rica's nook

Next Stop: Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

2011-06-18T21:20:00.018+08:00

In lieu of my travel posts and my plan to conquer the world (well fine, at least Asia), this is an obligatory post for the blog for my Kota Kinabalu trip with Ian. It was a post birthday celebration, so yeah, I'm 5 months late for posting :p

First thing on my list, VNC shoes! If you've been to Malaysia (like KL), you'll know that VNC or Vincci shoes are made in Malaysia. As I've mentioned in my old blog post, Manila price is x2 or x3 the Malaysia price. Of course, we had to make a pitstop at Vincci.

The next one, the food! I love roti, curry and I love Nasi Lemak (not so much love on Beef Rendang). I even love the Megamall food stall fake-ish Nasi Lemak :p Oh and yeah, lots of love for both Singaporean and Malaysian version of Kaya Toast. And of course, a must on my list, try out a food in Mcdonald's that's not available in Manila, and they had the Prosperity Burger in KK! I was actually planning to hand carry some Prosperity Burger on the plane, but they did not have a Mcdonald's in the airport, I ended up bring KFC Zinger to Manila from KK (KK = Kota Kinabalu), explanation for this one on the last paragraph of this post (why would I bother bring a Zinger home right? It tastes the same thing here)

And then the highlight of our trip, we stayed in Shangri-la Rasa Ria Resort! And yes it did cost us a hole in our pocket but totally hands down to Shangri-la, you'd never want to leave the resort. They have all sorts of activities in the resort, very kid friendly too. Hopefully, when Aleksa's old enough to appreciate trips, I would definitely want to bring her there.

What resort offers Sumo Wrestling? Only Shangri-la! They had fire fly watching, some trekking around, biking, hmm what else, sunset in a yacht, oh and they had billiards, ping pong table, and Boogie boards available! There's a different activity every day and if you have the money in the world to stay for a week in Rasa Ria, you'd never run out of things to do (No, we did not stay for a week :p)

We tried the different restaurants in Rasa Ria, and everything was splendid :) They had Japanese, local Malysian, American, Indian cuisine.

If you're not into the whole beach thing, they have malls in Kota Kinabalu, and we did spend our first night at the city. There were a lot of Filipino staff in the city, and they are everywhere. I just want to give a warning/heads up, the malls in KK do not have the cleanest restrooms. They are paid restrooms but they are not really clean, so better do your thing at the hotel if you are planning to go to the city and do some shopping. But if you're planning to stay the whole time at let's say a resort like Rasa Ria, you don't have anything to worry about.

Like all good vacations, you come back to reality, you go back to Manila, go back to work. Unfortunately, we had a bad experience on our way back home. Our Cebu Pacific flight was delayed for hours because of a bomb threat :( Luckily, we made it back home safely. I know Cebu Pacific is 'notorious' for its delayed flights but this was not their fault since they just got a call (probably a prank call) that there was a bomb in the plane. Even though you're not supposed to say the word 'bomb' in the airport, we already had an inkling and we were scared when we boarded that there might really be a bomb. Anyway we were given food stubs in the airport and ended up consuming all the stubs in KFC, that's why we ended up bringing Zinger back home :p That part felt like a dream that you'd want to wake up from, but overall, we still had a pretty damn good vacation :) Good stuff trumps the bad stuff!

Bookstore Discount Cards

2011-04-05T12:00:00.003+08:00

In my current work, I have become this pseudo writer as part of my "Initiative". Since I have been lazy updating this blog, I will now post the articles I have been making for that mini project. My outlet has become Twitter and that pseudo writing initiative stint, but yeah, I do miss blogging. And yes I want those hits back :p

Book lovers, pen and post-it junkies, scribblers, or those who just love the smell of books (old or new), here’s a quick guide on the 3 must have loyalty/discount cards from the major bookstores in the metro.

1. National Bookstore’s Laking National Card
-P100 outright payment or P5,000 worth of receipts for 1 year
-1 Point for every Peso spent, P10.00 ePurse for every 1,000 points. Basically,
for every P1,000 = P10.00

2. Fully Booked’s Discount Card
-P700 outright payment or P15,000 worth of receipts for 1 year
or P10,000 single receipt
-10% discount for cash purchases and 5% discount for credit card purchases

3. Powerbook’s Power Card & Power Card Plus
-Power Card: P100 outright payment or P5,000 worth of receipts for 1 year
- 1 Point for every Peso spent, P15.00 for every 1,000 points. Basically,
for every P1,000 = P15.00
-10% discount for cash purchases and 5% discount for credit card purchases *minimum
purchase of P2,000
-Power Card Plus: P15,000 worth of receipts for 1 year
- 1 Point for every Peso spent, P15.00 for every 1,000 points. Basically,
for every P1,000 = P15.00
-10% discount for cash purchases and 5% discount for credit card purchases

First for 2011.

2011-01-23T16:19:00.000+08:00

First post in 6 months, and first for 2011. I actually saved a lot of draft posts but I never really got to finish it. I will try to update my blog at least monthly, new personal goal for 2011. I actually miss writing!

2011 will be one hell of a year! :) And yes I mean that in a positive way.

A Break.

2010-06-24T21:18:00.003+08:00

Okay, I kind of took a break from blogging ever since I got into Twitter. But that wasn't the only break I took.

After more than 5 years of being with the same company, I finally resigned. Yes, you heard me right. Some people actually didn't expect it since I've been with the same company for an eternity already. In my first job, I stayed with the company for 5 months only, so it was actually my second job, but it seemed like the first one.

A lot of people asked me why I resigned, I actually have nothing against the company (omitting names so it doesn't show up in Google) I got a lot in terms of career, salary, perks (Japan trip, 2 Ipods, 2 promotions), but I needed growth. Growth in terms of learning, not necessarily moving up the ladder. After being with a company for 5 years or so, you eventually 'get' everything and there's really nothing left to learn. Well maybe there is, there are more to learn, but I'm already honed and ready to move on to the next chapter of my career. I am not closing my doors to mobile, but for now, I need a break from it. I need that fresh new start. I need to be shaken out of my comfort zone.

And I am finally getting it.

And I am actually loving it.

Welcome to corporate world, dressing up, wearing closed shoes *gasp*, wearing slacks *gasp*, trainings, knowing only a handful of people, adjusting to the company and work, adjusting to a new set of people and teammates. It's like being a newbie in a new school. Sort of what a freshman would probably feel (completely forgot about it, after 10 years ).

Summer Ramblings.

2010-04-22T21:28:00.005+08:00

I miss blogging! I'm currently into Twitter :) Easy to read, easy to update, 140 characters, that's it. I don't have enough time to read blogs, but I have time to read Twitter updates since again, well, it's limited to few sentences. Plus it's easier to be updated with news.

Ramblings:

-So what else is new? Hmmm, we're trying to get into the coffee business. So far I've accomplished one thing, getting a business permit in DTI. TIN from BIR, and Mayor's permit to go! Then some few more steps before we become an official coffee dealer/supplier.

-I booked a flight to Kota Kinabalu with Ian when Cebu Pac went on sale! But it's for Jan 2011 (Tagal pa!)

-I miss baking cookies and cupcakes! We don't have an oven yet in our place.

-I miss reading :( I am currently watching a LOT of tv series. I love having an Ipod so I can watch movies and series on the way to work, so I can do other stuff when I get home

-I don't have a beach trip this summer. Booooo.

-I usually love summer but I am not loving the scorching heat.

-I don't know what's the fuss with the iPad, it's a bigger version of the iPod Touch?

-I don't know who to vote for yet!

-I'm too sleepy to finish this entry. Please excuse my typos or grammatical errors since I don't have time to proof read my ramblings. I'll just publish this entry as it is.

-I wish I have more substantial stories/entries to write...

Labor and Babies.

2010-02-16T22:48:00.006+08:00

Okay, so I'm still into the whole being-an-informative-blog-while-sharing-some-life-experiences :) I am so past the labor story already but here are some tidbits :D
-All I can say is, it's not painful as long as you have epidural. Epidural makes you feel nothing, or rather it won't make you feel anything. That's it. The recovery part is still needed though, around a week of 'slight pain', then that's it.
-The three signs of labor, pain (the poo poo feeling/dysmenorrhea feeling) - contractions or pain 5 minutes apart, bloody show, or water bag breaking. If you get one of those, go to the hospital right away.
-Eat and drink water before you go to the hospital. Once I set foot on the hospital, I wasn't able to drink or eat at all. Since medication will make you throw up later on. So imagine my last meal was dinner, the next meal I had the next day was at around 1ish PM. I was so cranky.
-I was planning to enrol to a prenatal class, but it was every Sat or Sun in the morning, and I'd rather sleep, so decided to skip it. I'm sure it's helpful, but I didn't attend one but I was able to give birth -normal delivery. So it's not really a must? But (I think) a 'nice to have'

Now we move on to the more important part :)

There was only one friend who was around 2 weeks or a month ahead of me, so I've been asking her questions and asking her about her baby, then the rest of the babies came/are coming after Aleksa. And I have been repeating the same stuff to friends, so while I'm at it, I'll blog about it. So future moms will just have to read my blog entry (the same way when friends ask about my suppliers, I usually just give my blog entry on the wedding)

Okay first one, breastfeeding. I've had my mind set on doing this :) My mom didn't breastfeed us because she said she didn't have milk. The thing is, the milk, actually comes not on the day you give birth, but on the 3rd or 4th or 5th day. So moms really have to wait for it. Some really don't feed the baby from the bottle until the milk 'comes', but you have to 'feed' your baby from you so it will stimulate the milk production whether the baby is getting milk or not. So how do you know if you have milk already? One day you wake up, then your breasts feel full, painful, and heavy. You'd really know :D

Next, the feeding part. Well at the start, even if I didn't have the abundant supply of milk or the actual supply of milk, I had to wake up Aleksa every 3 hours :) Eventually she wakes up on her own. There isn't much but there's colostrum produced on the first day . On the second day, since she was crying really hard, we fed her with the bottle, just 1 ounce of formula milk. Some moms really wait it out though. Anyway, we were ones of the lucky few, since on some babies once you feed them with a bottle, they'd have what they call 'nipple confusion' where they don't want to nurse on their moms anymore. Aleksa's versatile, she'd be okay with the bottle or me (which was good).

Breastmilk is easily digested by the baby, so for a while, I was feeding round the clock, every 2 hours. Formula fed babies get hungry every 3 hours. So after going back from the hospital, I was really tired and sleep deprived for a month. The technique is go to sleep when the baby is asleep. Oh, and you have to teach your baby the difference between night and day, since they have it mixed up. We usually don't talk to Aleksa at night when she's awake, then during the day we talk to her. She finally figured it out that nighttime is for sleeping and not for playing. I know someone whose baby wakes up at 3am to play until 7am, and her baby is almost a year old! It's been like that since her baby was small so it carried over. So babies can really get used to a schedule :)

Some milestones I want to blog about and remember, on Dec 31, New Year's Eve, she was almost 2 months, she slept for 6 hours straight. And then on Feb 14, 3 months or so she started sleeping for 8 hours straight before her next feeding at night. Well, the thing is, she sleeps at 8pm or 9pm, then still feeds at 4 or 5am. That's still a lot of sleep for me considering she used to feed every 2 hours round the clock!

I'm not sure if Aleksa had her real smile at 2 months and she started to really laugh/chuckle when you talk to her. Then now at 3 months, she can already hold her head without support :)

So there, I can only blog so little about it since I only have 3 months experience. Oh another thing I've learned, don't panic whenever there's something 'wrong', like Aleksa had cradle cap and baby acne, oh and the time her neck's red and has rashes. When we brought her to the doctor, the doctor said that there are no medication needed and it will eventually go away.

I just usually Google and there are really informative websites. I hope I can find a blog with entries for 4 month babies onwards :)

Here are some helpful articles in understanding babies:
Wonder Weeks - Fussy/Sunny Weeks
Cluster Feeding - When babies cry,feed,cry,feed for hour/s before sleeping

Our pediatrician is Dr. Suratos of Asian Hospital, he's really nice and he's a good doctor. (I'm including it in my blog so when other parents try to Google and research :p)

On losing weight, breastfeeding burns 500 calories a day. So I lost some of the weight easily, the thing is, I was 7 lbs away from my original weight when I went back to work. Since I only breastfeed nowadays only in the morning(the 4am/5am feeding), I actually gained weight. I gained 2-4 lbs. (Include the holiday indulgence here.)According to an article I read, moms are supposed to give it 6-8 months before you reach your original weight so you lose the extra lbs the healthy way, and not through a crash diet. So I'm planning to go back to the gym really soon :)

Canon G11.

2010-01-15T22:42:00.006+08:00

Woohoo, guess what I got for my birthday? 5 days before my birthday, I got a Canon G11 camera from Ian! So here I am, blogging and trying the camera at 10:00ish PM trying the different features of my tantanananan brand new camera!

Before G11, I loved my Ixus 90, it produced really good pictures! It traveled with me :)

The photos above were taken by my trusty Ixus 90, really nice, right? :) Now for comparison at low light condition, look at the photos below! Photo on the left is my Ixus 90, then photo on the right is my G11. REALLY noticeable improvement on G11, both taken at manual setting ISO 800! Click on it, so you'll see the picture closely and see the 'noise' in my old camera.

Can't wait to take pictures and bring my new camera to another trip! :D Thanks Ian! :) And so looking forward to nice pictures of Aleksa! :D

Win a Free Boracay Vacation Package by WOW Philippines Travel Agency.

2010-01-06T13:20:00.001+08:00

WOW Philippines Travel Agency, Inc. is celebrating it's 5th year in business during July of 2010, and we would like you to have a chance to celebrate with us, so we have decided to give-away a FREE Boracay Package complete with 5 Star accommodations at the luxurious Le Soleil de Boracay Hotel on Boracay Island. The lucky winner will win the following Boracay vacation package.
Vacation Package Inclusions:
- 5 Days / 4 Nights Luxury 5 Star Accommodations at the Le Soleil de Boracay Hotel

- Flights to Boracay from Manila to Caticlan Airport on Philippine Airlines

- Island Transfers - Door-to-Door from Manila to the resort and back to Manila Domestic Airport

- Three (3) Meals each day, Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

- Boracay Activities - Horseback Riding, Island Hopping, Glass Bottom Boat

- PLUS - 5,000 peso Spending Cash

Read More Information: http://www.boracay-packages.com

Real Leaf Contest.

2010-01-04T13:11:00.007+08:00

Here's my entry to the "Spot a Real Leaf, Win a Nano"

Aleksa: My mom loves drinking Real Leaf Green Tea! I even posted it on my twitter (http://twitter.com/summeraleksa). Does your mom like Real Leaf Green Tea? :) Can you tweet about it too?

*read her onesie

Contest from the following blogs: Yugatech.com, Kubiertos.com, Aboutmyrecovery.com, Starmometer.com, Ourawesomeplanet.com

Aleksa.

2010-01-02T19:36:00.007+08:00

First entry of the year, I've been busy, and lately I've been reading and updating twitter more than I do with blogs. Micro blogging is actually fun :D Proofreading is easier :p Hahaha.

Same thing with relationships, marriage, I still want my private life not to be exposed that much on the Internet. I mean despite sharing some stuff openly on twitter and blogspot, I'd rather update my Facebook since that's where I'm sure my friends are the only ones reading :) Plus I still want my blog not to revolve on my family life, I still want to travel, write about my experiences, and opinions on mundane things. One of the places I can rant and rave about anything under the sun. Well, I'll try to keep my posts as diverse as possible. That's why I actually had a separate blog for Ian (an anonymous blog on our bf-gf relationship for a year), I actually have one for Aleksa (which I don't get to update anymore), I even have a blog for recipes! Anyway, moving on..

Labor story and details (from Ultrasound, to "THE Day", to Baptism) on the baby are on Facebook so no need to do the whole story in my blog :) One day, when I have time, I'll blog about labor, so it's Google-able. It wasn't as painful as I expected, so girls, don't be scared. Anyway, I'm 100% sure that my friends are updated, but in case you're not and you chanced upon my blog, meet our little bundle of joy, Summer Aleksa :D (no, not named after Summer of 500 Days of Summer)

Oh and gotta LOOVE Googoo&Gaga, the onesie she's wearing (from Jonah) If it doesn't cost P500ish a piece, I'd buy A LOT of these so she can wear it everyday. Love the prints! :)

I Won!

2009-12-15T22:44:00.005+08:00

OMG, I joined two contests this week. (I'm sucker for contests and I love winning! I've won movie tickets, plane ticket, etc.) The one I just posted, the other one I joined via twitter. I joined this Moleskin Planner Contest.

And lo and behold, I won! It's a kick-ass planner, I already have 3, Belle De Jour, Starbucks and Moleskin. I only need 2, for work and personal use (I still love writing on paper, instead of using gadgets), so I'll give my Starbucks planner to my brother :) I just got my Starbucks planner today, and found out that I won the Moleskin Planner today! Wheee. And the planner that I won is worth Php2,750.00. This is probably the most expensive planner I'll ever have :p (Hmmm I consider the Starbucks planner free even if I spent 2k ish for the coffee)

YugaTech Great Gadget Giveaway

2009-12-14T13:50:00.002+08:00

I'm such a sucker for contests and freebies! This is my entry to Yugatech's Great Gadget Giveaway. You can blog or tweet to join. I've done both :) I haven't won anythin in a looong time, so hopefully in this contest, I'll win.

Handling Finances.

2009-11-03T23:04:00.004+08:00

Here are some interesting/good read articles that are money related:

6 Simple Steps To $1 Million
10 Simple Steps To Financial Security Before 30
Squeeze A Greenback Out Of Your Latte

I'm actually guilty of some of the things mentioned like spending for gourmet coffee, I used to buy in Starbucks more than twice a week but I had to stick to a budget and promised myself to brew most of the time (which is cheaper even if your beans are from Starbucks), and just get a gourmet coffee fix once a week.

Another thing mentioned in the article is bringing your own food for lunch, which I actually do, from Monday to Thursday, then Friday is the day I treat myself out for a good lunch/an eat out, so I guess that's not bad right? I get to save money, and I've been doing that since I started working so that's for 5 years already.

On the rest of the items/tips mentioned in the articles, I'm still working on it :D I really love good food, and I enjoy eating in restaurants on weekends, well, for this one I really have to set a limit on.

Hopefully, with these little practices, it will eventually contribute to my first million target! :D

Hopefully I'd still get my first million soon :P

Traveling.

2009-10-31T21:32:00.006+08:00

The Cebu Pacific's P1.00 promo fare just ended! I'm actually one of those people who usually take advantage of the sale, even before the sale happens, I usually have a specific place to go to, and have planned/organized it already with people who will go with me, so when the sale comes, no more phone calls/sms to each other to decide since the plan and date's been finalized so I can book instantly as soon as I get Cebu Pac's announcement text. (I'm subscribed to their SMS alerts) Tickets for Bangkok and Hong Kong went as low as P1,200.00 (in case I have international readers, that's 24 USD only!) and that's ROUND TRIP tickets with taxes already. So that's damn cheap, the lowest HK fare I've seen was 2 years ago with P2,500, and this year's was like 50% cheaper than 2 years' ago P1.00 fare.

But this year I didn't book any tickets. We're still figuring out our personal finances and still have to recoup our savings. And I think I've reached my quota for 2009-2010 since for this year, I've been to Japan, Malaysia and Cambodia. I had to let this go, and Ian said no surprise bookings, so I have to talk to him first before planning a vacation. So now, my cousins will have to go without me next year to their trip to Bangkok! :D I so wanna go back there for shopping and food. So I'll settle for the next best thing, send money to them and ask them to shop for me :D It will come out way way cheaper than going to Bangkok.

If you want to be updated with Cebu Pac's sale, subscribe to their SMS alerts, email alerts (though this comes late) or follow them on Cebu Pac's Twiiter for real time updates. Some of my friends who subscribed to their alerts get it late, I dunno if I get it really early because I've signed up way way back, they must have a really big database or something that's why it takes a while for other people to get their alerts. Better just follow them on Twitter.

Always remember, traveling doesn't have to be THAT expensive :)

For 2011, still thinking, Ho Chi Mihn, Vietnam or Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia :D I'd surely wait for the 2010 sale for the 2011 travel. Hmmm or Osaka, Japan!

The Truth About Santa.

2009-10-21T16:52:00.001+08:00

Got this in my email, interesting :D

After much research, we present the annual aeronautical engineers report on the theory of Santa:

No known species of reindeer can fly. BUT there are 300,000 species of living organisms yet to be classified, and while most of these are insects and germs, this does not COMPLETELY rule out flying reindeer, which only Santa has ever seen. There are 2 billion children (persons under 18) in the world. BUT since Santa doesn't (appear) to handle the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish & Buddhist children, that reduces the workload to 15% of the total -378 million according to Population Reference Bureau. At an average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8 million homes. One presumes that there's at least one good child in each.

Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with. This is due to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 822.6 visits/second. That is to say that for each Christian household with good children, Santa has .001 second to park, hop out of the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left, get back up the chimney, get back into the sleigh and move on to the next house.

Assuming that each of these 91.8 million stops are evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false but for the purposes of our calculations we will accept), we are now talking about .78 miles/household, a total trip of 75.5 million miles; not counting stops to do what most of us do at lease once every 31 hours, plus eating etc. So Santa's sleigh must be moving at 650 miles/second, 3,000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man-made vehicle on earth, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a pokey 27.4 miles/second. A conventional reindeer can run, tops, 15 miles/hour.

If every one of the 91.8 million homes with good children were to put out a single chocolate chip cookie and an 8 ounce glass of 2% milk, the total calories (needless to say other vitamins and minerals) would be approximately 225 calories (100 for the cookie, give or take, and 125 for the milk, give or take). Multiplying the number of calories per house by the number of homes (225 x 91.8 x 1000000), we get the total number of calories Santa consumes that night, which is 20,655,000,000 calories. To break it down further, 1 pound is equal to 3500 calories. Dividing our total number of calories by the number of calories in a pound (20655000000 / 3500) and we get the number of pounds Santa gains, 5901428.6, which is 2950.7 tons.

The payload on the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium-sized Lego set (2 lb.), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons, not counting Santa, who is invariably described as overweight. On land, conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300lb. Even granting that "flying reindeer" (see #1) can pull 10 TIMES the normal amount, we cannot do the job with 8, or even 9, reindeer. We need 214,200. This increases the payload - not counting the weight of the sleigh - to 353,430 tons. This is four times the weight of the ocean-liner Queen Elizabeth.

353,000 tons traveling at 650 miles/second creates enormous air resistance. This will heat the reindeer up in the same fashion as a spacecraft reentering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14.3 QUINTILLION joules of energy. Per second. Each. In short, they will burst into flame almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them and create deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within .00426 of a second. Meanwhile, Santa, will be subjected to centrifugal forces 17,500.06 times greater than gravity. A 250 lb. Santa, being very conservative in terms of guessing Santa's weight, would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 lb. of force. If Santa ever DID deliver presents on Christmas Eve, he's dead now.

Saving the environment and then some.

2009-10-18T16:01:00.006+08:00

I haven't written anything in a while, and I actually miss typing long sentences, more than 140 characters, although I noticed and other people noticed that I've been using twitter but mainly tweeting about food :D

Anyway, a lot happened for the past few weeks with Ondoy, Pepeng and now there's another storm coming. I just have some few thoughts, outside what's been being regularly said. Well for one, about using eco bags when doing groceries.

I'm a big fan of cute, nice, big, eco bags! But recently I haven't been using them but I have a perfectly good explanation. I told my mom before that I'll get her eco bags but she said if she starts using eco bags, what will be used for the trash in the house, which now since I've moved out, I now get what she means. If I start using eco bags when doing groceries, we would still end up buying trash bags. So it's really more of 'recycling' which we have to do also, not just promote eco bags.

And when buying small things like let's say a pen in the local bookstore, don't ask them to wrap it for you anymore, just ask for the receipt, put it in your bag, do the same thing when you buy vitamins or meds in the drugstore, oh and this one's a good tip, don't use straws anymore whenever you dine in fast food joints or restaurants.

I think in a trip to Hong Kong I saw that Mcdonald's have a "No Straw Day" campaign, where they don't give out straws for the drinks, just a little step to save the environment. We should also be doing the same thing in Manila :)

Let's basically minimize our trash, and I'm sure we'll benefit helluva a lot from it.

Suppliers.

2009-09-30T17:49:00.005+08:00

I'm compiling all the supplier list for the cheaper prices of goods, from Facebook, Twitter, etc. If you know more please comment on this entry. So we can buy more goods for cheaper price to help more people affected by Ondoy. Thanks!

-Donations On Wheels nos : 09189791229 09177974098 09326991794. They're helping with logistics for delivering relief goods.
-In case you want to donate matches: safety Matches (Commando - water resistant, Rizal, Bueno, Jar) (1 box containing 1,200 matchboxes), please contact Bernice Bernardino at 5323084
-Pan de Manila has dropped their prices to help out! Big Pandesal at PhP4, Small Pandesal at PhP2, Tasty Loaf at PhP40!
-If you need to buy mineral water in bulk for relief goods, please contact Bau Bautista from SMC. You can get it at Php232 per case of 24 bottles. His number is 0922-8497001.
-For sardines: you can order from MEGA sardines, pls contact Jean Tiu 09177161005. They can deliver in bulk and can offer it at lower prices versus supermarkets/groceries
-Joey Pantangco, can get mineral water for donations at dealers price per: box. 230 per box. One box is 230 pesos and contains 48 pieces of 350 ml mineral water. Comes out to 4.8 pesos per piece. Joey Pantangco 09178428812.
-Toothbrushes for only P5 APIECE, Minimum orders: 500 pcs. SMS ABI at 09178898178

Random thoughts.

2009-09-26T18:28:00.006+08:00

Time does fly fast. I haven't written anything in a while, and I have all these random thoughts in my head right now. The weather's depressing, there's flood everywhere, I'm just glad I'm safely home, glued to the bed.

Some random stuff, excuse me for non cohesive thoughts :D

1. Glee and Spring Awakening. I'm currently watching Glee, well few minutes left in the 3rd episode when I decided to blog instead, it's a musical tv series. A new flavor to the pile-loads of series I'm watching that's why I don't have time to blog or read other blogs anymore. A lot tv shows have returned already. Oh and the Spring Awakening play that we were supposed to watch today got cancelled. Since we leave near RCBC, we got there early, only to find out the play was canceled. Well if we came from the south, we probably would have called the organizers or assumed that it would be canceled because of floods and traffic. I was looking forward to the play, the music's done by Duncan Sheik! :) Spring Awakening Manila started yesterday, September 25 to October 18, 2009 at Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Building. I'm actually happy that I can drag Ian into watching plays, well musical plays even.

2. The Best Frozen Yogurt. Okay, so far I've tried Lulubelle (Powerplant), White Hat, Fro-Yo (in Hobbes stores), and Red Mango. Before I used to say that all these frozen yogurts taste the same, but the verdict: RED MANGO for the quality of yogurt, the price, and the 'cafe' feel to the shop. After eating yogurts on consecutive days/weeks, I was finally able to compare. To think Red Mango's a franchise from US or Korea (I dunno where we got it but both countries have it), the price is actually reasonable compared to the others. Next would be Fro-Yo :) Red Mango is for the health buffs since they mostly have fruits as their toppings, I usually get blueberries with crushed graham for the 'cheesecake' feel. But if I want cheesecake as the actual topping, Fro-Yo in Hobbes!

3. Cooking. Before I got married, I don't really cook, I bake, but cooking? I leave it to my mom and my chef brother :) But now since I have to cook, I'm actually pretty good at it :D Yeah but I still occasionally call the house to confirm with the recipes. I even hoarded some spices from the house. Who has bottles and bottles of McCormick spices at home? I was amazed at what I found in our cabinet, we have Tumeric, Rosemary, Oregano, Cayenne, etc. I swear we have more than 20 bottles of different spices. I hoarded the doubles then brought it to our place. What the hell is Tumeric for right? My brother said it's the yellow for Java Rice or don't quote me on this, I think for Arroz Caldo :)

4. Chocolate Fix. I'm currently raving, oh well thriving on the sugar high from the following:
M&M's Straweberried Peanut Butter

Flipz Pretzels. I love Royce's potato chips covered with chocolate but it's really expensive (We have Royce here and it's P540 a box!), I like salty and sweet. So when I tried these pretzels with peanut butter and chocolate = SUPER YUM. Obviously, I love peanut butter :)

Super thanks to Noelle for bringing me these! :D I once tried to imitate Royce's chocolate covered potato chips by using Oishi potato chips and melting Hershey's, it's actually good :) I will attempt to copy this one also. But for my 'healthier sugar fix', I'm happy with my Yogurt!

5. Settling down. After getting married, a lot of people were asking me how it feels like, or how is it like, and even if I try to avoid blogging about personal stuff since it's OUT there and Google-able, I will rave about it :) It's actually nice, comforting, interesting, and fun. Hmm, for people in relationships, hmmm it's like living with your boyfriend, that's basically it, only you get to be with your boyfriend for the rest of your life :)

Itouch Upgrade.

2009-09-05T13:44:00.006+08:00

After 2 years of having my Ipod Touch, I finally had an upgrade! Woohoo. For those not familiar anymore with the old Itouch, the first gen didn't have speakers or the applications that the Iphone and the Itouch now have. When some got their Itouch 2 years ago, they had it "Jailbroken" slash used "Jailbreak". Since I was concerned with the warranty and stuff, I didn't bother so I never had those apps that my friends were using and playing. I was pretty satisfied from listening to the music and watching my dose of TV series and movies in my Ipod. I even got the TV connector so I can watch the movies and TV series in the telly since my DVD player was already broken.

Fast forward to the present, since I don't 'travel' to work anymore, no more idle moments stuck in the SLEX traffic, I don't get to use my Ipod that often. I find it very useful only during travels like using it on the plane, or using it to connect to wifi to check mail, facebook and for YM :D Anyway, so just this week, I finally had a software upgrade (Thanks to Weak!).

There are sooooo many applications and games in Itunes available for download. Apple has this very good idea that to be able to log-in to Itunes and download the free apps, you'd have to register and input your credit card details. I am so tempted to buy those $0.99 applications! Since the free ones are just 'trials' and some games only reach certain levels since the free ones are just 'previews' of what you can really play when you purchase, I am left wanting for more :D

Oh and I love the fact that you can update your apps via WiFi or download new games, since we have WiFi in our condo, I just can easily go online and do it :)

Before I used to access Facebook via the Safari browser, now that there's an app for it, it's so much easier and more user-friendly. I just hope that next time I can access Farmville via Itouch :))

Back in college, I had this phase, I used to download ALL sorts of fonts online. I'd do it ALL the time and discover cute and different fonts, now I think I'm in the apps for my Itouch phase :D I haven't even played all of the applications I downloaded :p

Earning Through Blogging Part 2.

2009-08-30T16:16:00.005+08:00

I wish I can also earn a lot by blogging! This is my second post about it already, (first here). I thought about it, I mentioned before in my blog that I wanted to be a food blogger, but I'm usually lost for words when eating really good food, so I can't do that. I don't have other passions in life, hmm baking could be counted but it's not like I bake every week or every single day so how am I supposed to put entries on that, right? I usually just blog on random things :)) And I had a stand before that I will try to minimize entries on my personal life since this blog is Google-able, I don't want people that I really don't know know a lot about my life :) Just snippets of stories but I don't think I'm ever pouring my whole story in my blog. Well I'm no celebrity so my life isn't really that much interesting, the usual interesting blog posts I have are about travels (well these are the ones that I like), but then again I'm not really no Richierich to be able to travel all the time :D

And so far, since placing the Google Ads, I've never earned a single dollar at all :( Oh well, I guess my blog will never be money making thing. I have to come up with something else so I can earn my first million!

Credit Card Freebies.

2009-08-23T12:22:00.009+08:00

I love getting freebies and discounts :) I usually have cards like the Bench Card (for Fix/First Aid/PCX/Bench/Aldo/Fox purchases) which I've already earned/collected P200.00 from, A-Card which have a lot of cool freebies in resto's and discounts, SM Advantage which I've already earned P900.00 (credited to the card and can be used to purchase in SM) from the purchases, Tony Roma's card, etc.

Oh and now there's the battle for the best Credit Card freebies! I used to love BPI's free food, I have the BPI card which just my mom's extension way way back, which I would use whenever she asks me to buy anything for her for groceries and errands. My mom would hoard all of these free goodies depending on what freebies are for the month, like there was a time Tokyo Tokyo was the partner, we'd have endless meals from Tokyo Tokyo, then there was Goldilocks, and Chowking. So Ian and I both decided to get this card as our 'joint' card when we got hitched.

From August 1 to September 30, P1,000, P2,000, P3,000 purchases will get you free food in Jollibee! :) But to clarify that, P10,000 charged slip doesn't mean you can claim 10 P1,000 freebies. It's per charged slip, so a P10,000 slip would just give you the P3,000 food freebie.

For a minimum single transaction of P1,000 Jolly Hotdog Classic/Jolly Hotdog Chili Cheese or Ice Craze.

For a minimum single transaction of P2,000 Yum with Sundae (Rocky Road, Black Forest or Chocolate) or Yum with Regular Jolly Crispy Fries .

For a minimum single transaction of P3,000 Cheesy Bacon Mushroom with Large Jolly Crispy Fries or Double Yum with TLC with Large Jolly Crispy Fries.

Not bad right? And then Citibank came up with it's own freebie for the credit card!

Ian and I have been both using Citibank cards as our 'personal' credit card even before we got married, so we just retained it. And the BPI credit card we actually got kind of sucked because of it's low credit limit, they didn't even match our existing credit limit, so we both decided to keep it as well. We love our Citibank Credit Card because we got the Mercury Drug card, it has rebates in Mercury Drug (who doesn't buy medicine in Mercury?) plus that's how we got a low monthly fee in Fitness First because of their tie-up. We don't really check on the interest rates, etc. on choosing the credit cards since we pay on time, but really more for the freebies what we can get from the bank. I'm not a supporter/believer of the 'points' system in credit cards because I used to have an Equitable card (now BDO) and what I got for using it for x years was a measly P500.00 GC. The points conversion are so low. Instant gratification is way better for consumers, imagine the P500.00 GC that I got before can be easily matched in a matter of months from the food freebies one can get from BPI, I mean one can instantly accumulate receipts and get P500.00 worth of food from Jollibee. (Our BPI card's the one with the points system, I just have to consider this as the 'plus' because the main goal was to claim the free food! :p)

Anyway, as for Citibank's freebie, which I absolutely love, it's free movie passes! (Add to that the 5% rebate on all purchases you make using the card until August 31, 2009)

For a minimum single transaction of P1,500 you get 1 Free Movie Pass worth P130.
For a minimum single transaction of P3,500 you get 2 Free Movie Passes worth P260
Plus Popcorn & Softdrinks for 2.
For a minimum single transaction of P20,000 you get 3 Free Movie Passes worth P390
Plus Popcorn & Softdrinks for 3.

Ayala Malls are included! :) You still have to shell out for this though, since movies in Greenbelt 3 are priced at P180 and P200, upon claiming the free movie passes, you'd have to add money. I think the promo's really nice! The free popcorn in Greenbelt 3 is from Chimara (the one cooked in olive oil!).

What we do now if our purchase reaches P1,000, we use the BPI card, if it's P1,500, the Citibank card :D So we can avail of freebies! So if you're reading this, and you've been using HSBC (which only give freebies upon signing like the free Mango watch for instance), or any other card, it's probably the best time to switch! The promos are open to ANY Citibank/BPI credit cards. So if you like the earn-points-system-thing for gadgets/appliances or the one for miles, both banks have that and would still qualify you to grab the freebies I mentioned.

Krispy Kreme.

2009-08-19T18:35:00.003+08:00

These are really good, I love the one with the chocolate cream on top with Oreos. I usually try out their new donuts, Reese's, the Hershey's line, even the Halloween donuts with gummy candies on top, but they're usually just plain Krispy Kreme to me with a little twist. Sometimes I even just prefer the normal donuts over the 'special edition donuts'. But THESE donuts really good, these are heavenly!

I so wanna win the Krispy Kreme Fave Fan contest so I can design my own donuts! My own concoction will be a donut with Reese's, Oreos, cream cheese, white chocolate, peanut butter all mixed together :) I wonder if I win if KK can partner with Twix and other chocolate companies for me (in case I actually win this thing).

UAAP Season 72 Round 2 Schedule

2009-08-11T16:01:00.002+08:00

August 13 – Araneta Coliseum
2 PM – Adamson vs La Salle
4 PM – Ateneo vs UE

August 15 – Araneta Coliseum
2 PM – UP vs NU
4 PM – FEU vs UST

August 16 – Araneta Coliseum
2 PM – UE vs Adamson
4 PM – La Salle vs Ateneo

August 20 – Filoil Flying V Arena
2 PM – NU vs FEU
4 PM – UST vs UP

August 22 – Araneta Coliseum
2 PM – Adamson vs NU
4 PM – FEU vs UE

August 23 – Araneta Coliseum
2 PM – UP vs La Salle
4 PM – Ateneo vs UST

August 27 – Filoil Flying V Arena
2 PM – UE vs UP
4 PM – Adamson vs FEU

August 29 – Filoil Flying V Arena
2 PM – UST vs NU
4 PM – La Salle vs UE

August 30 – Filoil Flying V Arena
2 PM – UP vs FEU
4 PM – Ateneo vs Adamson

September 3 – Araneta Coliseum
2 PM – NU vs Ateneo
4 PM – La Salle vs UST

September 5 – Araneta Coliseum
2 PM – UE vs NU
4 PM – FEU vs La Salle

September 6 – Filoil Flying V Arena
2 PM – Ateneo vs UP
4 PM – UST vs Adamson

September 10 – Filoil Flying V Arena
2 PM – La Salle vs NU
4 PM – UE vs UST

September 12 – Araneta Coliseum
2 PM – Adamson vs UP
4 PM – Ateneo vs FEU

Go Ateneo! ONE BIG FIGHT!

The Power of Email Complaints.

2009-08-08T11:25:00.001+08:00

One of the things I've learned from work is when someone writes a personal email it's usually escalated to the right people as compared to complaining via the hotline/customer service. (Especially when complaints drop names like NTC, DTI, etc.) I'm not trying to undermine the people from the call centers but they usually just follow the protocols in their monitor then say whatever they're supposed to say.

Anyway here's what happened, the previous tenant of our condo unit had unpaid charges for Sky Cable and Sky Broadband. Cable's around P1,000 then Broadband's around P4,000 so that's P5,000 unpaid bills that they're trying to bill us. Now the thing is, the tenant already migrated to Australia and we don't really know how to track her down, I tried leaving offline messages in her YM, tried to email her, and tried to text her old number which is supposed to be on roaming, but she hasn't been replying. So when I called their hotline, the Sky Cable's rep told me that it's our responsible to pay for it. Since we allowed the transfer of name to us, we're actually liable for the charges. (WTF right?)

I asked a lawyer friend about it, and she said that we have a contract lease in the condo that proves what date we actually moved in, and the charges incurred were not during our stay so we shouldn't pay for it.

So what I did was I shoot out an email to Sky Cable, sent it to the customer service email address hoping it would be forwarded to the right people. I even dropped a line that we already consulted our lawyer for legal advise (dropping names or semi threats usually help) that we were instructed not to pay for it (well, I actually asked for legal advise even if it was just via YM). My only mistake was that I mentioned in the email that we don't mind paying for the Sky Cable charges, the P1,000 incurred by the previous tenant. Well, which was really my stand, for me it's a compromise. I'd rather pay the P1,000 from Sky Cable, than pay all the P5,000 charges which includes the Sky Broadband which we've never used.

I also complained that they shouldn't have let the previous tenant transfer the account to Ian's name without her paying her previous charges. I explained that we could just 'con' the next tenant into the same predicament we're in when we move out, but we're not that kind of people, since we're honest when it comes to these things and we always pay our bills on time so we really want this to be settled. I don't really like getting disconnection notices. Oh, plus I don't want Ian's name to be tainted in Sky. (I'm not posting the email I sent because it's REALLY long) Sky Cable should really change their policies with these kind of things, because we just gave the tenant a letter for a request of transfer of names but the letter never mentioned anything about transferring charges to us.

After a month's time,lo and behold, we got our bill. The good news is, they already dropped the Sky Broadband charges. Hooray. The bad news is, they really took my email seriously that they're seriously allowing/asking us to pay the P1,000 Sky Cable charges. Crap, my bad! I shouldn't have said anything in the email.

Rica's stand, P1,000 is better than P5,000
Sky's stand, P1,000 is better than nothing

Lesson learned: Just have the previous tenant disconnect EVERYTHING before you move in, then just reapply for the services needed.

Myron's Place and Terrace at 5th.

2009-08-02T13:52:00.000+08:00

Myron's Place

When you're on a dinner date in the south, it's usually the same choices: The French Corner and Melo's in Westgate, or the Sky Lounge Resto in Vivere. Since moving to Makati, Ian and I have been trying the restaurants in Greenbelt 5 for our dinner dates :) Well I don't know if we can try all of them since it would eventually take toll in our budget if it piles up :p

First stop is Myron's. Myron's isn't really new because they have a branch in Power Plant before they opened in Greenbelt 5. Since we're from the south, we're usually at most in Greenbelt area.

Whenever we try a resto we usually ask what's their specialty and they always always say it's their steak. Well for Myron's, I know it's their steak. Ian usually gets that, while I usually get the ribs and we just share our food :)

Myron's menu in Munchpunch.com

Bianca's Cut 240 grams

Baby Back Ribs

Happy Campers

I am no steak connoisseur but the steak was tender good :) The ribs was really yummy too. Well I really can't be a food writer because I'm so damn easy to please with food :D

Next stop, Terrace at 5th. Terrace at 5th's Menu from Munchpunch.com

I love the service here, first when we ordered, they offered to split the 2 dishes into two plates, half of each order so we won't have a hard time sharing the food. Second, when they offered desserts and coffee, since we wanted hot chocolate, and it's not on the menu, the waiter asked the kitchen then got back to us and offered to make us hot chocolate even if it's not on the menu. Talk about SERVICE :)

complimentary bread

Cynthia's Amazing Artichoke Dip (with Melba Toast)

Half of Grilled U.S. Short Ribs and Half of Homestyle Confit of Pork Belly

Okay, so back to the orders, as I've mentioned whenever you ask what's their specialty, they always say steak so in Terrace at 5th they said the same thing. Anyway, we wanted to try something else :)

For starters, I loved Cynthia's Amazing Artichoke Dip. I love CPK's Spinach and Artichoke Dip (which is expensive for tortillas and dip, P500++), and Cibo's Spinach Zola (Spinach and Gorgonzola, I only like eating in Cibo because of this, P200++). The one in Terrace at 5th is just artichoke, but it's really good :)

The Grilled U.S. Short Ribs(Calatagan, Batangas style with roasted garlic and homemade atchara and rice) is good, again I love ribs, and it's really tender and moist. The Homestyle Confit of Pork Belly (12-hour, slow-roasted pork rib belly in reduced balsamic sauce) even if it was cooked for 12 hours, reduced in balsamic sauce, to me it's still your normal lechon. Yes it's tender and all, but dip it in Mang Tomas, you wouldn't know the difference that it was done in reduced balsamic sauce. I dunno, just nothing out of the extra ordinary, but I'd probably go back for the ribs, the artichoke dip, and to eventually try their steak :)

Oh, and I also love it that you can choose between white or red rice, so there's the healthier option :) There was actually a time in our house that my brother and I ate red/brown rice at home, but the rest of the household didn't like it that much haha.

I already ate lunch but this post is making me hungry again :D

Next Stop: Siem Reap, Cambodia

2009-07-27T21:34:00.006+08:00

Last July 19-20, I've finally set foot on Cambodia. I actually want to go to sort of 'exotic' country (for a lack of a better term.. hmm can't think of another word right now), like Cambodia and Vietnam, but nowadays I know a lot of people have been to Cambodia or Vietnam, so I'm thinking about Laos/Sri Lanka/Myanmar since I don't know anyone actually who's been there :) And it's just in Asia so it's cheap? :D There are still budget airlines to visit those countries, like Air Asia. We booked the flights via Air Asia, and it came out around Php 6,000? That's just like booking a domestic flight here, and this is a flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Siem Reap, Cambodia. The Airbus they use in Air Asia is similar to Cebu Pacific's Airbus,Airbus 320 I think?

Anyway, I love Siem Reap's airport. It actually looks like a Spa. It doesn't have the hustle and bustle feel, everyone feels so relaxed. It's just a small airport. The only downside is like in Manila(we have the Php 1,620 and Php 750 terminal fee and travel tax), when you leave Siem Reap, they charge 25 USD. (And yes even if they have local money, Riel, the currency widely used is USD, 1 USD is 4,000 Riel)

I love our little quaint hotel, The Kool Hotel. It's cheap, it's clean, there's cable tv, and FREE WIFI! The cambodian Meals are only 2.50 USD (50% off). The downside is no elevator, and rooms are until 4th floor. There were 5 of us, 2 bed rooms, around 900 pesos per person for one night. Oh and they have really thick pillows, that I can't use it, it probably would have given me a stiff neck if I slept placing my head on it. But other than that, I really loved the small hotel.

Prices for Angkor pass: 1-day: 20 USD 3-days: 40 USD

I can't recall the names of all the Angkors we were able to visit but these I'm sure we went to:
Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Bayon and Ta Prohm. I love the site of ruins. I loved Thailand's Ayutthaya. I think I'm more of into the ruins than modern structures because they have a bigger story to tell. The designs on the stones are really intricate :) We didn't have a tour guide, just a driver so we have to look up the history on our own.
The site of Angkor ruins is really vast, and you really can't go around in one day. That's why they have passes for tourists for 3 days and 7 days. I think, it's just my opinion, that one day is enough for me already to appreciate the ruins. For one, it's really HOT. Some people wore long sleeves polo because you'll really get a tan. I actually have a tan line - the sleeves of my dress :p

Oh I love how my lomo pics turned out, the film had this pinkish effect on it :)

The food's really good too! I tried their curry, Lok Lak, and Fish Amok.
Clockwise: Lok Lak with egg, Chicken Curry, Grilled Beef with Curry, Fish Amok

I wonder where my next destination will be :)

Next Stop: Kuala Lumpur

2009-07-25T18:46:00.011+08:00

Last July 18-19, 20-21, I was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Originally, it was only me, my cousin Kat, and my friend Len, then Len invited her friend, Gladys and her boss, Lannie.. the more the merrier! :) We booked Cebu Pacific on sale, so the ticket to KL was only around Php 4,000 ish. Not bad right? It was the Malysia Mega Sale Carnival (July 4-August 31,2009), while shopping is the agenda, we thought we'd be able to visit Genting Highlands and Batu Caves aside from the usual tourist spot Petronas Towers, but we ended up shopping the whole time, and it rained on our last day so we were just stuck in the mall.

I opted to buy the local brands, like Vincci or VNC in Manila. Since the shoes are from Malysia, it's really really cheap. I'd say the price in Manila are around 3x the original retail price.

In every trip, one should never miss the trip to the supermarket for good finds. I even found Pods! Pods are made and sold in Australia, there are varieties like Twix, Mars, and Snickers Pods. I didn't know it's being exported to Asia, I actually googled it before in hopes of finding the chocolate somewhere in Asia like Hong Kong, but no, it wasn't a success. I'm so happy I found it in the Cold StorageGrocery in Suria KLCC.

I tried their curry, Nasi Lemak, and Roti Canai. The rest of the stuff I tried, I'm not sure if it's really Malaysian food because we've been eating in food courts so we have a lot of choices :) I've tried some good soup, and good fish but it wasn't my order so I don't really recall the name. I usually stick to the safe choices, like food I've read as recommended must try (like Nasi Lemak) The local chips brand Twisties is also good, these are being sold also in Singapore. The Lot 100 sour candies are yummy also, these are sour powdered jelly candies.
Of course I didn't forget the Starbucks tumbler to add to our collection (Ian and I collect these). Too bad there wasn't any Starbucks in Cambodia.

Siem Reap entry to follow... I definitely have more breath taking pictures to post! :)

Milo.

2009-07-14T18:17:00.005+08:00

I've been drinking Milo since I was a kid, it used to be my morning drink before I go to school, but eventually I grew up, resorted to drinking coffee every morning for my sugar and caffeine dose. Anyway, I don't know if people have noticed, but the Milo we buy in the grocery isn't as good as the one being served in Mcdonald's before, or in school cafeterias. (The cold one)I used to order Milo a lot when I was in high school. So anyway, in the back packet of Milo, it says to prepare one cup, you're supposed to put 4 teaspoons. Repeat: FOUR TEASPOONS.

So back story, when I was a kid, I never really made my own Milo drink, every morning it's always prepared for me already. I haven't been drinking Milo from the packet in a long time, I just drink it from the vendo or I drink the instant chocolate drinks like Swiss Miss. And since we've been doing household groceries, I thought to buy a pack of Milo.

So when I recently tried to make a glass of hot Milo, it tasted bland. I already put 4 TABLESPOONS, and it's still not sweet. Since the information was kind of misleading, I decided to email Milo(Nestle). Yes this gal is a proactive consumer, it wasn't a compalaint/angry email tone, but more of a concerned Milo-loving gal email. Here's the reply below. Hahaha, I actually find it amusing that I actually emailed them!

Dear Rica,

Thank you for writing to us. Regarding your concern, the instructions indicated on the back of the MILO pack is our recommended preparation for MILO. This was based on a research conducted among consumers that showed preference for 4 heaping teaspoons of MILO per 200ml cup. However, a delicious cup of MILO would really depend on the consumer's taste preference, and this would vary from consumer to consumer. McDonald's, on the other hand, follows a different recipe for its MILO, which explains the difference in taste.

We have also forwarded your comments to our MILO Brand group for consideration in future product innovation. In fact, we have a new product in the pipeline that may be able to address your concern, and we shall inform you once this is out in the market.

Again, thank you for bringing your concern to us. Feedback from valued consumers like you is always an important opportunity for us to respond to you growing and changing needs, improve products and services, and ensure continuous consumer satisfaction and delight.

With our best regards, and thank you for your continued patronage.

Many thanks,
_______ _________
Nestlé Consumer Services
Nestlé Philippines, Inc.
Care Center: xxxx-xxxx

I wonder if they'll send me their new product! Hahaha I didn't ask for a sample anymore because I might come of as an extortionist.

BTS.

2009-07-10T10:10:00.006+08:00

I used to really love Gayuma's BTS back in college. BTS stands for "Better-Than-Sex", it's chocolate cake with caramel, if you love caramel this is a guaranteed hit! I don't know what happened to Gayuma, it burned down, moved, and I think it closed again? Last time it was behind Mcdonald's in Katipunan. Anyway, here's the BTS that I'm loving right now. It's from Karen Young Karen's Kitchen. I love UCC cakes, and she's the one supplying some of the cakes I think, I'm not sure if all.

Price list is not on their site, I have a copy of their prices, you have to ask them to fax you the price list, I don't know how to post a PDF file here, I already scanned it :) I can email it to you in case you chance upon my blog via Google? I googled some of her cake reviews and a lot of blogs pop up. Anyway price for BTS, 6 inch: P400 and 8 inch: P750. Minimum order for delivery is P1,500.

(Image is from her site, I hope i don't get reprimanded for getting it hahaha. I'll just post my own picture when I open my box)

(edit after taste test)
Okay, this is kind of a let down, I've tried the smaller version of this cake and it's not the same as the big version :( The 3 inch version has lots of caramel on top, instead of the white cream on top with caramel drizzle, it was the pure caramel goodness. This one had minimal caramel on it. It's still good but for a sweet tooth like me, I prefer cakes that are REALLY really sweet.

My New Favorite Container.

2009-07-02T18:19:00.005+08:00

I knew it, I'd be blogging more about household products! Haha. Here's my recently discovered household product, it's by Lock and Lock. This was actually given to us as a gift.

A lot of people use Lock and Lock products as container for their packed lunch a.k.a. baon for work. I've been using it, but this one's really neat since it's for food storage in the ref. There's a dial for the date, on what date you placed the food. And then, you can release the air by pressing on the middle, they actually claim that it deters bacteria growth. I'm not that sure if it really works, but I'm impressed :) You can actually hear a whistle when you release the air, so I'm assuming that this product really works.

Houshold product rating: 5 out of 5

(I'm rethinking to change the label, since I label these posts as house, but we actually live in a condo hahahaha)

The Time Traveler's Wife

2009-07-01T21:29:00.002+08:00

There are 2 books on the top of my list, Twilight and The Time Traveler's Wife! We've all seen Twilight, and I think The Time Traveler's Wife is more promising in terms of quality and budget. I think this movie can pretty much meet my expectations. If you haven't read it, go to the nearest bookstore to buy a copy before the movie's released.

Grocery Comparison.

2009-06-22T22:00:00.007+08:00

Okay even before getting married, I've done my own groceries, from toiletries, to my own bread (since I'm the only one who eats wheat bread at home), my hot choco (Swiss Miss to Butterfinger mix), my yogurt stash, and the list goes on.

So I'm assuming that everyone thinks that SM has lowest prices in the grocery, right?

Landmark Grocery
Magnolia Low Fat Milk - P67.20
Kellog's Frosties Cereal - P69.00
Nestle Fitnesse and Fruit Cereal - P 142.90
Yakult - P35.00

Rustan's
Magnolia Low Fat Milk - P68.40
Kellog's Frosties Cereal - P75.45
Nestle Fitnesse and Fruit Cereal - P149.75
Yakult - P35.00

SM
Magnolia Low Fat Milk - P69.50
Kellog's Frosties Cereal - P74.50
Nestle Fitnesse and Fruit Cereal - P149.50
Yakult - P35.00

After conquering the 3 groceries in Makati, it boils down to Landmark as the cheapest to do one's groceries. Well this is just based on a sample data, my mum said there are stuff that are cheaper in SM Grocery (that I have yet to find out). So far only Yakult prices are standard! :D Obviously the Magnolia Low Fat Milk is mine, and the Nestle Fitnesse Cereal ;)

From my dream of becoming a food blogger, I'd probably evolve to a 'household tips' blog later on.

Got Hitched.

2009-06-06T10:57:00.015+08:00

Ian & Rica from ROMMERSON™ on Vimeo.

I loooooove our on site wedding video! :) If you're surfing through my blog, you have to watch the video I posted. I've always wanted one on my wedding :) If you're not familiar with on site wedding videos or same day edit videos, videographers shoot on the day of the wedding (preps,ceremony,etc) and show it during the reception. So it's really a time crunch, and they have to be really good to produce a video in a few hours, squeeze more than x hours of videos to a 3 minute preentation.

I don't have Internet access in our condo so I am currently blogging at home. I had to go home since Ian just got back from Finland, and to be safe we want to do the quarantine thing. We've been crazy busy because of this wedding, and it's finally over! :) We loved every second of the big day.

What I've learned:

1. Murphy's Law, there's always something that could go wrong during the wedding. If it happens, and you're the bride like me, don't freak out. Stay cool even if they forgot the flowers for the bridal car, or they served the wrong food during the reception, or they forgot the props for the games during the wedding. I still kept my cool!

2. You will always ALWAYS go beyond your wedding budget. Thank God we actually lowered our original budget and had room for the excess(while actually still being on a budget, I hope this made sense)

3. Some years into the relationship, when we've discussed how much each of us should save for the wedding, we forgot to take into account furniture and appliances. It takes a good chunk of the money, even the rent since there's 2 months deposit and 1 month advance. So an advice to couples, add that in the budget :) And if you are in a serious relationship as early as now, it's good to start talking about the budget so you'll have more time to save!

4. We've always wanted and discussed a small wedding, specifically a 100 guest list, well 98 to be specific since we're included in the 100. When I told my mom about this before, it led into an argument since she won't be able to invite her friends. When your parents insist they invite their friends and say that they'll 'shoulder' their guests, a good compromise is letting them throw a post wedding party (this resolved the argument quickly) Because sometimes, it's not really about the money, it's about having people really close to you witness the union, and not some people you barely know. Ian and I had the 100 guest list, my parents had theirs the next day with 130+ guests. Hahahaha and most of the people I can't remember the names :D

5. Invest in wedding shoes that you can wear again! I didn't want to spend x thou amount on shoes that I'll just wear for one day. Thank God for Zara :) And I really wanted to wear purple shoes :)

6. After the wedding's done and over with, you will only have memories about it and videos and pictures. We actually invested more on the videos and photos, than for instance my wedding dress. I'd actually rather scrimp on the dress, and not get a designer one, than compromise the photos and videos.

7. We didn't hire a wedding planner for the wedding, some people hire to assist only on the day itself. It was still a success because I actually distributed the work to family, thanks to all my cousins who assisted that day! :) Even if they were part of the entourage, they had tasks haha.

8. Getting a photobooth as the souvenir or giveaway is actually better than giving away trinkets that people will just put away in their cabinets.

9. Take your prenup pictures in a place that's related to your story. We were thinking of our having ours in CSA, our grade school campus (we were classmates before) but we had it in our college alma mater, Ateneo. Although we weren't together in college, we were classmates once in an elective and we've shared our dose of UAAP games every year! :) Go Ateneo! (In the video, Ian even mentions the blue eagles)

10. It's not true that you can't eat during your wedding, Ian and I have been pigging out on the day itself. I ate complete breakfast, lunch, and I ate well during the reception.

11. Sometimes, it's not the bride who's magastos, sometimes it's actually the groom :P

12. If you want drinks to be served after the wedding, do it somewhere else. Throw an after wedding party in a separate location. We did this because we want the ambiance not to be stiff anymore, where people can be laid back and be themselves sans the 'formal' feel or stiffness of the wedding reception where people can really talk and be loud and noisy, remove their barong, even wear flip flops.

13. Since we both sort of drained our bank accounts for the wedding, we still have to save for a big vacation, so we initially planned to book the first flight out of Manila (domestic or international) ala Amazing Race on a tight budget. Only to learn that it's really expensive to book on the day itself! Plus there's swine flu so international is out of the list. So we had our honeymoon here in the Philippines, Paris can wait! Hahaha we still have to save for it :D People actually give us credit to be able to pay for our own wedding at this age, and the wedding on a budget turned out to be REALLY nice! :) I'm only spilling how much we spent on people who are planning to get married and needs a ballpark figure on how much to save :p

Make-up Artist: Chickoy Vistro
Photographer: Dusko Almosa
Videographer: Rommerson Galapon
Prenup Photgrapher: Charles Buenconsejo
Photobooth: Poof Photobooth

*I'm plugging for them since they really did a wonderful job!*

Rica Racasa Ragudo signing off :)

Crazy Busy.

2009-04-05T09:57:00.002+08:00

I have been crazy busy! No time to blog. Haha. As soon as everything's fixed and done, I hope I'd finally have time to write and post pictures :)

But it's all good baby!

25 and then some.

2009-02-14T13:16:00.006+08:00

I haven't done the birthday post yet :) I turned 25 last January, and no I don't feel that it's such a big deal to turn 25. No epiphanies, no grand birthday celebration, no feeling of having a specific turning point in my life. Just another year older.

Anyway, I just remembered having no birthday post because I just opened the letter from Ateneo. I'm perplexed that even after almost 5 years after graduating, I still get a birthday greeting from school. Hahahaha, and well, the letter's supposed to be from Fr. Nebres, but for sure the signature is digital and everything's a template for all the birthday celebrants. But I still appreciate the effort, imagine how many people actually graduate each year, and up to how many years do they actually send the letter. I wonder if other schools do this too? I receive this every year since I graduated.

Anyway, I know this is weird, it's Valentine's day and my post is about my birthday. That's why the title says and then some, for my other ramblings.

For one, no I haven't won the lotto yet! There's still no winner, and I guess I better stop dreaming of actually winning the lotto and shake myself to reality. I don't wanna waste more P20's hahaha.

Second, I am so raving about this Caramel and Cheese Popcorn! Chicago Popcorn Shops in Mall of Asia! After I read the post, it so happen that we were really going to MOA that day, so I was able to try it. I guarantee, it's better than Chef Tony's and Holy Kettle Popcorn (which I both love). Their popcorn is SOOO damn good. Seriously, sue me if you don't like it.
Lastly, I'm still not into the whole Vday thing. Love should be celebrated everyday hahahaha. Cheesy! :)

Winning the Lottery.

2009-02-08T12:53:00.004+08:00

In case you haven't heard, the prize for today's draw is whooping P130M! I know the odds of winning in a lotto is one in a million or so(I remember in college, we actually computed for the probability of getting the numbers in Statistics class), but it's the thrill of having that 1 nth chance to win :) I dunno, maybe it's just me. But you know or well maybe in my family, sometimes someone would joke that okay we'll do that or get that once we win in the lotto, but no one actually bets? But once you put your place your 6 digits in that card, you're actually a little step closer to winning the prize money.

After you bet on your numbers, you can now daydream of what to do with the P100++ M, like thinking of giving your parents the money for their house in Lucban, or giving money to your brother so he can go to London, haha, but that's part of the whole lotto experience. For me at least :) And I get excited and giddy, since I rarely do it. I know for me the lotto experience is for fun, but for most people, it's because they need the money.

I've watched a story before, a man won the lottery here in Manila, so from rags to riches, now he's back in the slums because he didn't manage the money well. Sometimes getting a lot of money that you didn't work hard for is not really a solution to alleviate someone from poverty. Hard-earned money is hard to spend, and I know everyone would agree with me on that.

Anyway let's focus on the happy thoughts :) *Positive Energy*

Whether it's really fate or sheer luck, that one in a million winner in tonight's draw will be sure damn lucky! :) Who knows, maybe tomorrow I'm blogging in the airport, on the way to some destination so I can hide from the media. *wink wink*

Next Stop: Japan (Part 4)

2009-01-24T12:25:00.014+08:00

Okay, so for the last part of my post! :) We extended for 3 more nights after our actual trip, we paid for the extension from our own pocket, and we went to visit Mt. Fuji! The thing is while on the way to Mt. Fuji we saw the mountain, it was really nice, but when we got to the observation place, it was cloudy :( And we can't see the darn thing.

Mt. Fuji
Mt. Fuji covered with clouds

After Mt. Fuji, we went to Hakone, rode a cable car and a pirate ship cruise.

We then took a cab after the pirate ship cruise, we rode on it for 30minutes and we paid 4,000 Yen or P2,000! Really really expensive, we didn't have a choice because there was no other way to get to the Ryokan. It's a traditional Japanese Inn. We had our own Yukata and we slept on the floor.

The next day, we went back to Tokyo and rode the Shinkansen. According to Wikipedia, the speed is 300km/h! We rode the bus to Hakone for like 2 hours or so, and went back to Tokyo for what, 25-30 minutes :D It was really funny because I was trying to capture the train on my camera as video and as soon as I bring out the cam from my bag, the train already passed.

Then the last tour we had before heading home was the Kamakura Walking Tour. On the day it was supposed to snow, was the unfortunate day we had the tour! Since it wasn't cold enough, it didn't snow, but it rained. We kind of got wet, so it was really cold. I didn't pay much attention to the tour guide because I was really really really cold. So cold that when we went back to the hotel I was willing to shell out for Domino's pizza delivery that costs 2,000 Yen or P1,000 for just one pizza! Haha but we just ended up resting first, and eventually had the courage to go out and eat dinner.

Back in Tokyo, we went of course to Ginza, Shibuya and Harajuku :) Oh and of course, Daiso shopping! Wasn't able to buy much for myself, since it's pretty much all pasalubong and food stuff that can only be found in Japan like all the assorted Kitkat flavors. And there's not really much to buy since stuff are more expensive there except for brands that are really made in Japan like Uniqlo and Muji.

Although I went home with 2 bags filled mostly with, well, thick clothes, and goodies for everyone (and not much for me) I went home with a GREAT travel experience! :) It's something that you can't pack on your luggage bag ;)

I definitely want to go back to Japan!

Next Stop: Japan (Part 3)

2009-01-17T14:16:00.012+08:00

Okay okay, so now back to the real story :) Packed our bags, left Manila last January 2. What a way to kick off the new year!

We stayed in Takanawa Tobu Hotel in Shinagawa, which was a few min walk from the train station! :) Funny on how when we got to the hotel, we were looking for the aircon switch and we requested for "cool air" hahahaha. When the only thing coming out is hot air because it's winter. I was actually surprised that it wasn't as hard to communicate in English as expected, I thought I'd have a hard time talking to people. Ian was even texting me the 101's on how to ask for water, when I usually just normally ask for water casually in English.

The train was ultra complicated, there were a lot of lines, it wasn't as simple as riding the one in HK but after a while it's something we got used to :) We had our own Suica card so we don't have to buy tickets every time. It's quiet on the train, people are prohibited to talk on the phone, so you don't hear chatter. The train's efficient and on time. (Oh and riding the Shinkansen or the bullet train, is another story)

We went to Disneyland and Disneysea, one day each. The only caveat on the Disney in Japan is everything, well almost everything is in Japanese. Sometimes the staff would have instructions before the ride, and we're like "What are they saying?" I've only been to Disney in Hong Kong just last year, and people were saying the one in HK is small, and after going to the one in Japan, it really is true. In HK, it's easy to remember the area, in Japan, you really need a map to navigate Disney.

Well, Disney is still Disney, and it brings out the kid inside of us :) Nevermind that Disneysea is really beside a body of water, and we're all freezing while waiting on line for some rides for more than an hour! Disneyland is more for kids, Disneysea had the rides for adults. Didn't get to ride Splash Mountain, I didn't wanna risk getting wet and getting sick.

After Disney, the rest were all tours. We had the city tour, visited the Tokyo Tower, Meiji Shrine, Imperial Palace, Asakusa Kannon Temple. We also had the Sumida River Cruise.

We also had the Nikko Kegon Tour, and the highlight of this tour is the Lake Chuzenji and the Kegon Waterfall. It didn't snow in Tokyo but this area had snow :) We were only ones left outside the tour bus because everyone else was freezing and boarded the bus, the tour guide figured that we didn't have snow in our country hahahaha, it was that obvious. According to the guide, the temp was 1.7 C. Plus add the wind chill factor, it was super cold.

Now for the rest of the Japan Experience, it will have to be the Part 4 of this blog entry, for now I'll just post some food stuff.

A. Different flavors of Kitkat
I tried soy sauce, apple, sesame, strawberry, strawberry cheesecake, soy, green tea, cookie, and red bean. We stop at every convenience store that we pass by because some flavors are just available in New Days, in Family Mart, etc. Green Tea is only available in the Airport, beside Starbucks, near McDonald's. So right after checking in your luggage, check out the Airport mall first. Look it up in the Airport map :)

B. Starbucks
They have good Lavander Earl Grey Tea Latte! Plus if you're like me and you collect Starbucks tumbler, and you forgot to buy the tumblers, the Starbucks in the Airport has the complete one! They had Kyoto, Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, etc. I got a Japan 2009 tumbler and Shizuoka which had a Mt Fuji design. This one though, I didn't see in the airport, got it on the way to check out Mt. Fuji. They still give a free drink when you buy a tumbler.

C. Royce Ice Cream
Okay, Royce Ice Cream is found in convenience stores and is the same price as street ice cream! I bought Green Tea ice cream in cone for 300 Yen and Royce Ice Cream in Family Mart for 315 Yen! Times .5 so around P150 for each.

D. Yoshinoya and Pepper Lunch
When we first got there, we were so hungry and saw Yoshinoya right away, since we didn't want to look around anymore, we ate in Yoshinoya. I don't really mind since I get to taste the authentic Yoshinoya beef bowl in Japan! :) After a few days, we passed by Pepper Lunch. And it looked like Yoshinoya, the table/set-up.

Here in Manila, Pepper Lunch is in Powerplant, Rockwell and people line up for it. In Tokyo, it looked like a hole in the wall resto, nothing fancy. In terms of prices, well everything is expensive in Japan!

E. Mcdonald's is so expensive. I checked when I went to eat yesterday, our McChicken sandwich meal is P103. In Japan, it's 620 Yen or around P310! I didn't bother to eat in Mcdonald's while in Tokyo hahaha, I just got coffee once, that's it :)

F. Ate Takoyaki (Octopus balls!), Tempura, Fresh Sushi, Katsu Curry, Katsudon, Eat all you can Yakiniku, Eat all you can Wagyu! Wasn't able to go to Tsukiji :( Writing this post literally made me hungry!

Next Stop: Japan (Part 2)

2009-01-17T13:19:00.005+08:00

Okay so before I move on with the stories, I'll write about this first... I tried to Google what to bring etc for spending winter in Japan but I wasn't really able to find anything online like do I have to buy boots, etc. What stuff I can bring and just buy there? Those 101's for the first time travelers to spend winter in Japan for girls! :)

1. Fur boots - not really needed, you can wear rubber shoes and thick socks BUT it helps a lot since it's ultra comfy and I wore mine the entire time. I used Bearpaw boots, and they're half the price of Ugg boots. In case you're in Japan already, one of my teammates decided to ditch her leather boots and buy a new one, look for ABC Mart(there's one in Ginza and Harajuku). We first tried to look for shoes in Ginza, and the prices of shoes normally are around 20,000 yen or P10,000! We saw boots some also in Harajuku, cheap price, but we didn't check if the lining is made of sheepskin or wool. The one that she got from ABC Mart are Vans with wool lining for around P2,000. In case you opt for rubber shoes, just make sure that its ultra comfy, so you don't hurt your feet. Oh, and last, about the boots, there's a question online wear socks inside the fur boots, or not, my vote, wear socks :) Not the thick socks, just the normal sneakers socks, so it doesn't get smelly. You don't really need to wear socks because it's warm but just for hygeine purposes.

2. Thermals (thermal leggings and tops) - I've asked everyone this, do I need them or not? I got mixed answers, yes no yes no. So to personally answer this, you can get away without spending thousands of pesos on thermals in Marks and Spencer or Debenhams. I just bought one thermal long sleeves and I didn't wear it everyday. On some days, just layers of long sleeves, shirt, sweater. On the days I wore thermal long sleeves, it felt like it's a substitute for the thick long sleeves, so yes, it's probably effective but you can substitute it with something else. But for under the jeans, thermal leggings or cotton leggings are needed. I think you can buy cheaper thermal leggings in Greenhills, I dunno if it's actually thermal or just thick cotton leggings but it works! (Thanks Jonah!) In Uniqlo in Japan, the thermal tops cost around P500, and we found them in Harajuku branch, the Uniqlo in the train stations are sold out on their thermal tops, but they have the thermal bottoms.

3. Ear muffs and gloves - Ear muffs for 700 yen (P350) and gloves for the same price that are really of good quality, we got from Muji! I brought gloves but the ones I got in Muji are more effective since the gloves had the 3M 40gm insulation for a cheap price. I already have ear muffs (Thanks Noelle!) but some of my teammates didn't bring, so they all bought there :)

4. Coats - I borrowed a wool coat and a cotton/polyester coat, if you can get a wool coat that's long, just right above your knees, that would be great! :) The wool coat I brought is short, and the other coat is longer, so I'm always torn on what to wear, but I swap them everyday.

Next Stop: Japan (Part 1)

2009-01-15T21:41:00.007+08:00

I just got back last Sunday from Japan! :) Started 2009 with a bang, and a hole in my pocket hahahaha. Jan 2-11 with my team, first 6days all expenses paid. I have soooo much to blog about the trip! The food, the different flavors of Kitkat (apple, green tea, sesame, red bean, etc), how effin expensive everything is, how fat we all looked in pictures because of the weather, how friggin cold it was, oh but despite the cold, it was sooo much fun. It's one of those places you'll really fall in love with. Man, but everything was REALLY expensive. Anyway, more more stories to come. I haven't had the time since when we were there we rarely had sleep, 5-6 hours daily, and we got back Sunday night, had to go back to work the next Monday morning. For the meantime, I'll try to upload the pics now in Multiply and Facebook (if I manage to finish it tonight!) I actually took more than 1,000 pictures HAHAHAHA, but of course I'm not gonna post everything online and it's not going to be Rica and the Imperial Palace, Rica and the Tempura resto, Rica and her Katsudon. It's gonna be just a little bit of me, although I always have that solo shot haha :)

Wishlist.

2008-12-22T23:18:00.010+08:00

Here's my wishlist as well as my entry to the http://www.melovillareal.com/'s online contest haha okay I'm such a sucker for promos, but what the heck I usually make wishlists :)

1. Laptop/Macbook - I still don't have a laptop!

2. New phone - Nokia phone preferably, N series or just series 40 will do. I have to wait if my Globe plan will give me a new phone or bill rebate again(which I don't really mind if it's the latter)

3. The book mentioned in my previous entry Discover's 20 Things You Didn't Know about Everything and The Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling! :)

4. Winter clothes - sweaters and extra thermal leggings/tops hahaha

5. Swimwear - I didn't buy bikinis for 2008, so for my Bora trip for '07 and '08, I wore the same stuff :) New bikinis for my Bora trip on Feb '09! Hmm boardshorts also?

6. White Benetton bag I saw in Duty Free - love :x

7. DKNY Be Delicious perfume - I used to use this :)

8. Plane ticket back to Bangkok - I want to shop for really cheap clothes. 100 Baht dresses!

9. A box of Royce Potato chips covered with chocolate - Now that Royce is now open in Powerplant! :) Sold for P540 and P990. I know these are uber expensive for something you can finish in less than 30 minutes but it's uber yummy! No need to ask friends to bring from HK/Japan/Singapore :)

10. Stuff for my room - new comforter with a cool design and a "hotdog pillow"! :) I've been using the same "hotdog pillow" since grade school.

11. Maple cookies from Canada - OH MY! I love these cookies!

12. Free room in Boracay Regency

13. Free room in Venetian Macao Hotel

*Wish 12 and 13 are for Ian :)

2008 Books.

2008-12-21T12:45:00.008+08:00

I had this goal that for the year 2008, well 2008 and moving forward, I'll read at the very least 10 books every year. 10 days to go before 08 ends, and I can post already that I failed. The thing is, what do you actually read after reading the Twilight series, right? ;) Anyway here are the 9 books I read for 2008.

1. Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
2. Witch of Portabello by Paulo Coelho
3. Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
4. Wicked by Gregory Maguire
5. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
6. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
7. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
8. You Don't Love Me Yet by Jonathan Lethem
9. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

And for the supposedly 10th, I haven't finished it and I've decided to put it back to the shelf rather than leave it on my bedside table and accumulate dusts.
10. Why We Want You to be Rich by Donald Trump, Robert T. Kiyosaki

I'm actually a nerd that I enjoy reading books like Freakonomics, or A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.

Discover's 20 Things You Didn't Know about Everything: Duct Tape, Airport Security, Your Body, Sex in Space... and More! is on my wish list! I keep on waiting to purchase it whenever Powerbooks is on sale, but it's always out of stock.

I even have the Time Almanac 2009 on my bedside table hahahaha, okay I'm such a semi geek.

I can't claim that I'm really a bookworm since most people can read more than 10 books a year, and I can't even hit 10. If I had all the time in the world, I'll probably read more :) and bake more, and watch more tv series... Oh well :)

So some comments on the books I read:
-Twilight is still the best book in the series.
-I'm tired of Paulo Coelho's same tone/feel in all of his books, it's the same book after book after book.
-Kudos to Lethem's way of writing.
-Rich Dad, Poor Dad was inspiring, the book with Donald Trump didn't move me. Well, I'm not yet done so I have to wait and see.
-I hope one day the stage Wicked here. I'm interested to try other Gregory Maguire books :)

Happy 3.

2008-12-16T00:01:00.000+08:00

Steak love: Medium Rare Grilled Angus Beef Prime Ribeye Steak

Dessert love: Antonio's Flourless Chocolate Cake

Love love love: Ian Gil Ragudo

I know this is cheesy! Happy third anniversary baby :) I love you.

Location: Antonio's, Tagaytay

Lomography.

2008-12-14T11:40:00.006+08:00

I still get giddy waiting for pictures! I usually have the films processed in Digiprint because it's a)cheaper b)I have a discount card(which makes it more cheaper) and c) they deliver at home! The only caveat is you have to wait 2-3 days for it to be processed but no more waiting in the mall for an hour :) Anyway, getting into lomo ain't cheap because the nice films are expensive and having to spend for processing as well contribute to the cost, so I don't mind having to wait for a few days. I get literally giddy excited waiting for the pictures. I have come into terms that I'm not really artistic and one way to get artsy fartsy pictures is getting into lomo.

fisheye: P2,000
provia film: P280
processing: P155
happy accident on uploading the picture upside down and
smile on rica's face upon receiving the pictures from LBC:
PRICELESS

*Hahaha okay, I love doing the Mastercard type of entry. And the fisheye camera's a gift from friends so it's not really counted in the cost*

Beach Patrol.

2008-12-08T22:29:00.007+08:00

A trip to Boracay is always a nice way to end the year :) The sun, the sand and the fun! It was the second year I planned a Bora trip with my cousins. But the trip wasn't complete because Ian wasn't able to go, and we were looking forward on spending time together. I'm just really really thankful that he's okay now, I don't mind that he missed the trip, Bora's sunset will always be there :)

And we're going anyway on Feb '09! Hooray for more beach trips. Haha, even people at work keep on saying, "Bora ka na naman?"

Swear, I'm such a spoiled brat ;)

Chris and Rihanna.

2008-11-19T21:21:00.009+08:00

Yes, I'm one of those 70,000 who crawled through traffic last November 16, 2008 in Fort. I happen to have free tickets from the office, and gold tickets mind you which was like what, worth P3k and later on worth P6k! I've been through worse traffic which was during the Beyonce concert in the same area. I learned my lesson not to go near the concert, so I parked in Market Market. It was actually a good move since C5 is just right beside the parking at the back.

I totally enjoyed the concert! I actually prepared for it, hahaha. Weeks before the concert, I loaded my Ipod with their latest albums and tried to memorize the lyrics so I can sing during the concert! :)

Aside from watching it for free, the "seats" or rather the area was perfect, I got a good view. In the Beyonce concert I had to look at the screen the whole time, but this time, I looked mostly on the stage. It's just tiring because it's free seating so the whole time we were standing up, but that's also a plus because you can freely dance or sway during the concert. It's just bad if you're not blessed with height, because tall people can block your view.

Chris Brown and Rihanna are really good performers, that I can attest to. People cheered more for Chris Brown, either they're tired when Rihanna performed or they're more Chris fans than Rihanna. Rihanna even said on stage (which I found really funny) something like, "Are you guys this f***ing quiet?" Hahahaha. Awww, poor Rihanna. I wonder if she'll actually come back to Manila.

I can't wait for another free concert!

I Heart Dark Cherry Mocha.

2008-11-06T21:59:00.003+08:00

I can feel that Christmas is in the air already! :) I started collecting Starbucks stamps last November 4, which usually is a mark that Christmas is near. I am so lovin' the Dark Cherry Mocha. Insert description: Bittersweet chocolate infused with the rich flavour of dark, dried cherries.

I've never been a fan of any Christmas drink, I absolutely can't stand the likes of hazelnut flavor when it comes to coffee, and I don't get why Toffee Nut Latte has such a big fan base, a drink that a lot of people I know absolutely love.

I'm excited to complete my stamps for the 2009 Starbucks Planner, the first ones who got their stamp sheet got one free stamp :) So I only have 15 to complete instead of 16. They trimmed the stamps from 24 to 16, hooray, but for a simpler planner. I really don't mind because I drink coffee from Starbucks so the planner is really just a bonus. I use my Starbucks Planner as a personal journal usually and I get another planner for office use, and for '09, I got a Belle De Jour Planner for work.

Anyway, I wish I can drink the Dark Cherry Mocha everyday instead of swapping it with the pantry's brewed coffee :) Haha, but this girl has a regular Starbucks budget, and I intend to keep it that way :P (Even if the Dark Cherry Mocha is tempting!)

Starbucks Coutndown: 5 Stamps down, 11 to go!

No Reservations.

2008-10-24T23:51:00.003+08:00

Whoahh I can't get over the fact that Anthony Bourdain is in Manila, well I think he's in Cebu right now, let me rephrase that, I can't get over the fact that he's in the Philippines! I'm a fan, and my bro and I regularly watch his show, No Reservations. I told my brother before one day, I'll write to the show to go and film in Manila and I'll tour him around. Hahahahhahaha. Apparently, a lot of Filipinos watch the show. I hope I bump into him somewhere! :)

Yummy Desserts.

2008-10-19T22:11:00.002+08:00

Outback's Chocolate Thunder from Down Under: P300++
(Image from Google)
Rica's expression: Oh my God, Heaven!
The smile on Rica's face: Priceless
For everything else, there's your boyfriend's Visa (Hahahaha)

Hahaha okay, I'm such a cheapo that I didn't want to try this dessert because I didn't want to pay a friggin P300++ amount for one dessert! But when Ian told me we'll eat this dessert and he'll pay for it, I said yes without thinking twice. Hahaha.

Okay, here are some other noteworthy desserts on my list :)

Apartment 1B's White Toblerone Cheesecake: P180++
(Image from my phone)
I looove this dessert, there's even chunks of white toblerone in it! :)

Rack's Mississippi Mud Pie: P100++
(Image from my phone)
I am so happy that there's Racks in Alabang already, I love the fall-off-the-bone baby back ribs and I equally love the cheapo dessert, way way cheaper than Outback's of course :)

Cymalicious!

2008-10-16T20:59:00.005+08:00

I'm officially a Cyma mystery diner! :) If you know me well, I love freebies and I enjoy joining and winning contests. I got a call yesterday from Cyma and I've been chosen to be a mystery diner. Hooray! This means, I get to eat for free in Cyma and get the job of evaluating my dining experience. I've always loved eating in Cyma and it really doesn't hurt that I'm given P1,500 Gift Certificate to spend, and I can bring someone along to join me, and sorry even before I won, my cousin Kat already volunteered to go with me haha so she was really first to reserve the slot.

The evaluation's a tad technical, like answering if you got your dessert within 15 minutes, if you got greeted etc etc. It's 3 or 4 pages long! Anyway, I'd gladly help Cyma out if they need to improve anything(although I'm very much satisfied with the food and service).. and hooray for free food!

OPA!

Monday Pig-out

2008-10-06T17:44:00.007+08:00

I swear Mondays are Pig-out Mondays, probably because I have a lot of work so a form of de-stressing, plus the pantry food is refreshed, oh and plus I have a juice stash in the ref which I buy/bring every start of the week.. So aside from the normal meals, just a quick rundown of what I've eaten for today's Pig-out Monday:

1 can of pineapple orange juice
1 glass of orange juice
1 small bottle of apple juice
1 cup of coffee
1 cup of horlicks

1 ham sandwich
1 big bang bar
1 chocnut/hany candy
1 pack of happy peanuts
1 cookie dough pop tart

Okay, conclusion, I'm big on liquids more than food on Mondays.

Next Stop: Macau

2008-10-01T00:23:00.015+08:00

In our 3rd day in Hong Kong, we went to Macau :) We went for a day trip, rode the ferry and did our own tour thing. I was really looking forward to trying Portuguese food, which we did in A Lorcha, and trying out the desserts like Serradura and Egg Tarts, even trying out the Porkchop bun/sandwich, which we all accomplished as well :)

I was going to do the same blow by blow post, but then, I got my Lomo Pictures today! I'm so happy on how it turned out, so I'll just post them instead. Just a quick rundown of some Macau notes..

A Lorcha

Cuisine: European

289 AA, Rua do Almirante Sergio

+853 2831 3193

A Lorcha was great, the waiters were Filipinos and they gave us a table even if we didn't have reservations. (So tip for whoever's planning to eat there, not all tourists got a table so better make reservations) It was just a few steps from A-Ma temple, which was the first stop for the tour since it's the farthest tourist spot. Get the baked Bacalhau with cheese and stuff, it's really good plus it's enough for 4 people.

Try Serradura and Egg Tarts for dessert. Buy porkchop bun/sandwich as snack :)

And now for the picturesque Macau from my Action Sampler :)

Really lovin' the pictures :)

Next Stop: Hong Kong

2008-09-27T11:46:00.019+08:00

Last Sept 18-21, I went to Hong Kong with my mom, my cousin Kat, and her mom Ninang Norie. It was an all girl trip :) I treated my mom the airfare (just the airfare though :p). And I've finally seen the Terminal 3 airport which was really nice, but I don't think I'd want to book a 5am ish flight again. (Lesson learned #1) Man, I had to wake up at 2am. Cebu Pacific wasn't late.. at all. Hooray! That's both for our flight to Hong Kong and going back to Manila. Umm they just overbooked, but they offered the next flight for those who can give way, which was at 8am and free roundtrip domestic flight anywhere in the Philippines. There were actually a lot of takers, but I didn't nudge at all because I woke up at 2am for the 5:55am flight, there, it's bold for emphasis.

Moving on.. We stayed in Holiday Inn Express in Causeway Bay which I got for HK $1,080 a night, not bad at all. Few minutes walk to the MTR, and just literally across Times Square. Check in time was at 2 PM, but we were able to check in when we arrived. Good job! There was free breakfast as well :) I only got one room so it's cheaper, declared 2 people staying, but we were actually 4. But the next time we do this, this mom-daughter bonding trip, I'd book 2 rooms because my mom kept on occupying more than half of her space. (Lesson learned #2)

I got good stuff from H&M like bags, got dresses in Mongkok, drank and bought Horlicks (I really missed drinking Horlicks), bought Nougat Candies in Queen's, and got Vitasoy. But crap, after carrying the heavy packs of Malt Vitasoy soya milk, buying the HK$32 nougat candies, there's the melamine scare. I don't know if soya milk's affected but maybe I should stop drinking it until I'm sure. I swear, the same thing happened before, we brought these blueberry cookies from Chinatown in Singapore, then months later the same cookies were pulled out of the market because they contained formaline or something. Maybe we should really stop bringing home food, or just stop buying products that came from China to avoid these mishaps. I wish this whole milk scare will be over soon.

As for collecting stuff from travels, my mom collects the ref magnets, while Ian and I collect Starbucks Tumblers! :) I got us matching tumblers, one from Hong Kong and one from Macau which had similar designs. The tumblers are around HK $90 x 6 = P540. I think our tumblers in the Philippines are sold for around P495 if I'm not mistaken. (I'm not posting the cost for the how-much-I-spent in the trip purposes, but for Google, comparison and posterity purposes :P).
We also went to Disneyland! :) It was a choice of going on a weekday in Disney or in Macau, and Disneyland won because the ticket was cheaper on a weekday, while the Macau ferry costs the same. (I think.) But it was a good choice that we went on a weekday, the line for the rides weren't super long :) We had pictures with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald Duck! :)

One Big Fight.

2008-09-25T12:30:00.005+08:00

1988. 2002. 2008. Go Ateneo! :)

Then let's all eat Ateneo Krispy Kreme after winning the game today :D Thank God we have TV in the office. For one, I don't think I can step out on a Thursday even if the bosses are stepping out to watch, and the important factor, the tickets! I don't think I can get my hands on any ticket at all.

One Big Fight!

Vanity and Pain.

2008-09-13T21:23:00.002+08:00

For some people it's okay to suffer while wearing stilettos, I've never worn one but I'm sure there's pain somehow inflicted compared to wearing flip flops, just to look really damn good and sexy. Or maybe just to look taller.

I on the other hand would suffer few seconds of pain while having my legs waxed.It takes 2 seconds to peel off the 'sheet with wax' and 7 seconds of pain that lingers right after.

Ouch.

But because I have to conform to this society where you can't wear shorts and flaunt your legs when it's hairy, I'd have to undergo this painful ceremony.

Small Scale Inflation.

2008-09-08T21:25:00.004+08:00

Just to give people a little insight on how prices really went up, in case some people are not really aware, here's a tad of example on how prices went up, really went up.

We were ordering Mcdonald's this afternoon, and I was browsing through my food file for the prices since I'm the one organize the food delivery.

Mcdonald's Hot Fudge Sundae used to be P25.00, that's in a Shrek flyer,It can't be from Shrek 2 because the second one was shown in 2004, and I wasn't working yet, so it's safe to assume that it's from Shrek 3 which was shown in May 18th, 2007. Then I saw another flyer which says P25.00. Okay, so it was just a P5.00 increase.

Then the food arrived, a Mcdonald's Hot Fudge Sundae to date, costs P35.00 That's P10.00 increase in just a year!

School Stuff.

2008-09-07T12:11:00.007+08:00

I had dinner last Friday with my blockmates, okay make that I spent time with them since I ate dinner with ex-officemates, and I found out(unless they're joking) that BS Management Information Systems in Ateneo is not being offered anymore. WTH?

10 years, hmm let's say 20 years from now, let's say classmates of BS MIS' kids ask, what was the course of your parents in ADMU before? They'll say BS MIS. Then the classmates would go, "What's that?" Hahahahaha. I know that's really long term thinking, but I can't help being apprehensive on the thought that my course was phased out. And it's not like people stopped taking it, well before, a lot of people wanted to take it. My blockmates were even joking that people didn't want to take it anymore, they want to take Nursing now. Harhar :P

It's still going to be offered, I think under a different name and instead of placing it under School of Science and Engineering, it's going to be placed under School of Management.

Catching up with my blockmates even if it was just a quarter of our class, was really fun :) Talking about classes and teachers and all the boo-boo's we've had to go through. I hope to see everyone soon again!

Oh this is funny, I was trying to Google any news in the Ateneo Site about the course update in case there was an article, I chanced upon this, FAQ's on ACET.

What do I do during the ACET?
Do not go to sleep while taking the test. Do not go to sleep while taking the test. Do not go to sleep while taking the test. (Ad infinitum)

Really Funny! :)

Go Blue!

2008-09-02T10:28:00.002+08:00

The final game for round 2 is this Saturday, Ateneo vs La Salle! 12-1 baby. Even if we lose in the game, which I really hope I don't for the sake of pride, we'll still be number 1. But from the previous seasons, usually the underdogs take the championship home. Similar to what Ateneo did back in 2002, we were underdogs and we actually won.

Oh, and the highly coveted tickets for this game won't be my problem anymore since I won't be available to watch the game :( We already have tickets to Westside story for September 6, which I really don't mind. At least the tickets would be the least of my problems! :) No need to resort to desperate measures :p

Going Green.

2008-08-23T14:04:00.004+08:00

We all have to do one thing or another to save the planet we live in :) I have started going paperless with my Citibank credit card bill dubbed as their "Go Paperless, Go Green" campaign, and little by little thinking of ways how to minimize trash and saving planet earth.

I've always wanted a stylish eco bag that I can use when I go grocery shopping but I'm very particular since I go to different groceries and I don't want to be using a Shopwise bag while doing groceries in SM Hypermart, right? And then I came across the chuvaness.com blog entry on M&S eco bags :) I got the Twiggy bag for P295 in Marks and Spencer, it's made of organic cotton and it's big enough to hold a bag or 2 of groceries. Plust the bag can be used not just for groceries since it's stylish.
Hooray to being eco-friendly!

I heart Tony Roma's.

2008-08-17T12:08:00.009+08:00

I now love Tony Roma's! Aside from the fact that I love ribs, they gave me a free discount card :) I'm such a sucker for discount cards, I'm definitely the target market for those things without a doubt.

Eden before treated us for her birthday in Tony Roma's because she got a "Buy 1 Take 1 Ribs coupon" in her email, which she forgot on how she became a part of the mailing list. So I asked the staff of Tony Roma's before on how I can be part of if(so I can also get a coupon on my birthday). They said to sign up online. So I signed up online before and after signing up, you get a free coupon immediately, 50% off on your second order of main course! :)

Anyway so I was asking yesterday in the Alabang Town Center branch after eating, on how I can get their real discount card, and they said I have to accumulate P7k worth of receipts for the period of 2 months, which kind of sucked because I don't think I'll be able to do that. But the waiter suddenly told me that she can give it for free without the receipts! So they gave me one right then and there :) It's valid for a year, and the first 16 visits it's 10% discount then all visits after are 20% off. (Okay, I don't know if I got the numbers right)

I wish that the Bistro Group still offers the discount card like before, the Outback-Fridays-Italiannis-Fish&Co 20% off discount card. Only Outback offers the discount card now, and it's just 15% off :) Well that's still a discount right? And I'm happy to have it. I have this theory on how those things work(I'm no marketing guru so what I pose is just a mere theory), the 20% discount has to offset the lower prices with customer loyalty. So if you always get 20% less revenue but the customer keeps on coming back, it should equal to more revenue, right? Possibly, this didn't work out right. Or the 20% is an added value on top of what the prices should be, so instead of making the prices higher, they decided to strip the restaurants of discount cards and remove the 20% discount. I'm not really sure :) I'm just glad I have another discount card! :D

Definitely going back to Tony Roma's more often :)

Interviews.

2008-08-15T13:38:00.005+08:00

Okay, just a warning this entry might be a bit biased :)

I've been interviewing applicants for the company because we need more people in my team and in other teams as well. So far, almost everything's been filled up and we just need one more person for my team. Now, here's where my bias comes, well it may sound like a biased opinion, but this is just based from my observations on why Ateneans are good on interviews. In case my entry shows up on google, here's the 101 on interviews for fresh grads.

So here's what fresh grads need, I don't really care how high or how low your grades were, how many subjects you failed, I just need personality. That's it. Dazzle those who are conducting the interviews. Make sure you have confidence and you shine and make them feel you know what you're talking about. Newly grads start on equal footing with each other because they don't have work experience yet. We don't even look at the grades, well except for other schools I think(okay biased) or if it took you 5 years to graduate(except for ECE grads because it takes 5 years). I just really can't believe some of the applicants' answer when we ask them how would their college friends describe them, one even answered, "Mahirap kausap..", I mean how the hell can we hire someone who's hard to talk to, right? Bias on schools aside. If you need to fake it, as long as your personality can win us over, go ahead :) Oh and please brush up on English :D If we ask a question in Filipino, feel free to answer in Filipino. If we ask a question in English, please also answer in English. I thought that was a given :)

Now why do I think Ateneans have an edge? Well for one, with the oral exams we've had to go through, Philo and Theo, we've had that practice on delivering answers and reasoning out. Basically, marunong tayo kung paano mambola. We can justify our answers and get our point across whatever it takes :p

Now the reason why we can't hire Ateneans all the time, they have a bigger asking price hahahahaha.

The pro's and con's of it :)

My New Retail Therapy.

2008-08-09T17:23:00.004+08:00

I have a new retail therapy, and it costs way way cheaper than the 'traditional' retail therapy. It's called, "Grocery Shopping".

I love going to the grocery and getting all sorts of junk, well the semi-healthy kind. Healthy cereal or the chocolate ones with toys :P, 90 cal oatmeal bars, yogurt, low calorie juices, Ghirardelli hot choco, Raspberry iced tea, sugar free wheat bread, low fat milk, wheat caramel Graham Crackers, Butterfinger hot chocolate, Swiss Miss with fat free mallows, maaaan, I love discovering good food :) And it's not limited to restaurants, but also to groceries! I have to hit the grocery once a week, and get my dose of snacks for the week. I used to joke that my mom's addicted to grocery shopping, she probably goes at minimum of twice a week? And now I just realized, I also feel that impulse to go to the grocery :) The same 'impulse' that I used to feel when shopping clothes, but this time it's way way cheaper!

Apart from being old enough to buy my own food, since I'm earning and all, I'm trying to do that healthy living stint like preferring low fat milk, and sugar free wheat bread. And it's not all the time that my mom picks the 'healthier choice' when it comes to the food in the house.

I've always loved tagging along when my mom does the grocery but since we were kids, we always have to ask permission for all the food that we drop to the cart. Or at least it had to be 'screened' because one, we can't have too much junk, and two, there's a budget during grocery shopping. So imagine now how it feels that since I'm working and earning on my own, and paying for my own grocery..

it's now grab anything any junk any time :D That's what you call the new retail therapy baby!

Happy Times.

2008-08-02T11:28:00.002+08:00

Life's really full of surprises, one day you get a dose of really high feel good happy times. It's like the ym status of a Mik before on UAAP, It's like Christmas everyday, only better :)

Free Tea Latte.

2008-07-30T09:35:00.003+08:00

Aside from drinking coffee, I love CBTL's Tea Lattes! And they're giving it for free :) Hooray! I actually got 2 already, one the other day and yesterday. You just have to vote on What's Your Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Story and then they email the coupon which you can actually print out a couple of times and get lots and lots of latte's. But one person can only claim one drink, but that's not really a caveat :) Who needs two cups when you can up size it for P10. Tomorrow's the last day for this promo.

Sucker for Promos.

2008-07-22T13:47:00.005+08:00

If you know me well, you'd know I'm such a sucker for promos. I won movie tickets, plane ticket to Boracay, GC's, cap, shirt, notebook, name it!

And now, I found someone who's way way luckier than me and this person posts these contests online!

Here's the site: Philippine Freebies, Promos, Contests and MORE! Current Freebies, Promos and Contests available to all Kuripot Filipino citizens

I wish my luck doesn't run out. I actually don't win in the Circuit Mag contests anymore, I think I got banned for winning every month. Hahahaha.

*Extra: I found another one! Contest Junkie Blog

Random ramblings.

2008-07-19T17:59:00.005+08:00

If I'm not mistaken, I actually have some interesting subject to write but I actually forgot. I wish there's really something utterly interesting I have on my mind aside from Twilight...

Here's a roll call on the things on the top of my head:

1. Twilight. It's always there, especially now that I found out that there's such a thing as Twilight Tuesdays where MTV shows a clip about the movie every Tuesday. Google it if you're into Twilight.

2. Dark Knight. It's a GREAT movie! Heath Ledger rocked the movie. It's just so sad that he's gone, and won't be able to take credit for such an exceptional performance.

3. Chocolate Chip Cookies. I haven't baked anything since December, and I just made cookie dough today! :) I'll bake the cookies tomorrow. I figured out why, last December I made dozens and dozens of cookies to be sold in WTC Bazaar, which to my dismay, didn't turn out that good. Consigning the cookies wasn't really the best choice.

4. Wisdom Tooth. It sucks that I might need a surgery to remove my wisdom tooth. Just one though.

5. Mailing List. I'm so happy that I get to talk to my girls online via email all the time. I miss the bgurls :)

6. Trips. I'm going to HK and Macau this September! Hooray for the yearly trip. I'm going with my cousin, her mom, and my mom. I was planning to do the bungee jump in Macau, but it's so effin expensive. It costs $159. I searched and they also have the AJ Hacket bungee jump in Bali that costs only $79, I might go to Bali next year with the family since my dad's project in Indonesia is ending soon so I'd rather wait and tick Bungee Jump in my list without burning a hole in my pocket. Plus I'd rather spend the $159 on clothes than use it for a 10minute adrenaline rush.

7. 2009 Travel. I'm still contemplating on whether I should plan a trip to Vietnam, it was previously included in my travel list but then again, I'd never liked their food. How am I going to enjoy a trip in a country where I don't really like their food, right? I've never liked Indonesian food either but I can always eat something else. I'd still prefer Cambodia, visit Angkor Wat than Vietnam. If 2009 permits it, Bali and Bangkok-Cambodia? :) Or probably just Bali for '09 then Bangkok-Cambodia for '10.

8. London. My brother's gf is leaving for London to study/work for 2 years. Now my bro wants to study there, get a chef apprenticeship. Does anyone have an idea on how to apply for that in London? :) I'm still google-ing and researching on how my bro can find one.

And the Saga Continutes.

2008-07-12T12:32:00.005+08:00

I read the Inquirer paper for today, and lo and behold, a lot of people in the Philippines are really into the Twilight Saga! There's even an online petition with already3,000 people who signed up for the petition (I'm 3,177 to be exact) to move the release date of the movie from January to it's original date in December in the Philippines. We usually have our Metro Manila Film Fest in December, so all movies released in December are moved to a latter date.

Fully Booked is even opening it's doors past 12 midnight on August 3 so people can get Book 4: Breaking Dawn at the stroke of 12! How crazy is that? I'll just wait on August 4, Monday :) I already had my copy reserved and I kid in the office that I might go on leave on that day. Hmm since I got my book reserved in Greenbelt Powerbooks, half day would probably do. But who am I kidding, it's a Monday and 'Monday leaves' are sacrilege. Since it's the last book, I'd better savor it's words and story :( I get sad on saga endings. I got sad when I've finished the last book in Harry Potter, and I'm pretty sure I'd feel the same thing after reading the last book.

Well, at least I have the movies to look forward to! :) I hope the petition works.

Money Matters.

2008-07-07T21:29:00.013+08:00

I realized while editing my old posts, yes I edited everything to put tags, I've never written anything about expenses or money or anything about it at all. I've actually saved a url of a blog of this girl who was giving advise on how to save money since she's on credit card debt, a lot of credit card debt actually. I can't find it anymore but I read it for a while because she had an interesting story, a girl who can't stop maxing out her cards :p It's like shopaholic, the girl who gives advise on money can't actually manage her spending. This time it's a Filipino who writes a blog and gives tips, advises on how to manage finances while being on credit card debt.

Anyway aside from the fact that money is the root of evil, I'd disagree on it being the root of all evil because that's being presumptuous. But I do agree that it can cause havoc on relationships and marriages.

For 2008, I actually started taking down my expenses vigorously. I got that idea from my friend Lance. I save it on my phone then later on update an excel file (once a week or 2x a month) which is actually bordering OC-ness already. It's actually helpful because the savings is computed already and I can check how much I'm left to spend for the month. Plus the chart at a glance can already show me the percentage of what I spent. This one's for June, and shopping took a big percentage of my spending because it was the Zara and Mango sale! :D Who can resist that? But for most months the shopping represent 0% in my spending. I usually shop one time big time. I edited the percentage part on the chart and some of the breakdown of my spending, so not to reveal that much info on my cash out :p A lot of money go to food actually, for most of the time. I love good food, then the next one's fare/gas/parking. I rarely bring a car, with rocketing high gas prices and all, who'd be encouraged to bring one. The note worthies in my list, grocery for my toiletries, snacks etc, then I have my bookstore category for my book spending, who knows if I don't monitor it I might actually end up buying a lot of books. Then last worth mentioning, coffee. I know it sounds funny but I actually have a pact with myself that I won't spend that much on Starbucks. I drink coffee everyday and for most days I settle with the brewed coffee in the pantry. It's just a matter of having the good beans, then I'm happy with brewed coffee from the pantry :)

If you don't know me well, you'd think I spend a lot but if you really really know me, I'm kuripot, and I'd actually search the stall in a mall for the cheapest bottled water. Waffle Time tops the list, from P12 it's now P15. I bring baon to work, even sandwich for merienda. I've always wanted to buy a laptop, but I really just can't force myself to get one because I think it would be spending too much on one thing. I've never bought a anything more than P15,000. Digicam, Cellphone, Ipod Nano, all of these bought for less than 15k! I shop in Zara and Mango only when they're on sale, I book my Boracay trips only when Cebu Pac is on sale.

Okay, I think I'm negating the kuripot part, so I'll stop now :D I still have my shopping preferences and my trips but I try to spend my money wisely, and that's all that matters :)

Fitness Update.

2008-07-06T13:49:00.002+08:00

I know I know, I'm on a roll, 2 posts for today, and 3 posts for 2 consecutive days. I know this is probably uninteresting but to update this post: On Getting Fit from 26.9%, I finally have 24% fat percentage! Which is good news, I don't really care that I'm not getting thin per se. It's not like people are telling me that I got thin since I started to go to the gym, that wasn't really my point of getting fit and healthy. It's trimming those fat percentage down, I still tip the same on the weighing scale because of muscle and water weight, but fat's going down.

Hooray!

Fixed.

2008-07-06T12:26:00.005+08:00

I finally figured out a way to fix my blog, instead of tweaking the html codes, which might result to another disaster, and for the lack of time in my hands to start from scratch (making a layout, thinking of a 'theme',etc), I've decided to use a blogspot template and just edit my way from there.

I don't really mind having to use a blog template, keeping it clean(the codes), simple(the site) and easier to use(for me), but I've always enjoyed having to study the html codes. The filling up my own 'template' from scratch edited in notepad, reminiscent of high school days, with the blogger codes so it's accordance to the blogspot html codes so the entries would actually appear.

And now since I'll be using the blog template, I'll start maximizing the usage like using 'tags' for the entries :) And if I get really that OC, I'd probably end up editing all my entries to add those tags per entry :D

I even enabled the comments! :p People can now leave comments hahaha.

Crap.

2008-07-05T01:12:00.004+08:00

Crap crap crap. I enabled the links to the title of my posts but when I click on the Archive the titles disappear for old entries.

Shit. Time to revamp the blog and get the latest blogspot codes for the postings.

This is a whole lot of crap to deal with at 1:14 in the morning. It's so stupid of me for not backing up the html codes before doing the slightest change on it. What the F. I should have learned my lesson after college, back up back up back up.

Starbucks Story.

2008-06-27T09:10:00.006+08:00

This was yesterday morning:

Guy Barista: Hi Rica!
Rica: Hi
Girl Barista: Hi Rica!
Rica: Hi :)
Yes the baristas know my name haha (Naks!)
Girl Barista: Short, extra hot, no foam, non fat..
Rica: (interrupting before she finish) Oh, not no foam, extra foam :D
Girl Barista: Okay, so it's short, extra hot, extra foamy non fat..
Guy Barista: Milk!
Rica: Yup!
Guy Barista then punches MILK in the cashier and the 5.00 tumbler discount

Why would I buy milk in Starbucks =))
It's short, extra hot, extra foamy non fat milk LATTE, and I thought they finally memorized my order :)

Twilight.

2008-06-18T09:54:00.010+08:00

This is an overdue post, I've been meaning to write an entry about this book, the book that I've been/people have been fussing about, I've been looking up trailers in youtube.com, some done by fans of the book with their own take on who should be the stars in the movie adaptation, to reading through Stephenie Meyer's site on outtakes, FAQ's about the book, etc. Even downloading mp3's, Vanessa Carlton has a song entitled Twilight, which really sounded apt for the book.

I have nothing but high praises on TWILIGHT! Every girl would fall in love with Edward. He's excruciatingly beautiful. Oh and I've always wanted to be a vampire since I read the Christopher Pike series on vampire back in high school. Vampire sans the blood thirst that is :) But plus the hot vampire boyfriend :)

Here are some helpful links on Stephenie's site:
Outtakes
FAQs on Twilight
Edward's POV, Midnight Sun Chapter1

The extras in the second book New Mooon are very interesting. There's also a pdf file with Edward's perspective on what happened.

I'm currently on the third book, Eclipse! I can't wait for the fourth coming this August :)

Fireworks.

2008-06-01T12:17:00.008+08:00

I love fireworks! I love its grandeur display, and it's fairy tale feel. I watched in Discov Channel once on why fireworks make people feel good, the visuals do something in your brain, which supposedly I think, well don't quote me on this, release endorphins. Well endorphins or other feel good substance in our body. It does make a lot of people go 'wow' and 'whoah'. Even though I haven't seen a smiley face fireworks, I've finally managed to watch a show(last night) that showcased a heart and spiral fireworks! :) The 'blast' for a lack of a better term literally showed a heart shaped light explosion and a spiral shaped one in the sky!

For 3 years now, I haven't missed a single pyrolympics, I mean of course I don't watch all shows every year, I have to at least watch one show. And I think trying out different settings in my cam made this year the worst pictures I ever took :p I should have stopped experimenting and just stuck to what I know best.

The traffic still sucked like hell in Mall Of Asia, but I still think it's worth it. Well I wasn't the one driving so I guess I shouldn't be the one answering the question if it was indeed worth it. We watched in Highlands Steak House, it was a great view. I've actually had my reservations since April (Sinong excited?)! There were tons of people in MOA, it was a great day for business if you have a stall there during Pyro. We're still thinking if we should try to watch it next time from afar, like in Sotifel perhaps? :)

Can't wait for next year's show!

On Not Being Single.

2008-05-11T19:45:00.004+08:00

I've always wanted a boyfriend back in college that goes in Ateneo also, I've never experienced that, someone waiting for me after class, or someone bringing me to my next class, or studying together in the lib, or just waiting for someone in the caf for a lunch date. I used to wonder before what it would be like if I had a bf who went in the same school as me. Ian went in Ateneo also but we weren't a couple back then, we'd just say our hi and hello's when we bump to each other in school, and a few times, probably just twice during college that we went home together since we both live in Prince David(not the same unit :p) and live in the south.

But when I think about it, if I had a boyfriend that goes in the same school, I probably wouldn't have gone to those parties or inuman sessions, or might have missed some bonding moments with my girls, so I wouldn't really trade my college memories for anything else. I probably wouldn't change a thing because as cliche as it sounds I did grow up from those experiences :p

At the start, being not single had some time getting used to. Ian still tease me about this one incident when I forgot to order water for him and I only ordered for myself :D There was a time where I actually just thought of myself,I was single for years and I probably got used to living my life alone, only taking care of myself, and not minding another person. I wasn't like other girls, some have never been single since high school. I have had a boyfriend in college, but it was short lived and we barely saw each other since we go to different schools so I still lived a semi single life in campus.

Now that I'm in a fully committed relationship for two years and counting, I wonder what I would be doing if I'm single? Let's say you're single, imagine what you'd be doing typically in a Friday night or during the weekend if you're taken. And if you're taken, what would you be doing if you're single. I'm not saying that I want to be single again, who wants to let go of a good thing? Definitely not me. It's just a random thought. I mean I probably wouldn't be this happy and loved, or I wouldn't have someone to talk to about anything and everything under the sun. I wouldn't have a life saver.

Being single was a lot of fun, but finding your perfect match, being taken that is, is definitely better :)

Happy 25th.

2008-04-24T14:24:00.008+08:00

It was my parents' 25th anniversary yesterday. My dad will be home next next week from Indonesia, so I was the one tasked by my dad to get flowers for my mom, roses to be exact. And man, I didn't realize how flowers could get THAT expensive. I mean I know they're expensive but I didn't know that it would be that costly. I always tell Ian i'd rather get food than flowers, except for probably rare occasions that you need to receive flowers in accordance to the occasion like for instance 25th wedding anniversary, which I think is apt. But for normal birthdays or anniversaries, I'm good without flowers :) My mom's just used to getting flowers everytime. My dad said it's okay to pay for expensive flowers than paying for an expensive party which is way way more expensive. Hahahaha.

Anyway, some stuff worth mentioning about my parents. One, they got married when they were 30 years old. If I have my story right, they were never really together 'together', they were just dating or something for a while,then they just decided to get married after my dad came from his work stint in Africa and some few weeks backpacking in Europe. I even saw a picture of my dad wearing a shirt that says, 'I did it in Amsterdam'. I found that picture hilarious! I'm not quite sure if he really did it there, haha, before he married my mom. Second, I'm a semi honeymoon baby. I didn't get conceive during their honeymoon because my mom had her period, but I probably got conceived right after because if you count, April to January is 9 months :) Since my mom was in her 30's already, she really wanted to get pregnant right after marriage. Hehe :D Third, they belong in the same group of friends, and well, Lucban, Quezon is a small town, they came from the same class I think during grade school, but they went to different high schools.

I know they don't read my blog anymore,but here it goes, Happy 25th Anniversary!

Blogs.

2008-04-08T17:57:00.004+08:00

I wonder if a lot of people have secret blogs, I mean aside from keeping one for public consumption,it's another blog for writing anonymously, about you know, the rest of the stuff in between. Somewhat like having double identities online.

I just realized I actually have 4 blogs, this one, a surprise gift blog(this one's anonymous, I wrote in it for more than a year and gave the url as the gift), a blog with some recipes of some of the stuff I baked(so I don't lose them), and the IG blog for polls(the one for fun).

I still like writing on paper, so the rest that's not for public consumption, those things 'in between', it's still in my journal.

I'm still kind of iffy with blogs because what if one day, blogspot.com shuts down and everything's just gone, right? My old free domain/hosting just shut down before. Without even sending an email. I mean it could happen.

Scurry.

On Getting Fit.

2008-04-07T10:55:00.005+08:00

If you know me well, you'd know that I've never been into any sport, and I've never been really physically active. I've never been really self conscious of my body, well except I guess for wanting really nice kick ass flat abs! Who doesn't want one? :D My tummy isn't exactly flat nowadays, but who cares, I can still channel 'sexy' when donning a bikini in the beach. I don't consider myself skinny or fat, I think I just have the right body sans the abs that is. I gained around 5ish lbs(jumping from the 5-6-8 lbs, going back to 5-6-8) after grad, which I think is relatively small and it's not like it's a life changing thing that my world would crumble having to gain few lbs. I know that metabolism slows down as you get older, and I have a desk job so I rarely move around, so these kinds of things are given. Plus for most of the time, I consider some of the weight gained as water weight gained ;) Who am I fooling haha.

Anyway to start my fitness regimen, I know I'm not getting older, I enrolled in a gym with Ian! He needs to rehabilitate his knee and well, for most part, we have to start getting fit and healthy :) After going for steak spree's for a while and doing a lot of food trips, we need to do something healthy as a couple, which actually is great because we have this other 'thing' to do together. We started going for 2 weeks already, and exercising actually feels great! Plus free coffee in the gym :p Hehe

I also found out, I'm actually exceeding the fat percentage for my body, for my height and my age, I should be in the 17-24% body fat, and right now I'm in the 26.9%! The challenge is to bring down the fat to 20%, I'm not really going for skinny, but I just want to be a healthier me. I would totally be happy if I just have 24% or even 23%, and just maintain that because I don't want to give up the good stuff, like desserts and steaks :) I'll post another entry once I achieved the right fat percentage :D

Let's get physical physical I wanna get physical..

A Life For Sale.

2008-03-21T18:59:00.003+08:00

I read this very interesting post in multiply, A Life For Sale, so out of curiosity, I checked it out. It's very interesting and I was completely blown away by the idea. I read in a part of the site that it was done before but the person who did it sold his stuff one by one down to his pair of used socks, while Ian(not Ian the BF, Ian Usher of alife4sale.com) on the other hand is selling everything in one big auction, it's one big blow to the highest bidder, and according to his site, once sold, I quote, "I intend to walk out of my front door with my wallet in one pocket and my passport in the other, nothing else at all".

Wow, I mean the guts and the balls to do that! But he's got his reasons, to find out about that better check out the site for yourself. I don't think he's crazy, if someone wants to start their life over, let them be, right? If he wants to walk away from his old life, go somewhere and start anew, then let him do it. I think it's very interesting, I'm actually intrigued on what's gonna happen after his auction, and how much worth could he sell his life. It's still months away but I'd definitely wait for the outcome!

How Much of The Philippines Have You Visited

2008-03-11T16:53:00.004+08:00

My Lakbayan grade is C-!

I don't usually post these kinds of stuff, but for posterity and for future travel reference, I'm doing this :D Hmm I should plan more trips in the Philippines, and not just go to the usual beach spots :)

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.

Food Raves.

2008-03-09T12:42:00.005+08:00

If you know me very well, you'd know that I say "Oh My God" whenever I taste really good food. And since I do that every often, a lot of people, especially my cousins stopped expecting on my foodie finds that I tag as omg food because I usually raise the expectations very high. And most of the time the expectations are not met. It's probably because of my facial expression when I say that a particular food find is tagged as "Oh My God" food and because the bar is really just being set too high, when all along the food can be tagged as just met expectations and not really exceedingly high. I dunno, I guess my palette is really easy to please, and I can be enormously happy with a good food find so I'd instantly rave about it and the only words coming out of my mouth are those 3.

I'm currently raving about two things, I had just finished lunch, and I ate Garlic Buttered Shrimps. I looove it, I even texted my mom that I loved it and I wanna eat it every week. Seriously. I removed the shrimps from the sauce, added some chili and I heated the garlic butter in the microwave. I put some of the sauce in the shrimps and a generous amount in my rice. Boom. Heavenly lunch. I love shrimps period.

The next one is the Maple Cream Cookies. One of the reasons why I love eating pancakes and waffles is because of the maple syrup and I literally drown my pancakes or waffles in it. If these food can talk, I'd probably hear them scream for help or call on a lifeguard. ;) Anyway, I've always wanted to taste these. Imagine the cream being made of maple syrup, sandwiched by 2 cookies shaped in a maple leaf. I first whipped the air when I opened the plastic package inside the box, and it smelled like breakfast in the morning, it smelled like pancakes! And the taste can be described with the three words, Oh My...! (I'm trying hard not to use these words anymore so not to raise expectations) Super thanks to Ann for bringing the cookies from Canada. I can understand the reason why she finished her box while she was still in the airport :D I finished 1/3 of it when I first opened it. Alavet!

Earning through Blogging.

2008-03-03T21:51:00.006+08:00

Ever since I've come across with some girl's personal blog, who stopped working, and whose spouse stopped working as well, because she's earning so much from her blog, I've been totally inspired of thinking ways on how the hell would I earn so much from writing my personal stories online. How cool is that? I think the girl posts one entry everyday, and posts one picture everyday (of random things!) and she gets so many hits a day. I think the story was that she was a web designer and she blogged bad stuff about her work, then they read the blog and she got fired but it turned out for the best because she became a stay home mom. (I forgot the link, I lost the url when Mozilla automatically updated my Firefox.)

Then I was surfing yesterday, I came across a pay-per-post site, then the top earner for the month earns something like $500. That's P20,000 already, I mean for extra cash, it's not bad right? So if you've noticed something, I already have the Google ad sense in my sidebar :) And I would appreciate it if you guys, the readers, would click on it. Haha, because I'm not supposed to click it myself because that would be kind of cheating :)

And then, I also read this last week, it's one of the blogs I surf, our awesome planet, then he earns 6 figure blogging income annualy, I'm not sure if its USD or in Pesos, but still, right? Something that you do for fun, earns you some extra cash.

Hmmm, but I've got to write some interesting posts to do that, that's one problem. I have to have a following, that's the second one :P Third, I have to write a lot of posts, and with the rate I'm going, I don't think I'll have enough hits in a month.

I'm getting there, STEP 1! I think I'm getting into the writing thing again, it's my 1st post for the month :D That's a start :)

Talk about sheer optimism!

Getting Damn Lucky!

2008-02-29T12:41:00.006+08:00

If you've been reading my posts, I joined a contest and I won. Thanks to Ivan Henares! I'm flying Seair baby ;) Boracay here I come!

In SEAIR, all seats are business class :)

Having my Ducks in a Row.

2008-02-24T20:52:00.003+08:00

I guess I'm one of those people who are lucky, because I know what I want in life. Yes, I have my ducks in a row, and if I could make a checklist of what I want to happen, I probably could. (Haha I guess that's the OC in me.)And I could wait for the time to tick each check box one by one.

I believe that everyone should have a 'life plan', so we can all have directions where we want to be. It's not about strictly sticking to a specific plan and forgetting about being spontaneous and doing a jump to an unknown abyss, but it's about doing all these crazy things and still knowing where you're headed. At the end of a crazy day, you still have to clear your head and proceed to what you really want to happen in your life.

Life's full of surprises indeed, but don't you think it's easier to wake up each morning knowing where you're headed? :)

What I'm Lovin' Right Now

2008-02-14T14:44:00.010+08:00

I'm not really into the Vday thing, it's overrated and it's just a reason for flowershops to increase prices for flowers :p Dinner dates and flowers when given are way way much sweeter when it doesn't fall on Feb 14. Hahaha. But, in the spirit of Valentine's day, I'll be sharing what I'm loving right now. Aside from the usual and obvious answer(hmm what answer could that be :p), i'm loving my lomo cameras! Fish eye and Action Sampler! I finally figured it out, fish eye cam should be for outdoor shots, and for nice views or patterns of things. Action sampler should be for taking pictures of people, and also great to use at night since mine's the one with flash. Hmm.. I wonder what my next camera I'll get :)

I want to win FREE SEAIR Tickets!

2008-02-05T16:44:00.001+08:00

Everyone who knows me well know that I'm such a sucker for freebies! I love winning and getting stuff for FREE :) I can't even wait till I get home to join the contest, to win SEAIR Tickets, so I'm now doing this while in the office.

Why do I deserve to win in this contest by Ivan Henares? First of all I don't have a planned Boracay trip yet for 2008, and I try to go every year :) Second, my cousin would be working there soon, and it would be nice to pay her a surprise visit, she might get lonely and homesick when she starts ;) Third reason, I've never flown SEAir! So now maybe is the great time to have me converted. If it is indeed a great experience, might fly SEAir in my next trips.

Well since this is gonna be a random draw, I hope I get picked! :D

Itouch.

2008-01-19T11:39:00.003+08:00

In my December post, in my wishlist, I posted my desire(for a lack of a better word) or want, for a new I{Variable}, and I finally got one! We all got an Ipod Touch for free during the Christmas Party. And it wasn't just an 8gb Itouch, it was the 16gb. You can only imagine my utter disappointment when the prizes in the games were Bose Ipod speakers, unknowingly that Ipod Touch will be given anyway, to everyone that is.

After a month of using my new Ipod, I can certainly say that it's a must have gadget! :) And I am devoting this post to the second to the latest 'IT gadget', the first is not an Iphone, it's the new Macbook Air, but I'm probably far from getting that one because it's way too expensive.

Anyway, what I really love in this piece of gadget, is that I'm able to watch movies and TV series. Imagine being able to watch episodes of Gossip Girls anywhere, as a temporary cure for boredom. And the screen, yes it's small, but it's definitely bigger than the Ipod Video's.

It also has WIFI! When you travel, you don't have to bring a laptop to be able to read your emails, or to log on to yahoo messenger to chat with people dear to you, you can just surf and chat through meebo using the Safari in the Ipod. It's small and handy compared to a laptop.

Okay, I didn't probably do much justice on the features of the Itouch, but when you get your hands on it, you'll know it's one hefty gadget. And one day, when I get my hands on the Macbook Air, i'll write another Mac Post :D I know I'm pushing my luck, but I do hope I also get one for free.

Shopping Blues.

2008-01-12T14:32:00.001+08:00

I'm not really sure if it's me or the good stuff had ran out in Zara and Mango! I know I'm too late to catch the year end sale, because we're almost halfway to January but damn, I really expected a lot. I went to the first day MNG sale to just buy my umbrella, then didn't bother to look, also in Zara's first day sale, but didn't check out the merchandise because there were so many people. I thought there will be good finds left, but to my dismay, I only got 1 piece of clothing in Mango, and nothing in Zara. Just when I finally had the budget for a shopping spree! :D

December I think is the month when I have the most spendings, because of the gifts and all that, and January is the month where my bank account starts recuperating from the Christmas fever that lashed out my money. The good news is, my bank account will be healthy again since there wasn't much of shopping done :D

2008!

2008-01-04T22:30:00.001+08:00

It's 2008 already, a year has passed and there are 16 days to go before I mark another jump of one digit in my age. And although I don't do the 'new-year's-resolution-thing', I vow to write more often in my blog. I still want to document my life and my thoughts! :) I don't particularly feel that I'm living a very interesting life, but nonetheless I still want to write. I need to hone my writing skills. I dunno how many entries I've written in 2007, but I'm pretty sure it's the year when I had the least entries. I even skipped some months without writing anything. Plus it's probably the year that I read the least number of books! I guess I've been engrossed too much in my TV series. It's my new 'fix', Gossip Girls, Heroes, Prison Break, etc. Hahaha. I don't know how to summarize the year that has been, it's been eventful, and it's been fun. My memory is pretty much selective and it chooses to retain happy memories, so I can't really think of any major mishap or anything unfortunate that happened in 2007. Maybe there were bumps in the road but learning from it can always turn it into a positive experience, right? So there :) Thank you to everyone who's been part of 2007.

Let's see what's going to happen this year :D I hope I'd have more bright ideas to write about or interesting stories to post :P

Oh, I wonder, could there be random people reading my blog same way I read random links? Anyway, I know it's already Jan 4, but here goes my shout out, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Lomo Lovin'

2007-12-30T21:30:00.001+08:00

Lomo Lovin'! I finally have a Lomo camera :) I've always wanted one and Ian gave me one for Christmas :D It's an action sampler, within the space of one second it takes the four shots in sequence. I researched online, read some forums, and went to Quiapo to buy cheapo films, I got the expired films for P20! Great deal :) I wonder what it would look like when the pictures come out. I'm excited to have the film digitized soon, but I'd wait for the New Year's pictures :)

Sun Kissed.

2007-12-14T14:10:00.001+08:00

I'm too lazy to edit the pics, like put borders and stuff :) More pics in my multiply :D This is the way to end the year, Bora Trip with my cousins and plus one's :D

Rica's Gadgets Wishlist

2007-12-14T14:09:00.001+08:00

1. DVD Player - My old dvd player broke, and we only have one left at home which transfers from my room to my bro's room and in the sala. Hahaha. I want one with a usb port and where you can plug a flash drive so I don't have to burn the series as VCD. Well it's not a priority even if it's cheap haha, because the series are ending anyway because of the strike.

2. DSLR - Next project, hmm 2009? Haha since my camera's still new. Or probably end of 2008 :D

3. ASUS eee notebook- This is dirt cheap for $200! I want one that's just really $200 x 43. The ones sold here are P15k and above already. But this creates a need, if I get this, I want WI-FI too haha.

4. I{Variable} - Variable can be Phone, Touch, Pod Classic. I'm still waiting and hoping to get this for free :D I hope I win a game later in our office Christmas Party, the prize is an ITouch!

5. Wii - This one I'd probably never buy but something I want :)

The Beyonce Experience.

2007-11-10T20:31:00.001+08:00

"To the left to the left.." I still can't stop playing this song in my ipod! I still get goosebumps whenever I hear the song because of the concert. I didn't expect it to last for almost 2 hours! :) Plus the concert was really good! She even sang Destiny's Child's songs, she sang "Say My Name" oooooooooohhh that so made my night, I've loved that song back in college, and I still remember the lyrics.

BUT, big BUT, the traffic was HELL. McKinley traffic sucked, plus looking for a spot to park sucked as well, I'm just thankful my brother was the one who parked the car, since he went in the Fort area early with his gf and his gf's sister. And THANK GOD we had free tickets, imagine if we paid for it, P2,500 x 2 for my ticket and my cousin Kat's. Plus tickets for my brother, P1,000 x 3. That's like P8,000 already. Sooooooooooo I'm really thankful for the free tickets at work. I actually won in the Ayala Center raffle but only the P600 tickets :) so I just gave it away.

I guess for the Justin Timberlake concert, if he does push through with a show here, I think I need to break the bank to watch him upclose :D Or better yet, win tickets in a raffle again. I want to win Meet and Greet Justin. I hope we don't do the promo for that because I won't be eligible to win, we did the promo for M&G Beyonce, the download Beyonce images and tones promo thing, and of course I wasn't eligble to win. Sayang! But I still got to watch haha so let's just count the blessings :D

Shopping In Bangkok.

2007-10-21T12:05:00.003+08:00

Now to continue my Thailand journey, let's go to the essential part of why girls go to Bangkok - Shopping! Yeah yeah, food's great- given, but shopping doesn't come close to Greenhills or Divi shopping,where you're supposed to get everything cheap right, but the stuff that they sell if you ask are from Bangkok. So imagine if you get the stuff directly, how much cheaper could they get? :D The answer? 100 baht. Or P140 :) (for some items :D)

Bangkok is a shopping mecca where haggling is essential and wholesale is downsized to 3 pieces. Haha, nuff said. It helps when there 4 of us shopping together because we always get the wholesale price, and thank God I brought an extra duffel bag because my stuff didn't fit in the luggage bag, shopping's that crazy :) I'm now 85% done with my Christmas shopping, so hooray! I bought a lot of gifts during the trip, so there's few people left on my list :D

I've loved eating Pad Thai and Bagoong Rice even before my Bangkok trip and I was really looking forward to eating the 'authentic' one, and it both had check marks on my list before we left. But now, I discovered another addition to my Thai list, it's the Thai Tea! Aside from coffee fix, I also get cravings for Milk Tea, Chai Tea, and my new addition to the list, Thai Tea :) I'm glad they have these in 3 in one's from the grocery that we were able to bring home. If they had instant Pad Thai, I would have brought home some too. Hahahahha. Well, for Pad Thai fix in Manila, there's always Oody's.

I'd definitely go back to Bangkok!

Thailand Trip - Ayutthaya.

2007-10-20T12:35:00.002+08:00

The trip with my cousins pushed through last weekend, October 12-15. We planned about it last year or early this year, booked around end Feb, and after fixing the hotel and a lot of google-ing, we came and conquered Bankok. Lance also came along with us, she flew from Singapore, so we were 4, Lance, Ate Yel, Kat and I.

So how do I start? Hmm.. Departure! Cebu Pacific, who's now recently late all the time adjusted our flight and moved it earlier. Even if the plane was on time, unfortunately they overbooked, and there weren't any takers. Yes it was another free round trip ticket, but the rigorous planning and adjusting your trip again would be taxing and we ended up not caring for a free round trip ticket. After awhile, I'm not really sure if there were any takers, but I'm guessing there were, we boarded the plane and flew to Bangkok.

We arrived in the hotel around 3 in the morning, which basically ruined 'the plan'. I made this sort of itinerary on what we'll do while we're there. Our trip to Ayutthaya can't push through because we can't wake up at 7am to take the train/bus that would take us there. The ride is 2 hours, and it would be time consuming if we leave around 10am, we'll waste the whole day if we do that. Anyway, we left the hotel around 10, hailed a cab and thought we'd shop in Platinum Mall instead. While talking to Mr. Tommy, the cab driver (who speaks good english, by the way), we mentioned our plan that sadly didn't push through. He offered to take us to Ayutthaya! Hooray! Since there are the 4 of us, splitting the cab fare into 4 won't be that costly :) And since we were riding a cab, there won't be a lot of stops on the way so it basically took us around an hour and few minutes going there.

The trip to Ayutthaya was culturally enriching, I'm envious what in the Philippines we don't have these spots where you can bring tourists around that would make them appreciate our culture. The place even though in ruins was a majestic grandeur. I know we have Intramuros, but I don't think it's still comparable to what I've seen in Ayutthaya.

Although the initial plan was just to shop in Bangkok, I'm really glad we made this stop! Yes there's the Grand Palace, the Golden Reclining Buddha in Bangkok, but seeing the old capital of Thailand, even thought it's an hour away is definitely worth it.

At the end of the tour, nothing beats authentic Pad Thai in Thailand, even if it's just a whole in the wall resto and it costs 30baht. :)

(To be continued.)

Animo Ateneo!

2007-09-22T14:07:00.002+08:00

Wahhh I don't have tickets for tomorrow's game :( I really hope Ateneo wins over UST! I thought after graduating, I'd get over the UAAP phase, but noooo. The school spirit still lives within me.

It's just really funny, whenever Ateneo wins a game over La Salle, I don't go boasting the win of Ateneo over La Salle, but whenever Ateneo loses over a La Salle game, I get messages from them hahahaha. But I was never really the type who trash talks, except I guess when the competitive side of me rules, which only happens when I play a game with Ian like foosball and I win (which now rarely happens). Oh well. Anyway, to win this season, we have to beat UST, then beat La Salle twice, then beat UE twice. That's a total of 5 games!

The schedule below (I got this in an email, and it's so funny because it's really assuming that we're gonna win!)
STEP LADDER GAME 1: UST vs. ADMU, Sunday, Sept. 23, Araneta Coliseum

STEP LADDER GAME 2: DLSU vs. ADMU, Thursday, Sept. 27, Araneta Coliseum

STEP LADDER GAME 3: DLSU vs. ADMU, Sunday, Sept. 30, Araneta Coliseum

FINALS GAME 1: UE vs. ADMU, Thursday, Oct. 4, Araneta Coliseum

FINALS GAME 2: UE vs. ADMU, Sunday, Oct. 7, Araneta Coliseum

FINALS GAME 3: UE vs. ADMU, Thursday, Oct. 11, Araneta Coliseum (IF NECESSARY)

Speaking of Ateneo, Harry Potter in Ateneo is sooooo funny. I don't want to post it here because it's really long, but you can google it by typing "Harry Potter in Ateneo" and other blogs will turn up.

Another one riding on the UAAP Fever, Krispy Kreme! The Team that gets the most "votes" (which color sells best) until October 4, 2007 gets a Krispy Kreme doughnut party!

I love Krispy Kreme :) I've got to buy the blue doughnuts!

I guess I'll just hope for the best and prepare for the worst, if we can't bag the UAAP championship, let's just get the Krispy Kreme party ;)

When It Rains..

2007-09-06T16:06:00.002+08:00

It pours! It rained so hard last night! I've never been a light sleeper so 99% of the time, heavy rains don't wake me up from my deep slumber.. But last night, was really different. The heavy rains woke me up last night. I can see the flashes of lightning even with my eyes closed, and I really got creeped out by the resonance of thunder. My light fixture in the ceiling even vibrated a couple of times. I don't know if it's watching too much Discovery Channel and Amazing Videos on TV that featured typhoons that got me into paranoia state, I thought there was a typhoon hitting Manila that I wasn't aware about. It was really scary, I'm thankful that when I checked my phone for the time, Ian already texted me. Talk about comfort :) So after a little thought and Ian's suggestion, I went to sleep beside my mom :D Now, that's comfort ;)

This morning, I woke up bright and shiny, with a sunny weather to boot,and despite the rain nightmare, I had a good night sleep :)

How To Unwind.

2007-09-01T19:58:00.001+08:00

Everyone needs to unwind once in a while, right? Or we'd all get burned out. Funny, I read that even in blogging, you'd get burned out. How funny is that! But it happens. The blog growth is apparently stalling because more and more bloggers have been inactive, even if more blogs are being made. I think that's what's happening to me :D But to revive that spirit, I'm gonna stop lurking and continue to write in the blog world, soooo here's my take on the Rica-ish way on how to unwind :) Let's get a break from work or school, but not on writing :D

1. Get a massage.
Okay, I know that might sound expensive but you can get really good deals if you buy GC's by bulk, just find people who are willing to share it with you. You can get GC's for less than 1k in Fitness First's Spa, that's body scrub and massage already, but you have to buy a lot. Or try The Spa, they have a massage for around P750? So it's not that bad :) Or better yet, call a masseuse that can go to your house, I think it only costs around P150? Treat yourself.

2. Go to the parlor and get a trim or haircut.
It uplifts your spirit quickly. You'll feel damn good when you step out. There are cheap haircuts out there, it doesn't have to cost much.

mum getting a haircut

3. Sleep all day.
I love sleeping till noon, or if I wake up early I take siesta :) If you have extra money to shell out, check-in in a hotel! Hahaha. My cousin works in Bellevue in Alabang, and we have perks because of her, since it's a 5 star hotel, I think room rates are as much as 5k? And we get a room for only 2k :) That's when you have extra cash to spare, but if not, just sleep in your own bedroom. Or call in sick on a weekday then just sleep? I've never done that, but I think a lot of people do that. I'm scared I really might get sick for real.

bellevue alabang with cousins

4. Read a good book.
Well I guess that's for bookworms, but if you're not into books, I really don't think that would be a relaxing thing to do.

5. Bake!
Even though it's time consuming, not only that, it's engergy consuming, i still think it's therapeutic (just like retail-therapy when you shop :p) Chocolate makes you feel good, just pour lots and lots of chocolate into whatever you're baking. If you've never tried baking, give it a shot :)

my orgasmic cookies

6. Get a nice dress.
I'm calling out to girl readers here haha, if you're a guy, get umm a nice pair of sneaks? :D
You'll feel good ;)

7. Write a new blog entry.
Pour your thoughts, share your two cents, write about your guilty pleasures and whatnot :)
After months of not writing anything, you'd feel good that you finally did :)

My New Toys.

2007-08-11T21:03:00.001+08:00

Finally! After 5 years, my old cam's retiring :D Yes, I finally got a replacement for the old cam, which was only 2 megapixels :) I have a new one, the IXUS 75. (Thanks Aldy for buying it in Japan!) It's 7.1 megapixels, it has that Canon feature, the one where you can select a color then make the rest of the pic black and white. Hahaha, I've always wanted that feature. I don't think I'll be using it all the time, but I dunno I just really like it. I love the cam, there's so much stuff that I can tinker, I don't even have to use photoshop to change the colors of the pics. Wheee.

And the other one, a Gorillapod! I've always wanted one, I saw it before in a website, but it was only sold in the US.. then lo and behold, I read that it's available here. And another lo and behold moment, Ian gave me one! Thanks :) Actually I got the tripod first, before getting the new cam hahaha.

Goodbye Harry.

2007-07-31T21:34:00.002+08:00

(No spoilers here in case you haven't read the book.)

The long wait is finally over, I dunno if it's really a good thing that the last book was finally out, or it's a bad thing because the series finally reached its end. I'd surely miss the 'waiting' period, the excitement that goes with it, and the predictions on what's gonna happen next (I have my own theories :p).

As I read the last book, instead of savoring every word, I munched and crunched through the pages like a hungry HP fan, I was binging on JK Rowling's writings :) I have nothing but praises for the last book, and I think it even exceeded my expectations. It's action packed, it's exciting, and it keeps me in the edge of my seat. Rowling really has one hell of imagination, I mean to be able to create a totally different world that deviates from what we actually have, and be able to put the pieces together and not get lost in it, she really brought Harry Potter to a different level.
It's just so sad that there are only 7 books, and the final one is already out. I'd surely miss the boy who lived :)