I am one of the twelve (12) Mozillians from the Philippines invited to be part of MozCamp Asia 2012 happening in Singapore this weekend. The Philippine delegation is composed of Eusebio “Jun” Barrun Jr., Joell Lapitan, Jean Austin Rodriguez, Allan Caeg, Melchor Compendio, Kevin John Ventura, the brother-sister tandem of Kemuel Joseph and Kathleen Joyce Domanog, Kathrine Faye Tandog, and myself. Fellow Mozilla Reps (ReMo) Renren Gabas and RJ Ian Sevilla missed the trip due to previous commitments.
Hosted by the Contributor Engagement Team, MozCamps are intensive, multiple-day gatherings that occur in strategic locations around the world. Over the course of two days, MozCamps includes keynote speeches by Mozilla leadership, workshops and breakout sessions (lead by paid and un-paid staff), and fun social outings. All of these activities combine to reward contributors for their hard work, engage them with our new products and initiatives, and align all attendees on Mozilla’s mission.
This is just the 2nd MozCamp Asia, with the 1st one held last year in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (check this and this). With the total number of 10 delegates from the Philippines, this is so far the biggest Pinoy contingent (last year, we were just six) to the annual gathering of Mozillians this side of the planet.
Our trip to Singapore started as early as 0230H — the time most of us reached the NAIA Terminal 1 as we are catching a 0600H Tiger Airways flight. It was the very first time for me to ride low cost en route to Singapore; and first time to be onboard Tiger Airways (co-owner of SEAir Philippines).
Jun left Manila (MNL) a day earlier as he is required to attend a meeting for Community Managers, so all nine (09) of us got onboard the same flight to Singapore (SIN) — how awesome is that?! I even asked the airline to block Rows 26 and 27 for us!
Making the flight more awesome is the fact that we have a fellow Mozillian who is a first time jet plane rider — Faye. She deserved to have a photo taken inside the cockpit after we landed in Singapore …
… while Joyce still considers herself as a first time jet plane rider (for the nth time) …
Upon arrival at the Changi Airport (SIN), we were greeted by two (02) e27 (event vendor assigned by Mozilla) staff, who in turn handed over the maps, directions, and electronic train ticket for our journey to Lavander Station.
Mozilla billeted all of the MozCamp attendees to V Hotel Lavander, which is just a stone throw away from the Lavander SMRT Station. For 02 years in a row, Allan is my roommate …
It was noon time when we reached the hotel after a 4-hour flight. The first in our agenda after settling down at the hotel room: lunch! But it seems that our timing was bad … it’s the lunch time rush! All of the eateries, fastfood joints, and event restaurants around the Lavander Street are full! So we decided to take the train and headed to Bugis. We settled for a Chinese Restaurant that serves a S$12 set meal per pax …
