're not going to change (or even slightly improve) their shitty service anytime soon.

The Agony of Waiting in MARINA

Apparently It looks like that this government agency ate more responsibilities than it can actually chew on when it handled all maritime related affairs in the Philippines recently - and as a result ordinary Filipino sailors pay a nasty price on their delinquency.

Finished the task at about 2:45pm. Since I figured that I still have some spare time , I decided to drop by and check out Maritime Medical Laboratory for my Liberian Medical certificate (to be used for Liberian seaman's book). It was only a 15 minute walk from MARINA , So it's very near. Unfortunately it wasn't a very good experienced when I visited the place as the staff had me kept waiting again for an hour and a half. I'm already tired , hungry and cranky at that time and decided that I'd just call it a day and be heading home and let them forward the med certificate to my agency , just as what like they did on my Marshal Islands Med Certificate a year before. The staff says that’s its ok and I dumped my med form there and let them finish the rest.

claim stub for the marina COP

Been through the agony of waiting for almost 11 hours a few minutes ago and certainly wasn't in the mood to go to another torment of waiting another few more hours for something, Just can't go thru waiting for the whole day - just had enough of the waiting.

at about 4:30PM while I was walking my way to the nearest public transport waiting area , all of a sudden it rained and lasted for about thirty minutes. Well I Don’t have any issues with the rain but for some reason whenever it rains here in Metro manila, shit happens after it and its followed by a heavy traffic jam. By the time I rode a public transport, the traffic jam was so congested that it will took another 30 minutes just to cross a 100 metre distance away from the public transport stop. In other words it would be practical to walk rather than ride a jeepney. Which resulted in me walking from SM Manila all the way to Recto LRTA train station. Had no idea why here in the Philippines, a little rain would always cause a serious traffic jam afterwards - GO FIGURE !!! Even when I rode the LRTA train there was a serious congestion on the passengers as well.

The picture i took during the aftermath of the short rain, Traffic congestion as expected

In other news

Financial trouble keeps popping up every now and then and causes me to skip progress for almost more than 2 weeks now. Without any delays and financial setbacks I could have been ready in just a week or so on my documents and deployment on work. To make it more complicated is that people who owe me money didn’t pay up, and I became too trustful to their words. For the record the total money that has to be returned to me amounts to almost as close 20,000 PHP. Anyway since there is no possible way (nor assurance) to recover that amount of money I lend, I have to consider that this money is totally lost and will definitely be stern when it comes to money lending - In other words I WON'T BE LENDING MONEY TO PEOPLE  EVER.

Anyway going back my progress have been very slow, and up to now I still have to finish this task.

1.Recovery of BTU / BTR COP

2.Recovery of Marina COP (TESDA C.O.C.)

3.Acquire Certified True Copy of Marina COP in M.A.R.I.N.A

4.Return to Career the documents I had borrowed (Medical, SIRB, SRC)

5.Finish Liberian Seaman's Book Requirement.

Hopefully if there will be no more unnecessary delays, I could in the least finish this by first week of June and that I had already secured getting a MARINA COP (Primary objective) everything should be straight forward at that time. If all goes well maybe I'd be deployed by this June.

( By the way just to keep the public informed. The MARINA COP specifically called II-4 and II-5 document for deck ratings, III-4 and III-5 document for engine ratings cost about 225 PHP each. So if you're planning to get both of these documents expect there going to chunk 450 PHP on your wallet in a snap, in addition this excludes the charges of another sub-document called "certified true copy" which is just basically a photocopy with a colour stamp and some "renting" charges on some sailor's uniform a person will be going to wear for the ID picture. To be on the safe side prepare about 1,000 PHP to cover all charges cause MARINA is going to bleed you dry on the money ) 

SHOPPING LIST

Received a call out of nowhere on my Cell phone and when I answered , it was from Career Shipping office informing me that I would be deployed in Conti Greenland within 72 hours. Puzzled, I asked why the reason behind the short notice. The caller said that I had a functional Schengen Visa ( European Visa) , I told the caller that my documents for deployment aren't ready yet and I still have a couple of things to sort out. She replied that if that was the case then I had to report back to career shipping to sort things out.

The following morning , I hurriedly packed my things up and headed to the shipping office to confirmed the said deployment. I was in the hurry that I didn't even bother to go my usual daily rituals to take a bath before heading out.  I arrived at exactly 9am in career shipping office and quickly headed to captain Galang's office to clarify my said departure. Good thing Captain Galang reassured me that I will not get deployed on Tuesday and that there was just a slight mix up on what happened.

It was a relief that I won't be in a rush to and I still have plenty of time to fix my documents. While I was at Career office I took in the extra mile of finishing other paper document stuff needed, such as my application for a Liberian seaman's book and clearing out other small details like the English proficiency test (which they call marlin by the way) my proficiency score is still passing thought , I personally think my English vocabulary has deteriorated slightly compared to my performance two years ago.

The following day , I received another SMS message yet again on career ship management (I'm starting to get annoyed that I kept receiving messages from them every now and then). This time It was about something on the NAC / COP documents, after a brief conversation with the person in charge of these documents on the telephone, it was revealed to me that the COP documents I took on PNTI are meant only for BTU / BTR seminar and not the COP for Marina. To make it simple BTU / BTR COP is different from MARINA COP (althought both of these documents have a "COP" at the end). To avoid confusion , here's what I figured out , translated to what is the equivalent version of our old documents

MARINA COP ----> equivalent to TESDA certificate of competency ( TESDA COC)

BTU / BTR COP ----> equivalent to the old NAC certificate of seminar trainings

So the bottom line is I'm back again in doing several mini - quest yet again in completing these documents, and finding out that I'm just halfway on my current goal.

For the moment here's my Mini Quest Shopping list.

Go to Career Ship Management and get some info about MARINA COP

Attend the accounting briefing at Career Ship Management

Attend PDOS Seminar at Career Ship Management

Go to MARINA and get the MARINA COP document

Go back again in maritime medical laboratory and get the PEME certficate

Retrieve the BTU / BTR COP document in PNTI.

Apply for Liberian Seaman's book at the License counter on our company.

Seriously I could finish this within a week or couple of weeks, but the thing that complicates my situation is the availability of funding. For the moment only my younger sister is the one shouldering all the expenses I need to accomplish this and she's already feeling the strain of my financial drain. Without her financial backing all my activities will be put on standstill and a halt. I don't simply want to add more strain on her in the financial part , but unfortunately I'm stuck and have to relay on it.

Anyway this serves me a lesson that I should me be more wiser in handling my money and as much as I hate being uncharitable, I have to be very cautious in trusting people when it comes to money matters (like lending my money), because chances are some of them don't exactly pay their debts at all. When I get out of this mess, I really swear that I won't lend my money to other people. I don't like being in this kind of situation ever again

SWITCHING ROADS

A day after completing and upgrading my SRC, I received an SMS from my the shipping company informing me of a sudden change of schedule , and departure time. Puzzled I sorted it out and found that the schedule for departure in Cape Bari will be the last week of May 2014. No big deal on end and that I could use some spare time in finishing off my pending medical situation.

Thursday went by and my sister urged me to go to the local dental clinic to have my tooth cavities patch up. We went to Dr. Ponti a well-known dentist here in Marikina and upon visiting and a rough estimate on how many teeth exactly I had cavities with (which ended on a total count of 11 tooths, instead of one three). Not surprisingly the cost of all the repair plus cleaning ended up on about 6,700 PHP (Philippine Pesos) , a very costly repair which I only estimated earlier to be just at least 2,500 PHP or less.

Before being put on the dentist chair, I asked my sister seriously if she has enough money for the repairs , she replied I shouldn't worry on it and she'd take care of it. I didn’t asked anymore and was assured that my sister has already figured it all out. The repairs was a long and tedious , but despite the long repair - it was painless and bloodless , didn’t have any trouble with it whatsoever.

My Medical Results, Fit as a horse !

The following day, since my teeth has been fully repaired I decided to drop by to the maritime medical clinic to verify the results of the repair and have me cleared on my medical. It only took less than 30 seconds on the dentist there to check my mouth and sign the paper, after finishing with that I proceeded next to the X-ray room as there was minor problem that showed up on the findings. After successfully sorting it out , I was back again on the road and headed to the career shipping office just to finish off a few paper works needed. Everything was doing fine until I saw the list of my would be co-workers on the computer screen , Much to my disgusts and horror I saw on the list the name AMICAN, ZACARIAS DELA TORRE which brought an infamous sound on my head. This was the notorious BOSUN whom I was having problem with back in Cape Tallin,

Never was happy to see his name on the list and said to myself that I don’t like to endure again another 9 to 10 months with him around on another ship - I just simply had enough on that guy. During the lunch break I was in the nearby McDonalds store thinking of any excuse I could think of just to get rid of him, Then it hit me. I thought why couldn’t I just make an excuse about my dad's present situation and tell captain galang that I'd be transferring of another ship line up. It's not a sure guarantee but on the very least I won't be in Cape Bari with that asshole.

As soon as lunch time was over I did not hesitate to go to Captain Galang's office and ask if I could shift to another line up. Without any further questions he said it's not a problem and said he's going to put me to Conti Greenland , In addition so Captain Galang would not suspect anything about my real intention is that I mention my dad's current condition as an excuse, It was a good cover story and sold well in captain galang's ear, he checked his computer briefly ans saw my profile, I was even surprised to hear from him that the remarks I got on my previous ship was very positive (turns out the remarks says that I was recommended for promotion as A.B.) I easily accomplished my objective without any suspicion at all , he just simply went to Mr. Nidoy to confirm my reassignment to another ship and that's it.

Seriously I have nothing personal against going to Cape Bari ship, However it’s the people whom I'm going inside on that ship that worries me. I just simply can't stand going in back on ship board work and working alongside with my enemies. I already had serious trouble getting rid of Zacarias Amican for the rest of 9 months I was in Cape Tallin and don’t want to go to another gruelling 9 months with him on Cape Bari. He was a real threat on board during my time in cape tallin and I would estimate that he will continue to be a serious threat on my existence if I took the offer in working on cape tallin. As I wrote on my previous entries on my journal , the threat was so serious that even my development of effective tools (and equipment) that I use on work was being threaten.  Its either that he puts us all the excuses he can throw out in forbidding me using those tool (and some extent even taking advantage on his job position as BOSUN)or you see him using a same version of my equipment as if like he's competing me of some sort.

Anyway good riddance !!! Now I'm going to be reassigned in Conti Greenland and him out of the way , I'm sure that working there on the new reassigned ship will have no problems at all (assuming that I don’t encounter a much more sinister crew there) and best estimate is that I'd thrive there, maybe even perhaps get a promotion there as an A.B. , an objective that I couldn't achieve if Zacarias Amican would be around. 

It was my best interest to be reassigned , it better that way and I don’t mind if my deployment will be as far as June rather than suffer yet another grim 9 months on the hands with my enemies. It's better that way , I'm ok with that.

Late at night it was confirmed to me via SMS message that my reassignment to Conti Greenland was accepted.

Name:	Conti Greenland
IMO:	9391397
Flag:	Liberia
MMSI:	636091621
Callsign:	A8QM9

 Vessel type:Oil/chemical TankerGross

 tonnage:23,403 tonsSummer 

DWT:37,606 '

tonsLength:185 

mBeam:28 

mDraught:7.3 m

Home port:	Monrovia
Class society:	Germanischer Lloyd
Build year:	2008
Builder (*):	Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Ulsan, South Korea
Owner:	Nsb Niederelbe Buxtehude, Germany
Manager:	Nsb Niederelbe Buxtehude, Germany

SRC UPGRADE

Total chaos as expected inside POEA, by the time I arrived there literary a hundred people flocking the whole compound to conduct their daily affairs related to overseas employment. 

 

Sadly there are a lot of changes in POEA compared to the last time I had been here a few years ago. The POEA is much more chaotic and disorganized now, worst is that the instant "one stop" shop they brag about a few years ago has been disbanded (booths that process all documents needed like , NSO , DFA, TESDA, PRC, MARINA, NTC, NBI, ). Aside from that they're no longer issuing the quarterly publication on the list of licensed maritime companies.

 

Anyway I'm here to get my SRC card here and according to the application form I got I'm scheduled here at 1pm to apply for that card. While I was waiting in the PAGIBIG waiting area, waiting. The Security guard called out and announced on the mega phone that they prioritize first MAAP graduates and they get to be out on front first in the waiting line (even though they arrived very late), A bit insulting not only me but to other people who arrived earlier.

 

Geez never knew that those pampered bitchy little girls get the special kind of treatment even on this government agency, I don't understand what makes them so different and special than the rest of us grunts standing here ? . Anyway that's the way here in the Philippines (specifically in the maritime industry), It's based on social status - not the law.

 

No big deal on me , just have to live with that part. Anyway The first step in applying for that card is of course get the application form from the security guard on the information area, which I had done a few days ago. Next step is get the requirements, I can't remember exactly the documents needed for first time applicant's and it's been years passed since renewed my SRC card but what I can only tell for now is the documents needed for the "Upgrading and Renewal" of old timers like myself. The documents needed are these only, the rest listed on the back of the said form are none essential.

 

Application Form

Passport size ID picture

Old SRC card

Seaman's Book

50 Philippine pesos

 

I only presented these at the SRC counter located at the mezziene floor and the guy at the counter told me to pay the 50 pesos fee at the fifth floor and then go back here. After paying the fee at that fifth floor , I was told again by another guy on the counter to wait at the PAGIBIG waiting area at around 3pm for the releasing. After waiting an hour the security guard called out queue numbers and I went back again on the mezziene floor and got my card there along with my Seaman's book.

 

When I got the card , I took a good look at it and noticed that there's nothing special on this SRC card, it's appearance didn't even changed at all during these years , It's just a piece of paper indicating a sailors registry number and its new rank. The same paper card I got years ago.

 

Once that I had finished my business in the SRC , I went on the extra mile in settling out my PAGIBIG number (housing loan thing). A year ago I had already registered my tracking number online, and now aside from having an online number , Career now requires me to get an actual card number from PAGIBIG itself.  Anyway I got my PAGIBIG card very easily, I just told the guard in the PAGIBIG office about my tracking number and after a few minutes he presented me a card. 

 

Finished all my agenda's in POEA In a single day and that wraps up my latest business on that place, My next objective will be this

 

Submit SRC card, and other Documents to career shipping

Finish the dental repairs ,and go back to the medical clinic.

Get the COP certificate at PNTI school

 

FULLY BOOKED

usual routine medical test , answer honestly the HIV / STD test 

Routine medical examinations in Maritime Medical laboratory clinic proceeded as scheduled and with little problem (only Dental and possibly X-Ray as the main challenge). It took me only half a day to finish all the 5 Medical exam stages ,which included Audio, Optical, Laboratory (blood chemical), X-ray and ECG, Physical, Drug test and Psychological test. I'm glad that my stool sample is no longer needed on the laboratory test , So I just threw my "shit cup" on the trash bin.

Apparently according to the attending dentist that checked my teeth the cost of the entire dental repairs will be as much as 2,400 PHP and that even excludes the dental cleaning that will follow. The cost of the repairs is very high and I'm not exactly sure if having it repaired on the said clinic will persue , For now the only remedy solution I could think of is have my teeth repaired on a local government hospital and get a Medical certificate there.

For the record, the repair form given to me says I need to have dental fillings on three carries and some cleaning. As for the X-ray issue , I was told by the med tech that my current Chest X-ray result will be made in comparison with the previous medical X-ray they have on their database and submitting a previous chest X-ray plate I had will no longer be necessary.

SRC application form in POEA

As of the moment my medical is still pending as of now.

Late at night , I was given by my sister some money to cover up a few expenses that will be needed for the latter.

On the following day. I left the house very early to update my SRC (seafarers registration card ) at POEA office in Ortigas. Arriving early I asked the security guard at the information booth there on where I could  update my card, The security guard prompt just gave me a paper application form and said that I have to go back again on May 5 in the afternoon to have my application form be processed. I took the form before the security guard changes his mind and did ask any further on why the hell why I have to wait for a couple of days more for just a piece of paper. As I read on the back of the form SRC cost only as little as 50 PHP and I only have to present a few original documents which includes my Seaman's Book , Passport and a 1 x 1 picture

Didn't stayed in POEA that long and went to Career Ship management office in Evangelista office located in Makati Edsa to ask if I can borrow my passport from the office (from what I read on the form, a passport is needed to update SRC). The lady on the counter said that my passport is no longer needed and assured me that my seaman's book is enough to update my SRC. I do hope on what she says is true cause I have a nasty impression that most staff in Career are a bunch of big fucking liars who set the wrong expectations on people like what just happened a year ago about the wrong airport terminal (telling us its terminal 1 instead or terminal 3).  Anyway her words will be tested on May 5 and see if its correct,

Just chilling out on the local mall after the POEA visit

SRC requirements for new and "Upgrading" ratings

BACK AGAIN TO ACTION

Things have made a different turn of events, and it seems that things are getting close for me. Currently I'm trying to scrape off every resource money I could get my hands on and things are not going well on that plan of mine, Apparently on the part of the "Human Fallibility" issue on were they're not paying their debts back.

 

For the moment, there's a possibility that my stay here in the Philippines will be prolonged for another month, given that dad's operation is scheduled somewhere on the third week of May (way far too long than initially intended). Worst part is that dad is going to be confined earlier and at least two weeks before his said operation, I'm not exactly sure if we do have both the manpower to maintain daily task here at home and at the hospital.

 

Another problem that resurfaced is the pressure coming in from my current shipping company telling me to report soon and take the medical exam ASAP. I'd report back as soon as I can and will fix the remaining document (SRC card) on POEA along the way. Currently The only thing holding me back on accomplishing this is  my problems with the money. I guess it will be best that I should leave everything behind. As for my planned licensure examination, apparently this is going to be put on hold again for several years, I wasn't planning that it will be put on hold but the circumstances showed that it would be unwise to take the examinations now because of financial constraints - and I never foresaw that this would be my case now. Maybe I'm to be blame on the money management part.

 

In other news ….

 

Due to dog related issues which my sister pet shiatsu is constantly chewing off power cords from my electronic equipment , I had finally decided to move all my equipment downstairs to prevent any further damage from her dogs. I'd had to take this steps to make sure that those dogs stay out of my PC's power cords - PERMANENTLY !

 

Anyway speaking of equipment .

 

All of the necessary programs needed on both of my computers have already been loaded up and ready, all of the multimedia files have been loaded and are get to go on both HP and LG PC. I already have enough stored multimedia file here on my laptop to last the whole duration of my trip , As for my working equipment, I had already fitted and finished the spare special coveralls I'd be bringing along for the trip. In addition all of the essential medicines and special equipment have already been put on my check-in luggage's, although it's not 100 percent that all needed equipment's have been bought , I could at least say that I had achieved at least 92 percent objective on the equipment's needed.

 

In other news

 

As predicted the moment I started reporting to Career shipping , the process of being deployed early went on a very fast rate. I reported to career shipping last Friday April 25th and had no problems , and it was convenient that "Mr. Nidoy" was the person who debriefed me and not "Mr Ho" - as he is more friendlier. We just exchanged a few words about the briefing and told me that I should get a recommendation on promotion at least on this voyage and the next to be promoted as an A.B. , After that he dismissed me and said that he's going to put me to Captain Galang's Office

 

Once inside Captain Galang didn't mention anything on me except the part on which medical Clinic I would prefer to go on medical, I mentioned first is physicians clinic but Captain Galang said that it would be more convenient if I should go to maritime medical clinic instead. That was the only thing that captain galang mentioned and "Mr Nidoy" then said that my papers will be forwarded to the medical department and I should wait my name to be called there.

 

Was waiting on the medical counter when unexpectedly I saw Mess man Ferdinand , waiting also on the medical counter as well.  Had a small talk with him and found out that the mess man who replaced him at Cape Tallin met a nasty accident 5 days after we left and was sent home, From what I heard the new mess man fell from the provision crane all the way down to the provision store and suffered a nasty horrible internal bleeding. Aside from that I heard the O.S. Xerxes Hall is back again re-applying in the company office , apparently from what I heard on Ferdi , O.S. Hall met an accident on board and just got out of the hospital. Honestly I don't give a shit on what happened on O.S. Hall , never liked the guy during my time in cape tallin and was definitely a vicious blabber mouth.

 

As for ferdi I heard from him that he's having problems on the medical , I didn't specifically on what it was but I think it's just a minor issue. Left ferdi after the small talk and went to the medical counter to get my slip. The schedule I got was on the 29th of April, Tuesday

OFFICIALLY BROKE

Congratulations  !!! After being here in the Philippines for more than a month, I am now officially broke (though technically I'm not). It may seemed to be all of a sudden that I have spent 70 thousand pesos in just roughly half a month but money goes really fast these days if I'm not careful in spending it wisely - well I did spent it wisely for the most part and that technically I still have at least more than 20 thousand pesos in savings (which unfortunately I couldn't use at the moment given that I lend it to my younger sister). In spite of this , believe it or not I am happy that I am broke compare to the time when I have all the money and working at sea.

 

For the moment , The only thing that is holding me back in being at sea again is the licensure examinations. I'm still very much hell bent committed in taking that exam and getting that piece of plastic card as much as possible, That card for me is vital and is the key to my retirement on this god forsaken , god awful shitty maritime industry. Lest I don't get it soon , lest I can't retire early and have to bear with it.

 

Yes it is true that's my real intention on why I want to get a license, contrary to some people that they get their license to "expand" their career in being a sailor, mine is that I want to get a license to end my career once and for all. I figured that the plastic card is the key to my retirement and my only ticket out of this.  I want to get the license and end my career as a sailor for all the right reasons.

 

They say being an active and practicing sailor is a blessing (and sort of a gift) given that there are so many student Filipino sailors who really want a piece of sea life on board but are never given a chance at all, They say I'm lucky that I made it in becoming a full fledge sailor. - well I beg to disagree on what they say , for me this is a curse - a nightmare, this so called blessing and gift - they can have it back and I want no part of it !

 

In the meantime while I'm still struggling to get a license , I just have to endure more of this enchilada.

 

For the moment this is my objectives for next week , after this holy week

 

*Get SRC card from POEA

*Get TOR records from previous school.

*Get NAC Certificate from PNTI

*Get AMOSUP ID card in intramurous manila

 

Optional objectives

*Get NBI Clearance Certificate

*Get PEME medical certificate

*Pass application form for exam in PRC

IT'S BEEN A WHILE

Finished up my latest business on my seafaring career, and just finally got another copy of my transcript of records that will be released on the 25th of April - No thanks to my beloved School PMI colleges . Wasn't really hard in getting one really just simply have an affidavit of loss and four hundred pesos and that’s it.

I went there at about 1pm on Monday and immediately proceeded on the registrar room now relocated at the new building of PMI campus and prepared my affidavit of loss along with my old seaman's book as an I.D. , I didn't wait too long on the line in the registrar and when I came up I was asked by the staff on which date did I made my TOR (transcript of records) a BS. I said I couldn’t remember the exact date but only the year which is 2012. It only took her a couple of minutes to check on the school records before calling me back and giving me instructions to fill out the form and go to the accounting office for payment.

Went to the accounting office in the above floor and payed 380 PHP for the recopy of my TOR, then went back to the registrar and gave the receipt, the staff told me that my TOR will be released by 25th of this march and gave me an office number and said to call up this number if I'm in doubt of the release date.

ITS BEEN A WHILE

2012 was my last visit with this school, and back then , I recall that my school was in trouble over some licensing issues with the education department and to make it worse. One of the three buildings on my campus literary burned down, and it was the main building (the largest of the three) that caught fire. The two things that happened was a big blow on the school and sent a thousand students fleeing and enrolling on nearby maritime school.

During that time if I remember the school even inaugurated the newly built simulator room a month before the fire broke out. Sadly all that remains now of the room is just dust and ash 

Two years later, There isn't much change going on in PMI - But I think little by little it's starting to recover. The Main building is still burned out and abandon but maybe someday it might be rebuilt.

THE GREEN LOGO

      Haven't you noticed how star bucks has taken the place of megamalls , theme parks and fast food chains ? .today star bucks spells gimmick .Suddenly everyone is mad about coffee and is willing to spend a whoing hundered bucks for one tall mocha frappe or one Grande iced coffee , everyone claims its different, its something to die for .Instead of catching a nice flick at the cinema, the Filipinos new idea of fun is to voluntarily park their buns at the cafe shop and gulp all the caffeine they can muster. No one knows exactly why star bucks has become the hot spot , when what they serve is just a foamed version of cheap coffee you buy over a typical grocery store for crying out loud .Oh try pointing this out to star bucks fanatics here and you can expect getting lambasted-to-

death on how little you know about coffee .get ready with the answers like "duh! star bucks isnt just coffee ! they're ground beans and processed chocolate and skimmed milk !what do you know about that?"

    

 They have a point there , though because even in the united states ,when you talk about coffee ,star bucks comes first ,their ingredients are never questionable and if I'm not mistaken star bucks is an established -since-year-brand. In short star bucks is the authority .But it ends there .Star bucks is coffee PERIOD. Certainly not the gimmick place to hangout with of some sort , not convincing enough as an alternative for the mall .this I repeat is the case in the united states.

      But star bucks invades manila and here it becomes an obsession. As you may have already seen, The interiors of star bucks cafes are all designed to create a distinct ambience .Notice the Italian-tiled flooring, to the cowboy-motif wall covering , to fancy shmancy lamps, tables and chairs crafted like those only seen in home magazines .of course who would have missed the complicated bar counter , behind which all the grinders and blenders are displayed as if to remind you they really do process your cappucino .

Me and Starbucks

    

 I mean who can resist frequenting a posh place like this ? Instead of worrying about other important things , The typical Fashionista wannabe teenage Filipino puts on her best dress , and with her fashionista friends goes straight to star bucks where she orders "one tall caramel frappe please!" This takes time to prepare , which is fine to her , she feels rewarded by the fact that the ethical barista would shout her name all across the room by the time her frappe is ready.After she claims it,she heads for the self-service corner where she takes excessive packets of extra sugar ,extra cream, an inch thick of starbucks tissue paper for her souvenir. Then she sits by the front window ,hoping someone she knows would pass by and see her drinking expensive coffee .She takes remarkably small sips in order to prolong her stay , like a real smart-ass

    

 During the entire process there is the obligatory flipping and flaunting of her nokia cellphone ,the constant eruptions of "YEAH" and "sure" here and there .You get the impression everyone in the room, is from the elite society Sector. Pathetic as it is , the Starbucks atmosphere is so contagious that it simply brings out the social climber and hypocrite in one .

    

 You have to admit that the philippine franchiser of starbucks-whoever he is- deserves credit. He's certainly not stupid and sees through us filipinos and definitely knows how to flatter us .Mr Starbucks is aware of the average filipino desire to be associated and considered among the elite because well, in reality , the average filipino is far being that .The average filipino home is less attractive that a place like starbucks, the average filipino meal is without garnishes. The average filipino environment is less comforting and convenient than the service of starbucks. But when inside Starbucks , the average Filipino is instantly made to feel hes in new York , or las Vegas or Paris or anywhere else but in manila - one probable reason why we Filipinos buy this flick .we are total suckers for anything that is western in concept .but Starbucks has gone beyond colonial mentality ;It has become a pure escapism It helps us forget about the harsh realities in life like poverty and chaos , anything that offers oblivion and temporary indulgence sells fast no matter how costly it is.

   

  With their little creativity in repackaging. The Starbucks concept is no longer just coffee , its already a religion in which we Filipinos practically worship that green logo .It is from us The promise of Starbucks very payday 

DOWN TO 5K AND STILL DROPPING

As for the moment things are not going pretty well on my vacation, and within a short span of a month I am having now difficulties in managing my remaining money left. What's worse is that I'm not exactly sure if I can keep the commitment of taking a licensure exam.  Can't really imagine that I had blown off 70k of my leave pay within only less than a month but despite that I had no regrets in spending that money since I used it for the greater good like buying much needed equipment for my next work onboard a ship and repairing some things on the house.

Marina Requirements for COP

Anyway Shortly after my BTU / BTR seminar, I came afterwards on my next objective "The SDSD" seminar. Which I took on march 31st , the SDSD seminar was a totally big joke and I even wonder why this is required at all in the first place. Anyway the good thing that came up during the seminar was that I found out some info on which medical centre I would take the basic PEME for the COP and that getting a COP itself was not that difficult in acquiring compared to the old days ( has no "Assessment" at all) ,simply just file up the documents needed and submit it either on MARINA or on any respective maritime training centre and pay the fee - that's all.

For me , I don't want to go to the trouble of waking up early in the morning and go to marina - so I opt instead to file my COP documents to PNTI, Unfortunately for me PNTI takes about roughly 30 to 40 working days of processing my COP before I could get it (equivalent to our calendar to about two months) , Fortunately I'm not in the hurry nor rushing things .

I guess everything has its downside on those two options available for the COP, I could process it the hard way in MARINA and have it done within 15 days or Process it in PNTI the easy way but sacrifice waiting for almost two months.

In the meantime while I'm waiting for my COP to be released , My latest assignment for now is doing these three objectives.

A.Get a copy of my academic records in my school (for future enrolment in marine engineering course in college, scheduled somewhere on 2015)

B.Renew my SRC card from POEA Office (required and imperative, will be visiting on the latter)

C.Take the Licensure Examination (requires NBI clearance certificate and medical clearance certificate)

COP NAC Room of PNTI

In the meantime while I was busy accomplishing this objective I was preoccupied on other matters on my house, such as my dad was recently hospitalized over breaking his leg bone when he fell off a bike. It was our best decision to put him in the hospital to see what have happened to him since he was already having a nasty fever and chill on the third day after his accident. At first our rough estimate that it was just a dislocated socket , but apparently the x-ray showed a different story and it was much worse. From the looks on the X-ray my dad's bone was totally broken off , (closed facture in medical terms) just a few centimetres off from the hip socket .

Aside from that I was also downloading a lot of entertainment media and storing it on my new HP computer, most of my downloads are documentary videos coming from the history channel and nation geographic channel. I downloaded  those videos using the YouTube downloader program I installed on my LG pc, Aside from that I'm doing modifications on some equipment that I will bring along during my next trip. I have already repaired the safety helmet I will use plus  I'm nearly close in finishing the modified spare coveralls that would be needed.

 For the moment I could say that 90% of the equipment that I will be needing is already completed and I'm already set for the go, the only thing I would worry about now is the weight limitation of 20 kilograms each on both my luggage. Probably my next shipboard work will be the heaviest luggage I'd be bringing along for my onsigning.

PROPOSED EQUIPMENT LINE UP

For the general information on the public , I would be carrying two check in luggage bags and one hand carried back pack. One bag will carry all the equipment I need for ship work , while the other will be carrying all my civilian clothes plus some reserve *support* equipment for the first bag. The back pack that will carry is exclusively limited only for documents and electronic stuff like computers , tablets , cell phone and the like, plus an extra t-shirt, underwear, socks and shorts.

My Dads Injuries (both Internal and external ), X-Ray shows broken bones , eternal is shown above