Sunday Stealing: The Ginormous Meme

Cheers to all us thieves!

1. Are you single? No, I am happily married for four years now.

2. Are your parents still married? Yes.

3. Are you in love? Of course, with hubby and our lovely princess.

4. Do you believe in love at first sight? No

5. Who ended your last relationship? Him. I am bad in breaking up. I don’t know how to say it that won’t hurt his feelings so I will do things that will turn him away from me. (Bad and bitchy me).

6. Have you ever been hurt by a break up? Yes. I had a relationship with a complete $#%$%.

7. Have you ever broken someone’s heart? Yes, I told you I’m bad.

8. Have you ever had a secret admirer? I am not sure.

9. Prefer love or lust? Love is forever I think. While lust is just for the whim of the moment.

10. Prefer a few best friends or many regular friends? Few best friends. It is difficult to find real true friends so I would settle for a few real friends.

11. Wild night out or romantic night in? Romantic night in. I am done with wild night out during my single days.

12. Back in the day: Been caught sneaking out? Yes. LOL.

13. Ever wanted something/someone so badly it hurt? Yes, I can still remember the pain. LOL.

14. Who are/is your best friend(s)? Jacq, Carol, MBAPs, Dale, Timmy, May, Dennis

15. Ever wanted to disappear? Yes, when I am already drowning with problems.

16. First attraction: Smile or eyes? Eyes.

17. Prefer intelligence or attraction? Intelligence. I easily get turned off with dumb persons.

18. Last phone call you received? Hubby/

19. Last thing you drank? Iced Tea of Mangan

20. Before your current one, when was your last relationship? More than a decade ago.

21. Do you and your family get along? Yes.

22. Would you say you have a "screwed up life"? No. I have a very happy life. I have a few ups and downs but I am happy because I have my family with me.

23. Have you ever gotten kicked out somewhere? If yes, do tell. No.

24. Do you trust all your friends? No.

25. Who knows the most about you? Hubby and my best friend Dennis.

Spoiler: CSI Vegas Season 8

I love CSI Vegas. It is my favorite among all the three CSIs. The latest season of CSI Vegas is currently being shown at AXN but unfortunately I was only able to watch the first episode. Good thing my husband was able to download the complete season 8 so I can watch it on my ipod during my free time.

I am not sure what episode is already being shown at AXN, but I am now watching Episode 11. This is the first episode without Grissom. I already knew even before the season started that Grissom will leave during the mid part of Season 8. And so on Episode 9, he announced to his team that he is leaving CSI. The whole department is sad for his decision. I too was sad because CSI Vegas is not CSI Vegas without Grissom. Every time I think of CSI Vegas, Grissom is the first name that pops to my head. I am sure CSI Vegas will not be the same without him.

The ending of Season 10 was he followed Sarah to Costa Rica who decided to move there after she decided to leave Vegas also. I read they will be called once in a while for the show. Who knows maybe they might even show Grissom looking for engagement rings for Sarah or they might even show the wedding of Grissom and Sarah (Nah. My wishful thinking. I know this is impossible to happen as CSI is not really after the love story. LOL.)

But it is interesting to see the addition of Laurence Fishburne as the new Level 3 CSI. The first episode where he started officially as a CSI was so funny that I am excited to watch the rest of the episodes of Season 8 of CSI Vegas.

Wake me up please!

Bugger, I have been late four times this month. I have been trying to avoid coming in late to work and I think for the past months I have been successful. There was even one month when I have zero tardy or I only have one to two tardiness where I was only late for one to two minutes.

But for this month, I feel so tired even if I go to bed early that I always wake up late. Even hubby feels the same way too that both of us always end up turning off the alarm clock and going back to sleep again and before we know it we are already late for work. LOL.

This is one bad effect of going on vacation for me. If I have a planned vacation, I always end up feeling tired before and after our planned trip. I hope I will be able to change my attendance record in the coming months. Or maybe I should get a better alarm clock with led light bulbs that will flash and blind us unless we get up or an alarm clock that won’t turn off unless we get out of bed. LOL. Do you think this will work?

Four For Friday

Q1 - Replacement: If you had to choose one item from your home to represent you in a photograph, what would you choose?

Our TV because that is something that I can’t live without.

Q2 - Banking: Do you bank the old-fashioned way--inside your bank's local branch--or do you conduct your banking online or through an ATM machine? Related: Do you bank with a national banking institution (think: Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan Chase, etc.) or a locally owned community bank?

I am kind of both. I have an online account and I sometimes do my transactions online like paying for my credit card bills. I also do withdrawals and payment through ATM most of the time also. But I still go to my bank’s local branch if I need to make deposits.

I have accounts too with national banking institutions and I have bank accounts from a local bank.

Q3 - Global Warming: Historically, support for environmental protection in the United States has been relatively nonpartisan. Republicans pointed with pride to Theodore Roosevelt's crucial role in promoting the conservation of natural resources by establishing national parks and forests, and Democrats applauded Franklin Delano Roosevelt's efforts to include conservation as part of the "New Deal" via the Soil Conservation Service and related programs. Although a majority of Americans believe the seriousness of global warming is either correctly portrayed in the news or underestimated, a record-high 41%, according to new Gallup poll, now say it is exaggerated (and most of those who feel that way are Republicans). The 2009 Gallup Environment survey measured public concern about eight specific environmental issues. Not only does global warming rank last on the basis of the total percentage concerned either a great deal or a fair amount, but it is the only issue for which public concern dropped significantly in the past year (pollution of drinking water and toxic contamination of water and soil ranked highest). Do you believe global warming is a serious problem caused by humans, a natural occurrence, or a bunch of made up hooey?

I think global warming is a real serious problem caused by humans and I think we all can feel the effect of global warming. And there is no denying that we should really do something and act fast if we still want to conserve our environment.

Q4 - LEGOS: On this date in 1999, LEGOLAND California--the only LEGOLAND outside of Europe--opened in Carlsbad, California. If you could afford to commission (warning: pop-up window ahead) full-time LEGO artist Sean Kenney to make anything for you, what would you ask him to create?

I will ask him to create a portrait of our family. Something like this:


It would be something very unique and cool and I think is something that is really difficult to make.

House Repairs

for our apartment that is. Since one of our tenants moved out this month and since summer is a perfect time for house repairs, we decided to do major repairs for our two apartments.

I am so thankful for my mom and my dad since they are supervising the repairs since hubby and I are both busy. They were able to replace all the galvanized iron for the roof and tomorrow, they will just do minor repairs inside the house and all that is left to be done is the repainting of the house.

I think after the repair, we can implement a 10% increase in rental for the new tenant that will be occupying one of our apartments. Who knows, if I succeed in controlling my online shopping, I will be able to save the money from our apartment rental and afford an Orlando vacations before the year ends. LOL. Good luck to me.

My Challenge

If I have to make a list of the favorite things that I love doing, Party Planning is one of them. That is why when I gave birth to my daughter, I have been preparing and organizing a birthday party for her every year.

My daughter will be celebrating her 4th birthday in a few months and as early as now, I am already imagining what Party Rentals I will get for my daughter’s party. I know I promised my husband that we will not have a party for her this year, but I am not sure if I can keep up with my promise. LOL.

The same thing happened last year. I promised hubby that we will just have an out of the country vacation and no party for my daughter but we end up having three parties for her. But hubby is a little thankful since I initially planned to book a club house as a party venue so I can get food carts, inflatable like Water Slide Rentals and have an Exotic Bird and Animal show since we are having a Madagascar theme. I don’t know but ever since I met this party supplier from our Corporate Events, I got addicted in availing all their party rentals for my daughter’s party.

So do you think I will be able to keep my promise to hubby this time? That would be a big challenge for me so let’s see….

Questions of the Week #51

Join us here.

1. How’s the week going on so far? Still busy. I have a lot of activities lined up for this week but I still feel so tired from my last week’s activity that I feel I haven’t accomplished anything major for this week.
2. Would you rather love or be loved? Be loved. Selfish ako eh. LOL.
3. How do you feel when you hear a friend completely butchering a story? I would rather not listen to his or her story.
4. If you could have a recorder which would make a DVD or video tape of your dreams, would you use it? Yes, definitely. Dreams are pretty interesting and sometimes I don’t get to recall every aspect of my dreams. So being able to record my dreams and play it back would be so cool.
5. Have you ever had a dream about being a place you’ve never been, and days or years later, you end up there? Yes, this has happened to me a lot of times.
6. Do you sit at your computer and eat snacks and have refreshments to drink? Yes. That is why my keyboard is filled with food crumbs. LOL.
7. Which is more true: everything matters or nothing matters? Everything matters.
8. What was the last thing you gave up on? Online shopping (Just a little. LOL). I haven’t shopped online for months now.
9. Can the love of a person really make you change? Of course. It happened to me already. Hubby’s love has changed me into a whole different kind of person.
10. Any plans for the weekend yet? I am working overtime. (Boo-hoo).

Cooking Class @ Tiny Kitchen

I was looking for home theatre seating when I chance upon the site of Tiny Kitchen. They are offering cooking classes for kids.

I checked it out but my daughter still can’t join the class because it is for kids ages 4 years old and up. So for those parents looking for another summer activity for their kids, you can try the Cooking and Baking class offered for kids by Vicky Veloso-Barrera’s Tiny Kitchen.

All courses are hands on and sessions are usually once a week.
1. Tiny Kitchen 1
The Tiny Kitchen 1 is for kids ages 4-6 years old. Course fee is P4250 and is made up of 5 sessions where kids will be taught how to prepare a main dish and a dessert every session.
2. Basic
The Basic course is for kids ages 7 and up. Course fee is P5750 for old students and P6250 for new students and is made up of 5 sessions where kids will be taught how to prepare a complete menu every session from the main dish, dessert, side dish and drink.
3. Advanced
The Advance course is only available for students who have completed the basic course. The course is also 5 sessions long where kids are taught about menus from different country.

Look at the kids during class. Aren’t they so cute? (Photo snagged from Tiny Kitchen website). For more information, you can visit the Tiny Kitchen website.


I guess I will never run out of summer activities for my daughter. For this summer alone, she already has three activities lined up for her. Hope she will enjoy it.

Zits

Gosh I am started to have zits on my face and they are big. Sometimes I will really get irritated looking at it that I will try to prick it.

Ever since I stopped using my pills, I started to get pimples again. I guess the pills work wonder for my skin because of the estrogen (is this the correct term?) that the pill secretes. But since we are planning to have baby number 2 by end of this year, I already stopped using pills so my system will be as early as now. Having a baby is more important to me than getting a flawless skin. LOL.

I remember when I was still single, I can still afford to get regular diamond peel or microdermabrasion treatment. But my priorities have changed now that I have daughter. I rarely go to my dermatologist nowadays. But I guess with the zits that is popping out of my face now, I might pay a visit to my dermatologist soon.

Weekend Snapshot # 33 - Summer is here

Summer is already here and what a great time to spend summer than a day at the beach. And that is what we did. My family loves the beach. If we can afford it, we might be flying to Boracay, or Cebu or Bohol, every month. I wanted to go to Boracay this summer but the airfare is so expensive as it is already the peak season so we just decided to drive 4 hours South of Manila to have one relaxing time at the beach.

We are all so tan since we are out the whole day enjoying the sun and the sand for two days. I wish we can do this everyday.

Gift Suggestion: Spa Certificate

Tomorrow will be the last day of my daughter at her current school. I am sure my daughter will miss her dear teachers so much. Her school has become her second home and she really loves all the people there, specially her classmates and her teachers. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, she is excited to go to school because I know how much she enjoys spending time with her classmates and teachers.

Time really flies. I did not even realize that my daughter was able to finish one school year. I am feeling kind of sad because we have to leave TU, a place that my daughter have learn to love.

We also owe a lot to my daughter’s teachers because their patience and dedication has helped developed our daughter to a well rounded person that she is. So for her last day at school, I decided to give our daughter’s teachers a little something as a sign of how thankful we are for everything that they did to our daughter.

I already ran out of ideas on what to give my daughter’s teachers. I know that they are not the materialistic kind of person (I bet a simple online greeting cards will never fail to put a smile on their face) but I wanted something extra special since it is our last chance to give them something.

I asked for gift suggestions from my friends and this is what I got:

1. Bags
2. Personalized Parker Pen
3. Cakes and Pastries
4. Any kikay stuff from Marks and Spencer of Body Shop
5. Spa Certificate

Good thing I checked out Relaksasi as their rates are really affordable (Balinese Massage at P850, Swedish or Shiatsu Massage at P550, Thai Massage at P695, Japanese Boreh with Wrap at P850). I got 4 spa certificates (for my daughter’s three teachers and her yaya at school), for a Balinese Massage as recommended by the Relaksasi staff. The certificate is valid for 1 year and they can use it at any Relaksasi branch.

I hope they will be able to enjoy our gift for them.

DEL MONTE Kitchenomics Educational Program for April 2009

Before I look for information about Wilmington NC real estate, let me post first some information about DEL MONTE Kitchenomics Educational Program for April 2009

Kids Food Fun. This is a hands on class for kids ages 4 to 6 years old where they can enjoy fun food activity that brings out their creativity. The fee is P 800.00 per participant and the fee comes with ingredients and materials needed per group, recipe hand-out, apron & toque and certificate of participation. The class will be held on April 4, 9:00 at the Del Monte Test Kitchen.

Kids Baon. Another Hands on Class where parents can get new healthy baon ideas for the upcoming school year that their kids will surely enjoy. Fee is P 800.00 per participant and fee comes with sampling, hand-out and certificate of participation. Get 50% discount for this cooking demo if your child enrolls in the Kids Food Fun. The class will be held on April 4, 9:00 am. at the Del Monte Test Kitchen.

Good Cook, Good Looks. This is a cooking demo where you can discover new quick and easy recipes using Del Monte Pineapples and then use that spare time with make-up tricks and tips from a make up expert. Fee is P 800.00 and the fee comes with sampling, snack, product samples, hand-out, new cosmetic kit and certificate of participation. The class will be held on April 18, 9:30 am. at the Del Monte Test Kitchen.

Summer Culinary Training for Kids: This is a short culinary course that will teach kids basic food safety, cooking and market exposure. Fee is P6,000 per participant and fee comes with ingredients & materials needed per group, recipe hand-out, apron and toque and certificate of participation.

BATCH 1: 4 to 6 years old
April 20 at 1:30-4:30 pm- Grocery Field Trip, Sandwich on a stick, Fancy Eggs
April 21 at 1:30-4:30 pm - Decorated Cookies, Fruity Gulaman Salad
April 22 at 1:30-4:30 pm - Mummy Pizza, Mighty Sandwich Spread
Venue: Del Monte Test Kitchen

BATCH 2: 7 to 11 years old
April 27 at 9:00 am- 12:00 nn- Food safety lecture, Pine Choco Revel Bars
April 28 at 9:00 am- 12:00 nn - Sloppy Chicken Sandwich, Cheesy Meaty Macaroni
April 29 at 9:00 am- 12:00 nn - Upside Down Pineapple Cake, Sundae Shake
Venue: Del Monte Test Kitchen

BATCH 3: 12 to 16 years old
April 20 at 9:00 am- 12:00 nn- Basic cooking terms, Food safety, Menu Planning & application
April 21 at 9:00 am- 12:00 - Lunch Menu: salad, viand and light dessert
April 22 at 9:00 am- 12:00 nn - Party Menu: finger food, pasta and drink
Venue: Del Monte Test Kitchen

Just For Kids: Craft Activity open for girls and boys ages 6-13 years old. Fee is P 800.00 per participant. Fee comes with 1 set of materials, snack and certificate of participation. Class will be held on April 30, 9:30 am. at the Del Monte Test Kitchen

Kids Nutrition & Summer Snacks: A cooking demo that will teach parents how to prepare nutritious and yummy snacks for your kids. Fee is P 800.00 per participant and get 50% discount if your child enrolls in the Just For Kids: Craft Activity. The Fee comes with sampling, hand-out and certificate of participation. Class will be held on April 30, 9:30 am. at the Del Monte Test Kitchen.

For more information, just call them at 856-4226 or you can email them at tkasst@delmonte-phil.com. All classes require pre-registration and payment will be forfeited for participants who cancel or fail to show.

Random Thunks for Thursday

Join us here.

1. The last flight of stairs you walked up/down - were the carpeted? No.

2. Green or purple grapes? Purple (not just because I love the color purple). Purple grapes are cheaper compared to green grapes.

3. Do you like Peeps? Sorry I have no idea what Peeps is.

4. The smell of Vicks - like it? It depends. If I am sick, I like its smell. But if I am not sick, the smell of Vicks makes me feel sick.

5. Do you put decorative cling-ons on your windows for different holidays? No. We only have Christmas tree during the holiday season and we don’t decorate during other holiday seasons.

6. Finish the sentence - I spent too much money on travel and shopping. LOL. (And I didn’t even think twice when I wrote it.)

7. Which celebrity should be flown into outer space or placed on a desert island? Michael Jackson, Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie

8. Would you support schools changing the "open" time? Such as 10am - 5pm, for example? No. I like the usual schedule. It is child friendly since my daughter can take a nap in the afternoon if they start school early.

9. Do you go fishing? No. I don’t like the outdoors and I am lazy so I don’t enjoy this kind of activities.

10. What question should we ask next week? Do you ever get tired of your everyday routine?

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

I made a post a few days ago about the book that my husband has been reading. The book is entitled ''Rich Dad, Poor Dad.'' According to my husband the book did inspired him and it really changed his views about how we manage our money.

Ever since he read the book, he always classifies everything as whether it is an asset or liability. My husband realized that our liability is higher compared to our assets and if only we can fix this big difference then we will be able to reach our financial goal in no time.

So how can we do this? The book is suggesting that we should not just be contented on having a regular job which is the source of our daily needs and wants. The book is encouraging us to make investments, venture into business or acquire more assets to lessen our liability and increase our assets. That is why my husband and I are looking for other investment options and we are really interested on investing on precious metals and rare coins. It is good that we discovered the site of Monex since they have expert staffs that are really knowledgeable with this kind of investments. They are also members of trade organizations so we are sure that they can definitely help us get the best offer in the market.

It is good that hubby got inspired with the “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” book. At least we are still not too late and we can still fix our financial management to help us get out of the rat race (this is how the author refers to the daily financial struggles of middle class family).

Weekend Snapshot # 32 - I Heart Royce

Last week, I got so busy with work that I forgot to post my entry for that week’s Weekend Snapshot. The other week, I was able to post my entry but then I forgot to post a comment for the link to my entry on the WS site.

So before I forgot again, I am posting as early as now (before I search for Bosch tankless water heater online) my entry for this week’s Weekend Snapshots.

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I was first able to try Royce Chocolates when I bought boxes of boxes of Royce chocolates when we went to Hong Kong last year. I so love their chocolates so I was one of those avid Royce chocolate patrons who became very happy and excited when its first branch in the Philippines, opened in Rockwell.

We were in Power Plant Mall last weekend and of course I did not miss a chance to buy their famous truffles. (We were not able to bought one when we went to Hong Kong as it will only last for 5 hours before it melts.) OMG, I think I can finish the whole box in one sitting as it is so delicious. A true chocolate lover’s delight.

3 Stars & a Sun

When I asked my good friend Jacq, who now lives in LA, what they want us to send to them from the Philippines, here is the list that they gave us:

1. Magic Sing Vidoeke OPM Chips
2. Any blouse from Bayo or Kamiseta
3. A jacket or a shirt for his husband with the Philippine flag

I did not have a hard time looking for items 1 and 2 but we were not successful in looking for the jacket that his hubby likes. Firstly, because we don’t know where to look and secondly, we are already press for time so we were not really able to go mall hopping to look for their requests.

But if only I knew then about 3 stars and a sun, Francis Magalona’s Clothing Company, then I will not have a hard time looking for shirts for my friend’s husband. Look at their cool shirt collection that really shows Francis M’s love for his country: (Would you believe they can sell 1500 pieces of shirts in 4 days? )


This is how Francis M, describes their products:

Our shirts are the prime exponents of urban patriotism and nationalism. Our designs are simple, direct to the point, symbolic and at times minimalist. And it doesn't stop there, we tackle social issues like cancer, heart disease and will continue to FILIPINIZE the world.

I would really like to have one of FMCC’s shirts. I love its cool design and at least I am helping Francis M’s goal to promote patriotism and the sense of love for our country.

Photos snagged from FMCC’s site. (Which took me a while to download as my laptop really needs computer memory upgrade).

Sweet Life by Ange

Have you tasted the Frozen Brazo de Mercedes of Sweet Life by Ange? OMG, it is really so delicious (a slice of heaven is how Ange describes it). Even my husband who doesn’t like sweets can finish one whole roll in one sitting. LOL.

We first tasted it during my cousin’s birthday and since then, we always buy one every time we get the chance to drop by her shop. Aside from the frozen brazo, they are also selling yummy cupcakes. I haven’t tried their cupcakes yet (I will probably try it next time), but it looks really yummy.

And this coming summer, Sweet Life by Ange will be conducting a summer class for kids age 2-7 years old or for teens age 8-12 years old. Below are the details:

Summer Remix (Summer Baking Classes)

Cupcake & Cookie Decorating Classes for girls
(separate classes for kids 2-7 and tweens 8-12)

Mom & Me Classes
Adult Cupcake & Cookie Decorating

Classes will be 3-5 day courses, fees will be inclusive of all needed supplies (apron, kitchen towels, decorating materials, souvenirs, etc).

I got this information from her multiply site but no information has been posted yet on the dates of the courses and the fees. Just check out her site for more details.

MV Doulus in Manila

MV Doulos is here in Manila. They arrived last March 5, 2009 and they are now docked at Gate 1, South Harbor, Manila Pier 13 (Behind Manila Hotel). They will be here from March 5 to 30, 2009.

The MV Doulos is the world’s largest floating book fair and they sail from port to port of different countries to sell books. The MV Doulus has 350 crew members from 50 different countries living together and keeping the ship in shape. The aim of MV Doulus is to impart the importance of education through the books that they sell. But aside from selling books, they also give service to the country they visit by doing some community work which focuses on education and healthcare.

The MV Doulus will be open every Tuesday to Saturday, from 10am - 10pm and every Sunday and Monday, from 2pm - 10pm. There is a 10 pesos entrance fee but children 16 years old and under are free (but they should be accompanied by an adult).

We plan to check out the ship and buy some books for our daughter one weekend. I heard that aside from having the opportunity to grab good books at great prices, visitors of the ship will be able to experience different cultures onboard. The Doulus crew will share stories about their countries of origin so it is like you will get to experience a Machu Picchu travel or you will get a chance to travel around the world. For sure it will be one great experience for the whole family.

My Travel Blog: Soon

Traveling is one of the things that I really love to do and is something that I will really never get tired of. If I have unlimited resources and if I don’t have to think of my work, then I might out backpacking in Europe or shopping in the Outlet Stores in the US or just spending some nice R&R in any of our beautiful beaches here.

I am lucky that my husband shares the same passion for traveling as I am so it is really easy for me to plan for a vacation since my hubby is always up for it. And we are lucky also because for the past years, God showered us with a lot of blessings that allowed us to have a vacation and to travel every once in a while.

If you will check our computer, you can see thousands and thousands of pictures from our previous travels. Wouldn’t it be nice to keep a journal of all your travels? That is one of my dream projects, to be able to setup a site dedicated only for our travel. I can post there stories every time we travel, pictures for each of our travel, travel tips and I can even share there some of our dream travel destinations.

Unfortunately, setting up a new website is very time consuming so up to now that dream project of mine hasn’t materialized yet. But I am so happy because my friend introduces to me the site of BlueVoda, a site that allows users to create website easily. They have a drag and drop feature so even those with little or no HTML background can still create professional and nice looking website. They even have a one click publishing feature so users can easily post to the site.

I will try it out this weekend and I am sure in no time my site to document all our travel journeys will be up very soon.

Questions of the Week #49

1. Tell me, are you feeling lucky this week? Yes, I will win a little something from Yenny Girl this week. LOL.
2. Are you good at figuring out when you just shouldn’t say anything? No. Sometimes I can’t keep my mouth shut.
3. While using someone else’s bathroom, have you ever looked inside their medicine/toiletries cabinet? No.
4. If you accidentally walked out of a shop with an item you haven’t paid for, would you return to pay for it? Yes, definitely.
5. Do you think combining as many uses into one is cost affective? I think so.
6. Do you always get what you wish for? No and I am happy that way. Otherwise life would be really boring as there are no challenges.
7. Can you talk and type at the same time? Sometimes I do that.
8. Whats the worst thing a man can say to a women during labor? You look good honey!
9. If you are in your shower and someone flushes the toilet, what happens? I will definitely freak out.
10. What would you like to do for your 15 minutes of fame? I am a frustrated singer so I might just sing for the whole 15 minutes.

Last Saturday

Last Saturday, we were supposed to attend a birthday party at the Big Red Barn in Fun Ranch. I am so excited for my daughter as my friend told me that they will be having a Dog and Monkey Show at the party and I know how much my daughter will like it. But just like the party that we attended a few weeks ago, my daughter doesn’t even want to go inside the restaurant. She is always like that every time we attend a party. We don’t know why she developed a fear like this.

So instead, we just went around Fun Ranch. We had lunch first at Blue Whale then hubby and my daughter rode the Bumper Boat. We also checked the stores around Fun Ranch and there is a particular incident when we went to Kids of Bayo that I have to tell here.

My daughter and I were busy checking out the clothes in the rack when I heard a lady screamed to the top of her lungs and then I realized that my daughter accidentally stepped on the lady’s foot. The lady was wailing as if a big truck ran over her foot, super over acting. So I asked my daughter to say sorry to the lady and after my daughter said sorry, I told the lady, “She is just 3 years old you know.”

I was just so pissed that she reacted that way to think she has a toddler also so she should know how a toddler behaves. Good thing I found nice rock tumblers being sold at one of the stores outside Kids of Bayo so I just diverted my anger and bought the rock tumbler. LOL. (Shopping is really a therapy don’t you think? LOL).

Efren Peñaflorida: CNN Hero

Do you believe that there are a lot of ordinary people that can produce a great impact on other people’s lives? CNN do believe in this that is why they launched CNN Heroes. They are searching across the globe for people whose selflessness, dedication and achievement has inspired a lot of individuals.

And for this week’s CNN Hero, meet Efren Peñaflorida, a Filipino. He is one of the founders of Dynamic Teen Company, a club whose aim is to make a small but significant change in someone else’s lives. Efren also grew up in poverty but he never let poverty hinder his dreams and his aim to help others. But instead he use this to inspire him to work harder and make a difference.

The Dynamic Teen Company started as a friendship club with 20 members. Now they have 10,000 members and they have helped educate around 1500 kids. What they do is go around barangays with their make shift push cart loaded with books, papers, tables and chairs and they recreate a school setting on the streets and they teach street children the basics of reading and writing.

Every Saturday, kids aged 2-14 years old flock around Efren and his team of volunteers’ push cart to learn reading, writing, English, Arithmetic and even the basic hygiene. And the groups is really successful as they have inspired a lot of street children, former gang members, drug addicts, and even drop outs to pursue their studies and be an effective member of the community.

Indeed, even small deeds can really make a lot of difference.

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Do you know now someone who can be a CNN Hero too? Sending your nomination is very easy. Just fill up the form online from the CNN website (no need to call any toll free numbers) and your nomination will be submitted right away.

FrancisM, you will surely be missed!

Mga Kababayan Ko
Man from Manila
Kaleidoscope World
Cold Summer Nights

These are just some of the hit songs of the late Francis Magalona, the master rapper.

It was a Friday afternoon and my colleague spread the news (while she was happily singing Mga Kababayan Ko) in the office that Francis Magalona passed away around 12 nn that day. I am not a fan of Francis Magalona nor do I listen to rap music. But when I heard about his death, it really made me feel a little bit sad.

A lot of people from showbiz passed away already but I never got really affected except for Francis Magalona. Fernando Poe Jr died and almost the entire Philippines mourn for his death but I never got really affected. Rico Yan died at a very young age (much even younger than Francis, but I never even got interested when I heard the news).

Maybe it is because Francis died from cancer that is why I am getting so emotional because one of my favorite aunt died from Cancer too and I know the pain that it brings when we learned that my aunt only had 6 months to live and the pain of seeing your love ones died suffering from the pain that cancer brings. Or maybe I am feeling emotional because seeing the people who are close to Francis mourn for his lost makes me really think that Francis is a good man and he live a good life because you can see how the people around him (specially his friends and family) truly loves him. I am feeling emotional maybe because I am so impressed at how the family accepted Francis fate and how they surrendered everything to God. I am feeling emotional maybe because he is a very talented and nationalistic individual and he is so young that I feel that he still has a lot to give to the Filipino people. I am feeling emotional maybe because I can see how his wife Pia is being so selfless. She is so strong and courageous in spite of the pain because she knows that she has to be strong for her kids.

I love the lines that Francis wrote for Pia before he passed way: “I am you and you are me.” With just those simple words, I can feel how much they love each other. I even cried when I saw Maxene’s interview and she mentioned her last words that she whispered to her dad: “You will be forever the best man in my life and I will love you and miss you forever, and ever.”

I will forever remember Francis Magalona not just as the master rapper, not just as the nationalistic Filipino but I will remember how he inspired me to learn to accept whatever is God’s plan for us because with HIM nothing is really impossible. Francis’s battle is now over as I know that he is now happy because he is now together with his creator.

You can read more about Francis battle with Big C here and here.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

Hubby is so addicted with this book right now.Hubby is really not the book worm type. If you asked him what type of books he wants, he will tell you that he only reads books that are 50 pages or less. So I was so surprised that he got really hooked with this book.

It was recommended to him by a colleague. He initially downloaded an e-book of this book but he decided to buy a hard copy when we went to the mall that weekend to look for pet supplies.

The book is a one of the best selling books written by Robert Kiyosaki's and Sharon Lechter and according to hubby, it gives advice about cash flow and how one can get out of what the authors call the “rat race.” The book promotes financial independence through investing and business.

Hubby said that it is a good book for us since we both don’t know how to save money for our future. But he is happy since he is saying that we are on the right track (according to the book) since we already started investing in real estate and we already started our own business.

I really haven’t read the book in full. I only was able to read its first chapter. I am not sure though if I am ready to read it and give up my spending habits. LOL.

Lomo = Coolness = Art

I have heard about the term Lomo a number of times already but I never really took it seriously or even got interested with it. All I know is that it is a photography term or it is a vintage type of camera and it is cheaper compared to a digital camera.

Two weeks ago, I went out of town with my colleagues and one of them brought not one, but two Lomo cameras. She brought the Fish Eye 2 and the Super Sampler Lomo camera. At first I just got interested because the camera has a different look and I just find it cool. But when I saw the actual picture when she emailed it to us after she had it printed, it really made me interested about Lomo.

So that same night, instead of looking for travel deals, I did a research about Lomography. So what is a Lomo? A Lomo is a camera made by a Russian company. They were initially known as spy cameras but Lomo got their popularity because of their high quality optical lenses. And what’s good about Lomo cameras is you don’t have to have an artistic side to produce great looking pictures because Lomo cameras produced artistic shots with splashes of color and lens effects. There are different kinds of Lomo cameras. I have listed down a few of them and a brief description or feature for each camera.

1. Fish Eye – produces pictures that make your subjects look like they are in a fish bowl.


2. Holga – produces pictures effects like vignetting, blur, light leaks, and other distortions

3. Diana F+ - it allows you to superimpose subjects against any background.

4. Color Splash – produces pictures that has s splash of color.

5. Super Sampler – is name as such because it produces samples of your subjects into four panoramic panels

The sample shots were pictures taken by my colleague using her Fish Eye and Super Sampler Lomo Camera.

I think there are still more types of Lomo cameras but these are just some of the types that I researched about. Among the five, I am leaning towards a Holga, Diana and Color Splash. I hope I can buy one before we go out of town next weekend.

Rockwell's Summer Series

Since we will be hitting the beach this summer, we definitely have to go to Power Plant Mall’s very first Urban Bazaar of the year this coming weekend.

The Urban Bazaar will feature over 90 participating shops that will feature unique summer must-haves. Brands like Cocomo that features a new line of swimwear, or the cover-ups and summer-inspired casual wear of Fab or get a set of the new Trendy Travel Tool for those going out of town.

The Urban Bazaar will run from March 13 – 15.

==

I read from Katrice Wear site that they will be participating again in this bazaar so I really, really want to go as I want to try their new collections for February and March. I specially like this one:
Photos snagged from Katrice Wear site.

I need to buy matching dresses so my daughter and I will have something to wear on her Moving Up day at school so I will definitely find a way to convince hubby to drive us there.

Option 2: US

I made a post here a couple of days ago about our future travel plans. If we will push through with Option 2, my mom is definitely going with us. The only country that she has visited so far is just Hong Kong and Singapore and so we wanted her to experience a taste of North America.

Hubby wants to visit his relatives in New York because they really want to see our daughter because they have heard so much about our daughter when hubby last went there a year ago. Of course, hubby also wants to take our daughter to Central Park Zoo so she can see Melman, Gloria, Marty and Alex. These are the animals from the movie Madagascar which is our daughter’s favorite film.

New York City Sightseeing is something that you should not miss if you pay a visit to the Big Apple. When hubby and I went to New York last 2004 we were able to really go around on our own and we were able to go to the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, and just go around the financial and shopping district of New York. But if this trip pushes through, we will definitely get the hop-on, hop-off bus tours of CitySights NY since my mom and my daughter is coming with us. That way it will be really convenient for us to go around New York even if we have a toddle in tow and we will be sure that we will be able to visit all the tourists’ destinations that the Big Apple has to offer.

Remembering Vegas

I was cleaning our PC from tons and tons of pictures saved on our local drive and I accidentally saw our pictures when we went to Las Vegas a couple of years ago. I really enjoyed our stay there. My favorite is when we checked out all the hotels along Las Vegas strip. It was like one big theme park for us as each of the hotels has their own gimmicks. I particularly like the dancing fountain of the Belagio hotel and the Gondola ride at the Venetian hotel.

Although our Las Vegas trip have a lot of found memories, there is one incident in our trip that I will never really forget. We were shopping in one of the outlet stores along the Vegas strip. Hubby fall in line in the cashier as he is not really interested with shopping while I went around the store to look for more bargains. I saw a jacket that is really a steal and I showed it to hubby. I told him that I will stay in line while he tries on the jacket and then when I moved in to hubby’s place in the line, a couple got really mad at us since they thought that we are cutting the line. They never stopped blabbing and so I have to answer them back because I got really irritated since we never did cut the line in the first place. While all of this is happening, hubby and I noticed that our friends just stayed quietly in one corner and they did not interfere while we are arguing with the couple who is obviously not a tourist like us.

When we are done arguing, our friend approached us and said sorry because they where not able to help us. They said that they don’t want to get in trouble since they are still processing their papers and they don’t want to have a criminal record that will ruin their chance of getting their citizenship. They told us about their friend who was charged with DUI and how their friend almost lost his chance of getting a citizenship because of this case. Good thing he hired a good Massachusetts OUI Lawyer who is a former prosecutor so he knows how to defend his clients against DUI charges. If not, their friend would have a permanent criminal record under his name.

We told our friend that all is good since we did not get hurt and we totally understood their situation. Then after that, we just went out of the Outlet store and hit the Vegas strip again and had some real fun.

Questions of the Week #48

Join us here.

1. “So…do you want the good news or the bad news?” When someone asks you this, which one do you generally ask for first? The bad news first as I want to deal with it right away.
2. Do you remember compliments more than rude remarks or vice versa? I remember ride remarks more. LOL.
3. The main difference between you and your best friend is …she knows how to save money and I don’t. LOL/
4. Have you ever given someone a fake phone number, just to get rid of them? Nah, I can’t be that rude.
5. Do you find that there’s too much choice in your life? Yes, I agree. Even small decisions, I have to ask for another person’s opinion because I can’t seem to make a decision with a lot of options that is being offered to me.
6. How would you describe your temper? Short. LOL.
7. Are you more likely to exaggerate or downplay your troubles? It depends on who I am talking to. If it is my parents, I try to downplay it because I don’t want them to worry about it. But if its hubby, I think I exaggerate. LOL.
8. List 3 people-real or fictional, living or dead, famous or personal friends-whom you respect and admire, and why. My mom, because she is the perfect and the best mom for me. My Tita Vicky who has given me a lot of inspirations and thirdly my hubby because he is my source of inspiration and he thought me that life is really good.
9. Can you draw? Nah, I have no talents.
10. What do you need to work on? Online tasks.

Koobface – Dangerous new Worm

Social networking. It has created a wave among online users and almost all people I know, have a Facebook, or My Space of Friendster account. I remember when Friendster is still new, I was so excited to create an account, invite friends to be my contact, upload pictures under my profile and event create testimonials for all my friends under my network. And then Facebook was born. I think now Facebook has more users than Friendster because according to Facebook users, it is easier to manage and maintain than Friendster and it has a lot of applications that users can install and use. They say that Facebook alone has 175 million users.

And that is why social networking sites like Facebook has been the target of malware authors. I just read from the news today that a very dangerous worm called Koobface is running wild on social networking sites. What it does is it will ask Facebook users to click a fake You Tube video link which will then download the worm to the victims’ computer and then malicious user can now perform commands on the victim's machine remotely.

Koobface worm is very dangerous and with the popularity of social networking sites, it is difficult control users from accessing these sites. That is why it is important to have a good IT infrastructure to back up your business. But what if you are only a small company and you can’t afford to have your own IT department. Then it consulting is the answer for you. They are composed of a team of experts who will setup and manage your own IT architecture. This way your business will be safe from the threats of viruses, spyware and malware but you don’t have to maintain your own IT section which is really a big savings especially for small and medium scale companies.

Delayed Reaction: Mimi & Karl’s Wedding

I can’t remember what I was looking for on the net this morning but I landed on the page about the Boracay wedding of one of the best wedding photographers in the country, Mimi and Karl. I met Mimi and Karl when I was coordinating the wedding of one of my friends from w@w, Jen, and I witnessed how the two work and how creative and passionate they are with their work.

And so when I read that they got married last October 10 in Boracay after being together for 12 years, I had to read the entire story of their wedding and I have to view all the pictures and videos that they posted in their site.

And there is only one word that I can use to describe their wedding: “WOW.” I love all the details of the wedding – their letter press invitation (which according to couple really enticed the guests to fly to Boracay to attend the event), their unique ring holder which are hand-formed and hand-stamped (with lines from the couples favorite song) earthenware, their escort cards (which are cute origami boats that are personally done by Mimi), their place card holders and my favorite is their flower centerpieces and wedding flowers (I am sure it cost a fortune to have a flower setup like that. But maybe if I will get a flower supplier that sells wholesale flowers instead of getting it at a local florist, then I am sure it will be more affordable. I know this is what my friend did during her wedding and the flowers arrived at the venue on time and it was still fresh and gorgeous).

Photos snagged from Mimi and Karl’s site

I was looking at the pictures and I can’t help but fell in love as you can see from the eyes of the couple how much they love each other. I love the shot when Karl kissed Mimi after the ceremony. It really makes me feel in love all over again.

Congratulations to Mimi and Karl!!

Weekend Snapshot, # 31 - Anime

Yesterday after my daughter’s class, we went to Robinson’s Place Ermita as I need to go to Toys R’ Us to buy a gift for the party that we will be attending for Sunday. As soon as we entered the mall, we noticed that the ground floor is a little crowded because of the Maxi Collector event that is going on.

Hubby’s eyes lightened up as soon as he saw the event as it is like a toy fair where suppliers of different toy collectibles have set up a booth at the ground floor of the mall where they sell all sort of toy collectables and some are even on sale. There was also a free concert and I think a contest where contestants need to dress up as their favorite anime character.

Below are some of the pictures that hubby took:

Confessions of a Shopaholic - The Movie

Have you seen the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic? I am an avid fan of Sophie Kinsella’s book and I have read the entire Shopaholic series and all the other books that she has written. But sad to say I haven’t seen the movie yet.

I have heard mixed reviews about the movie. Some are saying that the movie was really good and funny but some are saying that the movie is not as good as how Sophie wrote it in her book.

The movie is about Rebecca Bloomwood who moved to New York because she wanted to get an employment in a fashion magazine. Sad to say, instead of getting a job at a fashion magazine, she landed a job as an advice columnist for a new financial magazine that is published by the same company as the fashion magazine.

Because of the financial advice that she is giving her readers, Rebecca Bloomwood became really famous. But her shopping addiction almost jeopardizes her career and her love life and so the movie revolves around how Rebecca was able to get out of her financial problem.

I have seen the trailer and it looks really funny. Hope I can have the time next week to watch it with my sister and my cousin.

For Warrick - CSI S09 E01

Have you seen the latest season of CSI Las Vegas? I missed the second episode but I was able to see the first episode and it was so heartbreaking.

The episode picked up where it left off during the last season with Under Sheriff Mc Keen in the scene. Grissom heard a radio announcement saying that there is an officer down and so he was the first to respond to the scene. He was so shock to find out that the victim was Warrick. Warrick was still breathing when Grissom came and Grissom tried very hard to save his life, but still Warrick died in Grissom’s hands.

I can’t imagine how Grissom felt that time when he witnessed Warrick dying in his arms. All the team was so emotional when they arrived at the scene but as painful as it is for them, they processed the scene to catch Warrick’s killer.

Sarah was also back in this episode to console with her friends and to help with the funeral arrangements. I cried when Grissom was speaking about Warrick in his funeral.

I still can’t believe that Warrick is dead. I still can’t believe that he is already out of CSI Vegas.

Oh well, back to real life. I have to stop thinking about CSI for now as I need to look for incontinence supplies for my uncle first.

Are you workaholic?

I saw this on Kathy’s site and I suddenly want to know if I am workaholic or not so I tried to answer the questions. You be the judge.

1. It’s midnight and you haven’t left the computer in six hours – It is already 3 AM and I am still wide awake in front of my computer.
2. You work more than 40 hours a week – Yes, I work 37.5 hours in the office then I still work at home for my sideline.
3. You work non-stop during the week, on the weekends, in bed, and on vacation – I only work non stop during the week. I try not to work during weekends and specially a big NO to work when I am on vacation.
4. Discussions about work dominate your conversations – Not really. I hate it when I have to deal with people like this.
5. You sneak and work when no one is looking – Sometimes.
6. You put work ahead of your family and friends – Big NO.
7. You get upset when someone tells you to take a break – No. I would definitely love to hear that.
8. You think sleep and relaxation is for lazy people – I love to sleep and I love to go on vacation.
9. You feel guilty about taking a sick day or vacation day – Yes, specially if I am not really sick. LOL
10. Family and friends know they can’t depend on you to show up on time, or follow through with plans – No. In fact I am always the family organizer every time there is a family event of gathering.

To Bohol

I want to bring my good friend Jacq and her husband Neil together with their daughter, Rein here:

Jacq is my best friend from college who is now living in Los Angeles with her husband. When I was sent to Canada for training last 2004, I made it a point to pass by Los Angeles so I can pay them a visit as I haven’t seen my best friend for years already. She and her husband took a leave from work and they brought us to all the tourist spots in LA like Disneyland and Universal Studios. They even drive us to Las Vegas and they even paid for our accommodation. When my husband went to the US last 2008, he visited them again and he stayed at their place. We really owe this couple big time for all the help they extended to us every time we are in LA.

They said that their only wish is for them to go back to the Philippines for a vacation and they wanted to visit Bohol after they have seen our Bohol vacation pictures. We promised that we will take them to Bohol when they finally got the chance to have a vacation. Right now, her husband is still processing his papers to get a green card. My friend already got hers and they are only waiting for the green card of her husband and they are all set to have a vacation here in the Philippines.

I can’t wait to take them to Bohol. Hopefully the papers of his husband will be processed soon (I heard they already hired immigration lawyers to help them process the papers) as I know they also can’t wait to finally go back to the Philippines.

For Me

I am really not a jewelry person. Almost all of my jewelries are gifts and I have never really bought one for myself. For one, I find it very expensive and I would rather spend the money on other things like my dream LV bag or another travel rather than spending it on expensive jewelries.

But I lost my earrings a few months ago and up to now I haven’t bought a pair for replacement. So when I saw the site of Holsted Jewelers, I got really excited as I realized that I can still find very fashionable Designer Jewelry at a very affordable price. I tried looking for a pair of earrings with my birth stone and I found a whole collection of fashionable earrings from their site that I haven’t seen in any retail store. What I like about their products is that they are really affordable but you will really see that their products are of high quality.

Finally, I will be able to get a replacement for my lost earring.

SURFACING: UPFI SUMMER WORKSHOPS 2009

The University of the Philippines Film Institute is already accepting enrollees for their summer program. The theme for this year’s summer program is: SURFACING: a venue for film enthusiasts to surface from the back of their heads and defy the mainstream

Below are the list of workshops that they will be offering this coming April and May.

APRIL
*ACTING FOR FILM - Ina Feleo and Angeli Bayani
APRIL 13-18 / 1-7pm
Fee: Php5,500

*DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY (BASIC) - Cris Sevilla
APRIL 20, 22, 24, 27, 29
Fee: Php6,000

*DOCUMENTARY VIDEO PRODUCTION - Milo Paz
APRIL 13-17 / 9-5pm
Fee: Php7,500

*FILM PRODUCTION (FOR THE YOUNG) - Nick Olanka
APRIL 20-24 / 9-5pm
Fee: Php7,500

*MULTIMEDIA ARTS (FOR THE KIDS) - Mich Ortiz and Frani
APRIL 27-30, MAY 4-7 / 9-12nn
Fee: Php3,800

*SCRIPTWRITING (BASIC) - Cenon Palomares
APRIL 1-5pm (6 days)
Fee: Php6,000

*SCRIPTWRITING (INTERMEDIATE) - Libay Cantor
APRIL (5 days) / 1-5pm
Fee: Php6,000

*SEMINAR ON QUEER CINEMA - Avie Felix
APRIL (5 days) / 1-5pm
Fee: Php4,000

*WRITING ABOUT FILM: FILM APPRECIATION FOR THE YOUNG - Patrick Campos
APRIL (5 days) 1-5pm
Fee: Php4,000

*WRITING ABOUT FILM: THEORY AND CRITICISM - Patrick Campos
APRIL (5 days) / 1-5pm
Fee: Php4,000

MAY
*BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY - Anne Marie de Guzman
MAY 4,6,8,11,13 / 10-4pm
Fee: Php8,000

*CELLULOID CINEMATOGRAPHY - Nap Jamir
MAY (5 days) / 9-5pm
Fee: Php18,000

*DIGITAL CINEMATOGRAPHY (BASIC) - Dix Buhay
MAY (5days)
Fee: Php10,000

*DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY (ADVANCED) - Gary Buenavista
MAY 25-29
Fee: Php6,500

*EXPERIMENTAL FILM PRODUCTION - Sari Dalena
MAY / 9-5pm
Fee: Php7,500

*MUSICAL SCORING - Cynthia Alexander
MAY
Fee: Php7,000

*NON-LINEAR EDITING - Melissa dela Merced
MAY 11,13,15,18,20 / 9-12nn
Fee: Php6,500

*PRODUCTION DESIGN - Armi Cananindin
MAY (5days) / 9-5pm
Fee: Php6,500

*SCRIPWRITING (ADVANCED) - Cenon Palomares
MAY (6 days) / 1-6pm
Fee: Php6,500

For inquiries, you can contact UPFI at 925-0286

Option 1, 2, 3

From this:


To this:

And now this:

I don’t want to give more details as nothing is still definite yet but I can’t help but make a post about it as I can’t keep it away from my mind when hubby told me about it. In fact, I even dreamt about it last night. LOL.

But it is still a couple of months away and like what I said, it might take months before we got a confirmation. But I think I have to work harder so no matter what happens, we will be prepared for it financially. I was so inspired to work hard that I immediately looked for a promotional product as a marketing strategy to promote our cell phone store. Since times are a little though, our sales drop during the last months and so we have to think of ways to attract more customers as competitions are really getting though. Hope we will be able to surpass this recession period so we can save a little money either for option 1, 2 or 3.

Staying in Manila

Last week, we met up with my mom’s best friend who now lives abroad, for dinner. They have long been convincing us to move there and they even offered to help us during our adjustment period. They are saying that now is the perfect time for us to apply for a permanent residence as a skilled worker since we are still young so we will be competitive when we apply for jobs there. Also, since our daughter is just three years old, it will be a good opportunity for her to get free education when we arrive there. Even my parents can enjoy a great benefits too since I can easily petition them once we are already settled. They even said that even if my parents are already in their 50’s they will not have a hard time looking for a job there. My mom is a retired preschool teacher but when she was still single she studied cosmetology so she can do some sideline jobs while studying. So my mom’s best friend suggested that my mom can even look for cosmetology schools in kansas online. There is a site where she can easily look for schools by state or zip code and the site even provides the link for each school so my mom can instantly check on the schools.

Honesty right now we are still happy with our life here. I can say that both hubby and I have a stable job (and hope it still stays the same even if there is a recession), we can still make both ends meet and we even have some extra for our wants. So for now, no migration for us and we will still prefer to stay here in Manila.