Optimizing Space On Rented Flat

Living on a rented city flat doesn’t allow one to have all the space. The living room, kitchen, bedroom is cramped. One’s creativity is challenged on how to reorganize everything to make the whole place a bit spacious. Space saving racks, cabinets, and shelves. Workbenches that are multi-purpose would be a good addition also.

The key is to have practical and flexible furniture that could serve many uses. I have seen some furniture that becomes a bed in the evening and in the day time becomes a sofa. Then it has some drawers for keeping clothes and books.

How I wish to have one in our rented flat. It would be an effective solution to the cramped living quarters at home.

Our Photo Club has been Resurrected

With a more comprehensive way of looking at my classmates work of art.  Our teacher, A. Siroy together with the very talented classmate Chelo have created CREATIVELENS.wordpress.com to showcase our works.

For this class, the theme is "Freezing Season" as inspired by our different locations of group members.  It is aimed to feature the beauty of things around us as the season evolves from Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. I, from Southeast Asia is getting conscious more and more about the little things I see around me. 

Handling Priceless Ancient Artifacts

In Thailand there are many ancient temples around and for sure there are hidden gems and artifact on them waiting to be discovered. Have you seen the movie "tomb raider"? I like the the actress Angelina Jolie who plays Lara Croft. She’s skilled in martial arts hand-to-hand combat, weapons training, foreign languages, and what more could you ask from a woman. The movie reminds me of collecting ancient artifacts from ruins of temples found in cities all over the world.

Tomb Raider is an interesting movie that shows the value of a priceless piece of art work. Things found in a museum are viewed by the commoner as things with little value or no value at all, but art lovers reveres them as precious items. Thus, moving, storing, displaying old-age documents, portraits, sculptures, antiques requires special care.

There’s a need for example to have a custom built Art Storage vault. The vault has controlled temperature and security system to prevent thief of the valuable art work. In addition, a fire suppressant system is installed to protect it from fire.

Moving art works is as important as storage; custom packaging and crating are done for every item. Also, items are moved in a climate controlled truck to protect the art works from changes in outside temperatures which could affect or change the portraits or sculptures.

Displaying these priceless art works also requires delicate handling, and it’s important to get some professional help. An expert handling these objects will ensure that the valuable pieces of art are preserved in any stage of storage, transport, and display.

Marie Digby’s album unfolded

If Christmas could have been sooner… Geessh! I find it difficult to make an alibi for this one.  Another unpredicted expenses. I’m planning to purchase her album online.  Sssshhhh! Somebody would certainly react on this soon. But isn’t she awesome? I really like her voice the first time I spotted her in Youtube.  Now she’s just reaping the harvest of her great works.  Way to go Marie!!! All the best on your singing career =)

Say it Again

the thing about love
is i never saw it coming
it kind of crept up
and took me by surprise
and now there’s a voice inside my heart
its got me wondering
is it true..? I wanna hear it one more time
move in a little closer
take it to a whisper
just a little louder…
Say it Again for me
cause i love the way it feels
when you are telling me that i’m
the only one who blows your mind
say it again for me
it’s like the whole world
stops to listen
when you tell me you’re in love…
say it again

the thing about you
is you know just how to get me
you talk about us
like there’s not end in sight
the thing about me
is that i really wanna let you
open that door
and walk into my life
move in a little closer
take it to a whisper
just a little louder..
Say it Again for me
cause i love the way it feels
when you are telling me that i’m
the only one who blows your mind
say it again for me
it’s like the whole world
stops to listen
when you tell me you’re in love..
and it feels like
it’s the first time
that anybody’s ever brought
the sun without the rain
never in my whole life
have i heard words
as beautiful as when you say my name..

How Smart Buyer Am I?

Investing in a real estate is part of our longterm goal as a couple.  We feel this is necessary before a major life project takes place. 

The things that made it easier for me to decide before pushing with such endeavor is the good offer from authorized agents.  It is always good to avail a unit on a pre-selling period or either at the end of selling period.  In this case, on the pre-selling you can obviously get discounted for introductory prices.  Whereas, at the end you will notice that units are being offered with special promotions like additional furnishings just to close the deal for the whole building. Ours was acquired on the end selling.  When counted the furnishings actually costs more than the discount you get on the pre-selling.

Other things that I tried to consider are the location, accessibility, security, and the amenities.  The location and accessibility determines the market price of any estate. Like the one we opted to, it is located near the international airport, main road and shopping area. Security is also important to ensure your property is safe from intruders or unwanted sales persons knocking at your doorsteps.  The amenities comes last as its not always in use but it helps during special occassions.

Learning all about  the advantages of the unit is no less than liking someone and his/her characteristics. It is a mixed emotion to realize ones dreams sooner. Grateful for the blessing and a bit hesitant to acquire a housing loan. In God’s grace and with the help of several good samaritans, our unit is now ready for occupancy.

Day 2- Power Camp 08

Welcoming the sunrise with an early meditation was a whole new experience for me.  We did that on the second day of our camp.  All of us assembled in the middle of the soccer field facing the east. It was a nice way to witness the dawn.  At peace with nature and within oneself. Praising Him and thanking Him for another new life of grace.

Here’s a brief report of what had transpired during the day. After receiving some instructions from our coordinators, each group gathered to practice their cheers & yells, followed by running, biking, and swimming competition. Later we had the volleyball and basketball games near the U dormitory. All sports activities where done in the morning, culminated with an awarding ceremony and closing remarks by the leaders in the afternoon.

Day 1- Power Camp 08

The first activity that we have was the "name game". The instruction was to describe yourself in one word based from the initials of your first name. Like for example: agile Aileen, sexy Sofie, merry Mercy and so on and so forth. Each members are to memorize the name and description of their group mates. A little game will be played and next will be the question & answer portion for group presentation.

• The second activity was "role playing". It was organized by Hydie.
•  The third activity was "stranded in an island". As instructed by Mercy.
•  The fourth activity was "photo scavengers hunt". Led by yours truly.



• Lastly, we had a "telephone charade". Which was coordinated by Barry.

Power Camp 2008

Thailand is experiencing intense heat
and we in our community are going to brave the street
with an energetic Power Camp retreat! =)

We have a couple of activities in store for the next two days.  In a very convenient place of no other than— AIT. Fellow members were excited to know that this year’s venue is in our place.  For me it’s quite normal to be here whereas for them coming from the big city, they felt like they’re heading to a mountain resort. They packed their clothes, toilettries etc. and stuffed them on their trolleys.  Seeing them is like having a vacation myself.

It’s the yearly activity of our prayer group which is the El Shaddai, Prayer Partners Foundation International.  How was I able to join them?  It’s a long story. But just to give you a brief background it is a Catholic charismatic community. 

Power Camp is not just an ordinary gathering for us. Same time last year we had a meditation retreat. Whereas this year, its the first ever interactive activity aimed to develop cammaraderie within each member.

Aileen means Light

Most parents in my country would name their children after saints.  But my father took mine from our Christian dictionary of names at home, he told me. Curiousity set in when a friend in highschool brought a book of names with corresponding meanings on it.  I felt elated to know that my name means "light." On the other hand, Aileen is the Irish version of Helen in our dictionary.  Either both, I was happy with the result of my search.

At this time it’s funny how some parents would name their kids based from unique combinations and the-longer-the-cuter impression that they create. But not to me. I pity the kids who got three worded first names.  And speaking of unique names. There’s single person that carries the name Jennifer Keilp solely in the entire world. How’s that possible? That is up for me to know and for you to find out.

Paulo Coelho’s a genius

Why is it that when I read books I try to associate myself to either one of the characters in the story? At most I choose the innocent, happy, truth seeker like Pilar in the story of "By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept." The author of this heartwarming book is no other than Paulo Coelho.  It’s a blessing to read his masterpiece. His great devotion to Mama Mary is simply extraordinary.

It was thrilling to read it.  How a woman with a lesser faith had journeyed a series of life changing experiences (clueless at all) with a holy man. Somehow I can relate to this for the same reason.  It might be fictitious, but it represented my thoughts and fears at present.  I hope I’m progressing.  With this book to remind me to stay focus on my journey and stay strong in love.

From LAN to WiFi

Having internet connection has been beneficial in ways of communication and gathering information.  It is prohibited to use VOIP and video chats in the office.  Whereas other functionalities are no limits with the use of ADSL that is separate to office connection. At present LAN cables to connect directly to the internet.  However, the cost of subscription has increased to almost double the price. So we decided to share the connectivity to neighbors who needs it but doesn’t have monthly subscriptions. Me and hubby are trying to consider adding WiFi gadgets for easier accessiblity. One thing that urged us to opt for wireless is the failure to drill a whole on the wall where the cables are supposed to pass. T made a couple of try but to no avail. 

Now comes the second challenge, which is acquiring funds for technological investment.  It’s hard for me to deal with this problem at present as we’ve already spent way past our budget for this month. I never tried considering Cash advance as an option.  But I guess this might work for the meantime.  Anyway, ROI or the return on investment is likely to reach breakeven in two to three months.  Another upgrade on the way!

Pizzarific

My stomach is grumbling right now.  I can’t help of thinking last Sunday’s dinner at Pizza Company.  I’d better resort to day dreaming to satisfy my craving for pizza. At least it’s for free.

Hubby hates salmon so we go for the usual super deluxe toppings. We ordered the value set actually.  It consists of a junior pizza, carbonara and 2 glasses of softdrinks. And we just added cheese garlic bread and cheese bacon twist together with the set.  Such hefty blessings.  Yum!

The Sims do carpooling too

Have you ever played the Sims before? Sims is a computer game for strategic life manipulation developed by Maxis. In real life, my present community quite resembles to that of living in a Sim city.  Wherein people has life goals, wants and fears that determines both positive and negative outcomes.  

To give you a brief background, I belong in a community with at least three thousand people living inside the campus.  Consisting of people from different nationality, culture, and family. Inside you can find offices, schools, hotel, sports & recreation facilities, apartment units, place of worship, banks, shops, restaurants and more.

The morning scene would usually be like this, some drive their cars and others using bicycle pedals their way to the office. And few others does carpooling to save gasoline specially those working in Bangkok.  I can really say these people are making the right choice of managing such less polluting and practical transportation measures. Have you ever heard of Sims doing the Carpool? I guess they do. All I know is that humans tend to resort to Ridesearch.com in connection to this.

At lunch time, people goes out of their offices and go back again after an hour.  By 5:00 pm everybody are almost at home relaxing and preparing for dinner.  Time to replenish the food and energy level of the Sims.

Sunday fun day - 6 Apr 08

I attended the 8:30 am mass and found lots of new faces who came to hear mass in our community.  The sun didn’t show up till 10 so me and hubby decided to meet other friends who invited us to join them at the tennis court.  Drizzle came so their game went to a halt and to home we went.

I missed my sites.  I checked them for an hour before heading to dreamland.  I took some rest in preparation for our travel to the big city.  It is better to gather energy and be ready for my most awaited Sunday adventure.

The prayer meeting finished at 4 pm.  Along with Fr. Gerry we headed to Central World Plaza to play bowling supposed to be but we ended up gorging on pizzas, carbonara, garlic cheese bread and cheese bacon twists for dinner at Pizza Company.  What’s nice is that we found some good camera deals on the ground floor.  I got stucked on Nikon displays trying to get some sample shots using Nikon Coolpix P5100.  I was also itching to try the D300 but I grew tired of waiting for the guy holding it, who was obviously more engrossed than me. And of course the adventure will never be complete without me having some photos.  I captured few nightshots and street action within Siam skywalk. Now I can call it a great day and night. Till next Sunday fun day!

Rigorous Program to Restore Physical Fitness

Adapting a healthy lifestyle could be rigorous if you try to continue to engage on the similar habits of uncontrolled eating and an on-and-off exercise.  I myself is having a hard time accomplishing my Wednesday routine in the gym, that eventually brought about the creation of "Weight Watching on Wednesday" weekly meme.  As you can see I have several posts here for my health blog. Personally I am not a strict person and so does my health habits. Sometimes when I’m not busy at work, instead of grabbing that opportunity to exercise, I tend to procrastinate and choose to sleep for long hours. 

My present state of being relax is somehow related to how I look.  It’s confusing when friends tell me that I’m too thin while perhaps my health instructor told me that I have to lose 2 kilos of excess fats. Surprising, right? But I guess my weight is not yet alarming compared to other obese individuals who resort to taking Generic Acomplia which blocks your cravings for food/ vices.  I could still eat whatever I like as long as it’s in moderation. Restoring physical fitness could also be fun if you have an exercise buddy.  I’m thankful that hubby is there to remind me and dance with me always.

Thankful Thursday- simplepleasures 03/04/08

I’m ever grateful for a lot of things this week. 

• My Dviewfinder.com blog site is now back to normal with new theme and updated version of blog platform. I’m currently in love with my themes both for Dviewfinder and Simplepleasures. 
• I was able to meet my orthodontist ahead of my scheduled time last Tuesday.  With a more stricter practice of wearing the ortho-bonds my doctor assured me that I might end using braces after 3 months. Everything’s alligned now except for a small gap on my second front teeth.
• I voted for Tubbataha reef and Chocolate Hills for the New7Wonders of Nature that is soon to culminate in few months.
• I participated the Earth Hour last week and shares the hope of creating global warming awareness to everybody.
• I paid my bill on time.
• I submitted 2 photo entries on Environment category for the Gallery exhibition in AIT Conference Center tomorrow starting 11 am to 7 pm.
• My family are well and glad to know they are spending great summer. 
• Mom continues to fulfill her devotion in the miraculous shrine away from home.
• Tuesday dancexercise was fun and Wednesday tennis volley was perfect.
• For other blessings that I missed…

Thanks to Iris for hosting "Thankful Thursday’s", for more TT’s visit www.eph2810.com.

There’s nothing to loose in joining contest blogs

Along with checking the unique visitors on this site, it has been a habit for me to monitor my EntreCard droppers on my two other blog sites. I used to have it here in my nook but the widget seemed to malfunction after a few days of trial. It must have caused a little commotion, as it increased my site’s traffic that’s why the technical support of i.ph blocked its access. 

One EC member sent me a message on my bizznbuzz.net account, informing me that he is running A Contest Blog which gives away $130 in cash prize and a teaser bonus of 10 EC credits upon registration.  That sounds interesting to me. I followed the link and noticed that many people indeed signed up, thinking there’s nothing to loose in joining it.  Immediately I got 10 EntreCard bonus too. Many cool prizes are still up for grabs now if you visit the link above. Hurry!

How do you like my new look?

Life is a constant change and so does this website.  I though this site needs a little enhancement with something familiar and exotic identity of Thai culture where I currently live.  How do you like its siamese look and blending of colors?

One thing that I truly admire from this country is their ability to adapt to the modern society.  Their way of living has  become more advanced compared to other Souteast Asian countries.  Yet they managed to preserve their culture and its unique identity.  Amidst the hustle and bustle of urban life, you can find the temples — the pride of Thai people, in harmony with the modern architecture. Truly amazing Thailand.