Kids Simple Pleasures

Sissy Ck told me that their package has arrived this afternoon.  They came to pick it up after R-jed’s class. Later came Anzel who took all the stuffed toys and never bothered sharing it to her kuya R-vin who longs to have even one of those four we’ve sent. Kids nowadays can never live without toys and TV.  During my time children create our own toy using recycled materials like tin cans, bottle caps and alot more.  Whereas in todays generation it’s all ready made and less outdoor activities too.

I Go for Quality

Whenever I go for proper shopping I always go for good quality items. Like in jeans, it doesn't matter if I only have two jeans for the rest of my life as long as it is Levis. For sure it would last that long.  So goes with other things like shoes and bags. Good quality shoes like Naturalizer and designer handbag like Bolzano are worth every penny.  I'm not trying to appear wealthy here.  As I am aware that most of the really wealthy doesn't even wore designer clothes because they go for quantity.  I just feel cheated ones I buy something that gets ripped off or damaged after few use. Things can never be expensive if you are a wise buyer.

Paypal in Philippines

I’m excited for my Filipino blogging counterparts =)  This will definitely be a blast!

Paypal is now available at Union Bank’s Cyber Account! From this time processing Paypal withdrawals will be less bloodier than before.  For almost a year, it gave my Sis Carey a hard time to withdraw her earnings from paid blogs in the Philippines.  The easiest way back then was to activate her bank account here in Thailand.  So she could get her money but with some conditions that prohibits her from withdrawing anytime she wants.  Like transfer fees and bank charges. 

For sure Filipinos will shake the blogworld in few time with this big stand of Union Bank.  This would definitely lessen the burden of unemployment for my countrymen as I am aware that Filipinos are highly capable of professional blogging if only given the means.  Cheers! for the greater blogging success.

Cool Gifts for Dad

Tool cart, pressure washer, tool chest, workbench. Oh! I can't make up my mind what to give our dad on his special day.

My dad's a grease monkey.  That explains why I'm enumerating all this things above.  He might not appreciate it that much if we give him new clothes or socks as birthday and Christmas present.  Surely the best gifts for him would be anything for his garage that he will use often.  Practicality and usability always goes hand in hand in choosing a gift for a guy.

Pinoy’s Pride: Manny Pacquiao

Once again Manny proved to us that he is the king of the ring.  

Yesterday at  10:45 am Thailand time all Filipinos in AIT gathered around HBO room to watch for the most awaited match of Pacquiao vs Barrera.  Thankful enough that our mass starts early just right on time before the game started.

My eyes were glued to see Kyla singing the national anthem.  A loud applause came after her song and laughter filled the whole room as we realized that its not a concert that we're watching. LOL

Manny fought a good game.   I even saw him doing that Fernando Poe thing over Barrera's lower chest on the earlier round. I love seeing Manny's passion over and over.  And it's on this passion that comes one of our country's biggest pride. 

Avoid Scratching CDs and DVDs

Got few collection of movies at home.  Some of which were returned lately when niece and nephews grew tired of watching them 4 to 5 times a day.  This afternoon I found out that most of them aren't clear anymore.  Timberline for ones didn't run smooth as expected seeing the wolverine marks on it. Ugh!  I should have called their attention at first to place the disks on its  jewel cases after use. Now I doubt if the scratches will ever be removed.  I'd better be sure I have enough CD and DVD packaging case at home for all my CDs and DVDs.  Later I'm ordering it online through Supermediastore.com.  I won't take chances for my precious movies anymore.

Of Hearts and Buddhas

Thailand or known as the "Land of Smiles" has become my second home for such time now. Thai people are friendly and tolerant but there are certain do's and don'ts I observe, and try to live by everyday.

I avoid touching people on the head as it is regarded as a holy part of the body. I must not use my feet in pointing objects or to anybody, opposite to what I do in the Philippines before.  Here it's badly prohibited as it shows a big insult to do such thing.

They have less noise pollution on the streets as drivers avoid unnecessary blowing of horns.  Instead, they use the headlights to warn fellow drivers.

Thais are softspoken and respectful. Their regular conversations using a cellphone are like whispers to me.  They always say the words "kha" used by females or "krap" used by males, similar to po and opo in Pilipino.

People here does the Wai (praying hands), the traditional Thai greetings used instead of a handshake. This gesture could also be done in asking apology, saying thank you or paying respect to elders and VIPs.

Being here had brought me lots of good things in almost all aspects of my life. This is where my heart belongs for now. My faith has kept me grounded in a Buddhist land.

~~~
Photo Assignment # 5;
Theme: hearts;
Title: Of Hearts and Buddhas;
Location: Suan Lum Night Bazaar, Bangkok

Completing my Christmas List

If Santa reads this I'd like to let him know that I've been good all year and I want a Graphire bluetooth pen tablet for Christmas =) If it isn't too much to ask? Thanks Santa.

Christmas is approaching with two months left to do the shopping.  First, I must complete my list and check not to miss anybody. Absolutely this occasion is for kids and the young at heart. So, godsons/goddaughters comes first before adults.

My remaining list: 

• for Carlo- complete set of Land Before Time DVD
• for  Gio- a nice book and Lego
• for Judeil- a set of bowling toys
• for Kathleen & Kyla- pink teethers and dainty shoes
• for hubby Tony- I'm going to buy him something from jockey to avail of my jockey coupons.
• for sister Daisy- a book from Brian Tracy and get a 45% discount on brian tracy deals.

One advice though, if you want to shop online, check out first  CouponChief.com  for big discounts on items that you might want to buy for your loved ones.  It works for me, might as well do good for you. Why pay full price if you can get it cheaper. 

Saturday Washday -In Pursuit of Happiness 2

This is the time of my life that I call, "Saturday Washday. "

It feels relaxing and homey every Saturday.  Time for me to do the household chores without being bothered by phone calls and immediate assignments.  Obviously I wake up late  to spend some quality time for myself.  After jumping out of the bed I hurriedly turn on my Christian alternative music and rock the house.  Load the dirty clothes on our washing machine while watching cartoons in between and taking breakfast. Saturday's are a blessing! Have a nice weekend! 

Free Webhosting Discount Coupons

Get real about blogging. Imagine your blog on a paid site hosting provider. You would not be bothered by the restrictions that comes along with a free hosting service. You can have various sponsors and advertisers if you wish. Limitation about space and type of media presented won't be a problem.There is so much flexibility and better opportunity in store.

I have seen a number of web hosting provider that offers low cost website hosting plans. They are not only affordable but are reliable as well. One of those hosting provider is Lunarpages.com. They offer a number of discounts that any serious blogger or webmaster would have to consider. Discount coupons such as Lunarpages Coupons are readily available from various sponsor sites.

You can save as much as $28 with 2 months free web hosting if you purchase using a Lunarpages coupon for web hosting. This is ideal for neophyte webmasters, bloggers or even small businesses that requires e-commerce. You can also get a discount of $35 if you avail of the Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting using a Lunarpages coupon. VPS are for websites that have high traffic and high resource requirements. For serious webmasters that need massive storage coupled with some shell access (SSH) features there's also a Lunarpages coupon for Dedicated Servers which will let you save $50. Those are just a few of the discount coupons that's available and there more than that on the web.

Quality hosting and reliable service can be availed of at a cheaper price just use some discount coupons like Lunarpages coupons.

Tuna Salad

Category:                            Salad                            
Style:                                    My experiments                 
Special Consideration:    Very Quick and Easy
Servings:                             2 to 3

Description:
Me and hubby usually go home at lunch time. If we are in a hurry I normally resort to my easy-to-cook experiments.

This one is the example of my 10 minutes menu.

As I cook rice I boil 2 eggs in a microwave for 3 minutes.  Open the tuna and place in a bowl. Slice onions and tomatoes. Sprinkle with a bit of sugar and pepper. Squeeze some lemon and dash a little salt to taste, in case your tuna is in brine. After 30 minutes everything is ready for lunch!

Ingredients:

• 1 can tuna
• 1 or 2 tomatoes minced
• 1 medium size onion minced
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• pinch of pepper & salt
• 1 lemon (manaw in thai) or 3 kalamansi
• 2 eggs

Garnishing:

• sliced boiled eggs

Additional mixture:

• thinly sliced ampalaya
• crushed chicaron 

Branding Your Business Up Now

I was looking on how to market a start up business. I know that names or brand plays an important part in a business. I was thinking of hiring a branding agency but it is way too expensive for me. Branding is a way of pushing your products/services in the marketplace relative to your competitors.

As I was scouring the net on such a topic I found an interesting table about brand evolution terms. It's amazing that it's pretty much complete and has a wealth of information packed on.

In Pursuit of Happiness 1

Life is indeed a circus.  I have my own ups and downs too and so as my husband.  Each have our own fair share of drama in life that have been etched deep inside.  Both our families understood how it is to be broke. And how our parents have struggled to bring back their dignity by providing us good education no matter what it takes.

There were few times that we have been reminded of our past, I myself is easily moved to tears of partly sad but most of all thankful for that experience.  Without it, we may not really know the real value of life for us.  

***

You may notice that there's a number right after the title above.  From this time on I'm counting my blessings through my past and recent pursuits.  More to come =)

Dining Area Refurbishing

After years of getting used to the same look of our dining room I finally decided on refurbishing it. I thought of having some new Dining Room Furniture. I saw on the net a lot of Dining Furniture and even some Formal Dining Room Furniture to choose from.

The dining room furniture set I have in mind would be simple but elegant. On the internet I could search some of the beautiful furnitures. I could even zoom on the furniture I was eyeing on. The net have been a great tool for helping me decide on what style and color of the furniture that will match my needs.

Next time you would like to refurbish your home start looking first on the internet.

Manny Pacquiao vs Marco Antonio Barrera Boxing Re-match

Today I received a copy of an email request from a student. It's about the re-match of Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Barrera this coming October 7, 2007 around 10:30am to 2:00pm (Thailand time). Since we could not be present in Las Vegas Stadium we hope to watch it live in AIT's HBO room.

Dear Mr. SU President,

Good evening!

One of our popular fellow-filipino boxer, MANNY "Pacman" PACQUIAO will have his boxing match with a Mexican guy at Nevada Las Vegas this coming sunday. This event is broadcast through television, internet and the likes.

In this connection, in behalf of the filipino students, I would like to ask a permission for a "RESERVATION ON HBO-ROOM" this coming 7th of October (sunday) , from 10:30am to 3:00pm (maybe earlier than this). This will take only a few hours on that day, in which we filipino's can watch the said match.

Hoping your kind consideration on this matter and looking forward to your reply.

Thank you very much!

Best regards, Jason

The Student Union president has approved the reservation request for the HBO room. Great thanks !

Dear Ead and K.kate

Please RESERVATION ON HBO-ROOM" this coming 7th of October (Sunday),
from 10:30am to 3:00pm for filipino students.

Thanks
Sayam
SU President

Don't forget to bring some cold drinks and snacks.

So come and enjoy! Mabuhay ang pinoy! See you there!

Big Plan

Me and hubby planned to pushed through with our big project in the next few months. Our expenses are sky rocketing and without additional funds we will probably go hungry in the next three months. Luckily we have occasional free dinners so we are able to save few bucks for it.  But this is not enough of course to declare we have enough stored for the rainy days. 

We considered applying for the payday loans payable shortly after its release.  It will be deducted on the monthly salary depending on the period stated on our contract. It is the best thing in joining a cooperative. The easiest and safest way to borrow funds.  As the interest are remarkably low and will later then be returned in the form of dividends.

This privilege of emergency cash gave us a big relief.  Now we are close to fulfilling our big dream.  Simply by leveraging work and resources we attained a financial solution.

No Gym for 3 Months

Starting October until December all my schedules are packed. I already imagined ahead of time that juggling work with exercise and religious activities might not be healthy for me. Considering the fitness center is around an hour travel back and forth, and the schedule sometimes coincide with our daily Rosary.  On November one week will be spent for the preparation and another two weeks for the actual Redemptorist Parish Mission. Lastly on December everyday we will do the caroling in different houses both in AIT and in Bangkok.

The solution I see here is to change my schedule and location for exercise.  Instead of going to the gym, I'll use my time for community activity and play tennis here in the campus at night.  Now is the best time to improve my tennis skills. Watch out Sharapova. LOL

Netrepreneurship Made Easy

With businesses trying to reach the global market, it's a lucrative marketing strategy to integrate a shopping cart software on ones online store. I'm having an impression that earning is much easier this days with the help of this application programs.

Recently I tried to search some photos regarding portraiture and web design templates on the net to learn from designers techniques.  I noticed, almost all have this shopping carts are visible on every design with its corresponding price.  That gives me an idea I could also sell my own photos and the CSS / web templates designs of my husband with the aid of the software.

So a prospective customer could basically browse the products and designs and may immediately choose any of it, click on the shopping cart  icon and proceed by inputting credit/debit card number. I'll definitely consider getting it from Ashop, with a reliable online support for customers around the world. 

‘Desperate Housewives’ slighting issue against Philippines

Some people find it belittling, others a funny compliment from the actress Susan (Teri Hatcher) of Desperate Housewives. Delivering this very short but strong enough to get noticed, she said, “OK, before we go any further, can I check those diplomas? Because I would just like to make sure they are not from some med school in the Philippines.”

And the result? Filipinos demanded for public apology from ABC in US.  http://www.petitiononline.com/FilABC/ Thank heavens I did a little yoga today.  I feel calm and I'm fine without this. Can't waste my time with such insensible remarks. I hope the writer would come to visit our country to prove himself wrong. 

Celebrate Halloween with Fancy Costumes for Kids and Adults

In AIT we have a community of mix nationalities coming from countries mostly in the Asian region. At the time of Halloween during the 31st of October kids studying at the nearby community school gather up and move from door to door, house to house all night long. They sport various costumes like super hero's Spiderman, superman, pirates, angels and more. The kids really don't mind what's the origin of this festivity but as long as they enjoy together that's what matter most.

Three or two days before we normally buy some give away for the kids visiting the house. We prepare some candies and some small toys to be given for the "trick-or-treat". My niece and nephew are also busy asking their mom to buy them some flashy costume to wear along the celebration. By the way, mom's can also buy some for themselves something to surprise their hubby… just for fun.. I saw some Sexy Halloween Costumes too. Definitely not for the kids..

I remember my youngest nephew Rjed having a full Spiderman costume while his older sister Anzel have a fairy costume and their elder brother Rvin have a pirate costume. Days before they are super excited to try on their costumes. Then Rvin shares all sorts of Halloween jokes that he picked up from school to his brother and sister. He will ask; What do you call two witches living together? After his little brother and sister fails to guess he will volunteer the answer "Broommates". He also will ask about; What is a Mummie's favorite type of music? and of course he will burst out "Wrap!!!!!" before you could even think of the answer. Rvin likes to tease his brother and sister with a scary monster mask.

Halloween is a once in a year celebration which kids are looking forward to. I will definitely miss the fun that we have with our niece and nephews. I hope they will still have the fun and festivity in their new found community in Finland.

Rating Christian Songs

I totally agree with Daisy. She said, "Appreciation of music is subjective.  What might appeal to me at a given time might not have the same effect on me the next time or might appeal differently to somebody else."

Lately I've been listening to Hillsong United and Sonicflood.  So I'm on with fast tempos and kinda off beat with slower ones.

Daisy asked me to rate songs below. From 1 to 5 — 1 being highest. Then skip the 'never heard' songs and proceed to familiar ones."

1.     Mighty To Save
2.     Tell The World - 1
3.     Glory -2
4.     Salvation Is Here -1
5.     One Way -1
6.     Everyday - 1
7.     I Give You My Heart -2
8.     All For Love -1
9.     With All I Am
10.    Sing (Your Love) - 3
11.    The Power Of Your Love -4
12.    The Heart Of Worship  -2
13.    Here I Am To Worship  -3
14.    I Offer My Life -4
15.    Shout To The Lord - 4
16.    Lord I Lift Your Name On High - 3
17.    Open The Eyes Of My Heart -1
18.    I Will Sing -3
19.    Now That You're Near
20.    Jesus Blood
21.    Still- 2
22.    Made Me Glad
23.    The Potter's Hand- 3
24.    Give Thanks  - 4
25.    God Will Make A Way –4

Please take the liberty to rate the songs above and kindly leave me a comment after you've done it so I can link you to my post. Thanks!

Rich Franklin Exclusive Content Up for Grabs at GoLive! Mobile

Everyday more and more variety of content appears on the mobile whether it is ring tone, music, video, photos, wallpaper, etc. Mobile marketing and sms marketing has become a norm. It's good to enjoy some freebies on the phone once in a while.

Let me break some good news for Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Ultimate Fighter fans. Everyone in the U.S. can now download exclusive stuffs of Rich Franklin from GoLive! Mobile. The entire project was made possible through Ultimate Pros, a leading agency for the sports industry and GoLive! Mobile a U.S. leader in mobile marketing content technology provider.

What's exciting is I've heard that this will be later made available to international audience too. For fans living outside U.S. watch out for this.

Can’t Get Enough

My slow ADSL connection is thrilling me. All of the Heroes Season 2, Episode 1, Part 2 to 6 got stuck.  Too much traffic I guess caused it to slow down. Except for their premiere teaser, obviously, which takes only a few minutes. Better I try my luck on Torrent files. It must have season 2 for sure.

Barracuda a Leader in Email and Web Security Acquires Netcontinuum

Mergers and acquisitions is what you often hear from the news. Here's another latest on the merger and acquisition news. Barracuda Networks a leader in email and web security has acquired NetContinuum, a web firewall appliances vendor to boost up it's operation . It's not clear how much was at stake here but Barracuda for sure is making this step to enter into Web application security business. I am not Nostradamus, to predict this one but I guess that's the logical next move.

The acquisition will add up a new type of appliance to sell together with its current line of appliances. This will come only after investing a heavy remake on NetContinuum's user interface which they will probably sell afterwards as the Barracuda Web App Controller. The price of the new appliance will roughly cost around from $20,600 to $34,300. The effectiveness and versatility of the product when it comes to protection power is worth the cost.

Heroes Season 2 has started

For all Heroes lover out there, the great science mythology is back on its New Season! I myself is a HUGE fan of this NBC TV series.  Even though it's not being shown here in Thailand and without Youtube for almost 4 months, I tried to find ways to view and download some episodes on different sites just to put the jigsaw together.

Therese reminded me of its premier last week. I'm glad that Youtube is back now.  Searching is much easier.   I found the answers from rozalhiro's account. He has Heroes Season 2, Episode 1, Part 1 to 6. You're the man, rozalhiro! Thanks alot!

My Reliable Printers

My work as a desktop publisher few years back was very fulfilling.  As I create my designs on Corel, Microsoft Publisher and Photoshop for calling cards, invitations, booklets, letterheads and logos I always got commended by my clients.  Thanks to my ever reliable printer which was HP Color Inkjet, I always get the perfect results for my work.  

Until this day I'm still using HP printer at home with model Hewlett Packard LaserJet 1018  Printer.  Some of the features that I like with this kind of printer is that; it's space saving, ideal for cramp spaces like mine in my apartment.  It's so easy to use, by just plugging it in and install the printer driver, in a few minutes it is already functional. It also has an easy to fit and removable toner cartridge.  So when I encounter paper feeds I just remove the cartridge and pull out the paper which was stuck inside.

Here in my office I use 2 HP printers as well.  For the colored I have HP Color LJ2605 and HP LaserJet  2100 for my black and white. Both have great precision with colors and completely crisp and clear texts.

Something special

I celebrated my natal day yesterday by hosting the Holy Rosary at the chapel together with other AIT Catholic community members. It marks the beginning of the month of Rosary and will be carried out until 31st of October. 

It was a double celebration with my friend Mary Rosary who was celebrating her special day too.  She ordered sumptuous  foods from the cafeteria, and I prepared Palabok and chocolate cake for dessert.  All went well for our humble celebration.