Sunday, November 30, 2008

My Birthday Contest Ends!!



Hey all.. I am sooo happy that many joined my Birthday Contest and now I am officially closing it. To update you all there are 80 bloggers who joined but only 76 are valid to join bec. 4 did not verified their subscriptions.

Next week I will be counting all your entries (email subscriptions on my 2 blogs, comments, etc). I know I will have a hard time counting so please bear with me. I hope after this contest you will still go back at my blog to read and comment on my posts.

To all of you who joined THANK YOU VERY much and I know you are all excited to know who will win so watch out for it!!!

Saturday, November 29, 2008

PH: Metal



Just some of the scrap metals that my older bro used as decors near his gazebo. He loves collecting old stuff and turning them into piece of art. Not quite sure where he gun that old rusty gun but definitely it is not his. I have another entry more of his "art" at my other blog.

:Toy Hunt:: Toy/s that Talk



This is the toy of my niece Reign and this cute and looks pitiful Ginger Bread Man from Shrek the movie can actually talk. I am guessing this is a free toy from Mc Donald's. It has a button at his back and when you press it he will talk. Actually I can't hear the words that he is saying now bec. the sound is crackly already.

Join us as Toy Hunt, click the badge on top.

Friday, November 28, 2008

:I miss Digi-Scrapping!:

... ....badly! The last full digital scrapbooking layout that I made was in July 2008 but I was able to make a digi layout for my niece's 18th b-day tarpaulin. My co-bebots are talking about scrapping over at Twitter and just today I they insipired me because of the hard bound photobook that they ordered over at Artscow.

I hope one day I can finish my Australian vacation layouts so I can have them printed. I can't beleive that it as so cheap to have it printed over at Artscow. I am so happy I have found friends through digital scrapbooking, gosh my co-Bebots (as we call each other) are so very generous in sharing tips on where to have our layouts printed at a much cheaper price. Hmm i need to gear up myself soon so I can finish a 20 pages photobook for myself.

Digital Scrapbooking is so much fun, if you haven't tried it yet you've got to. You just need to be patient in order to finish a layout that usually takes hours. If you are not patient, forget it haha.

You can see some of my digi - layouts here and here is my SCRAPS & SHOTS blog, there are some freebies there.
My New Found LoveJust Play.....

Are you using Gmail Themes & Yahoo Stationery? How to Activate G-mail Themes

It was a delight to see a new and refreshing look at my G-mail. You can now select beautiful themes on your account by selecting themes on your settings tab. Just in case you still don't know how to use Gmail Themes i made a simple instructions here.

Here's how to activate G-mail Themes: (Gmail themes are NOT stationeries)
1. Just click the Settings Tab located at the right side on the top bar,
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2. Click THEMES tab and you'll see some of the available themes. Choose what you like and That's It!

I choose the CANDY theme and it looks so cute hehehe. You can also choose Tea House ,Bus Stop and others. Have fun!

NOTE:*But if you hate using themes just click the OLDER VERSION tab on top of the screen and the old boring white theme will appear again.
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NOTE:
If you are using Yahoo Mail, you can try their YAHOO MAIL STATIONERY here

Thursday, November 27, 2008

The Pink Sisterhood

Life is so Random and so I am and Janice Ng (long overdue Janice sorry) tagged me. Last Oct. is the month for Breast cancer awareness but I am still posting this.
*********************
I am kinda scared of this because i lost 2 of my aunts (father side) to breast cancer few years back and I hope I can't get it. Oh dear.
* One in eight women or 12.6% of all women will get breast cancer in her lifetime.
* Breast cancer risk increases with age and every woman is at risk.
* Every 13 minutes a woman dies of breast cancer.
* Seventy-seven percent of women with breast cancer are over 50.
* Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women between the ages of 15 and 54, and the second cause of cancer death in women 55 to 74.
* Risks for breast cancer include a family history, atypical hyperplasia, early menstruation (before age 12), late menopause (after age 55), current use or use in the last ten years of oral contraceptives, and daily consumption of alcohol.
* Early detection of breast cancer, through monthly breast self-exam and particularly yearly mammography after age 40, offers the best chance for survival.

Facts taken from Women’s Health
And now here is the tag and the rules:

1. Put the logo in your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who shared it with you.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4. Add your link to the list of participants below
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

PINK Sisterhood
1- Fara 2- Massy 3- N.O.Y 4- Mariuca 5- A Great Pleasure 6- LadyJava 7- Kim 8- Pink Thoughts 9- Turn-u-Off 10- Roxiticus Desperate Housewives 11- STAY AT HOME MOM 12- Fida Abbott 13- Also Mommy 14- Janice Ng 15- Juliana’s Site 16- The Painted Veil 17- Heart of Rachel 18- Mga Muni-muni 19- littlemsfirefly 20 - My Happy Thoughts 21- Life Is Random.SO.AM.I 22 -jennyL 23-

Passing this to everyone!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

:My Love & Hate Relationship with Coke

My tummy signals once again and that means "meryenda" (snack) time once again for me. I had a monggo bread left over from yesterday so I thought I'd finish that off today. What would be the best companion of that bread? None other than COKE! So I opened one Coke solo and the evil little spirit of that softdrink came alive .. lol!

I remember having sworn and promised to myself few months back that I will never drink Coke again for it will only bloat me. I managed to stop my cravings for few days and I am so happy with that and I realized that I was into it again arrghhh. The addiction is still there I said, poor me.. but how can I resist the taste of the coke.. Blame it on my sis in law for selling soft drinks..lol

Hmmm.. right now i hate Coke (but i drunk earlier yay!) but dunno if I can totally eliminate that when I am eating. Felt guilty, gave the almost half bottle to my mom. At least I don't drink it everyday and every meal! What about you, do you drink COKe?

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

:From 4 million to 600+

Wow and so it dropped! What do I mean? This blog is fairly new, actually just 2 months old and my Alexa Traffic rank dramatically dropped from 4,385,985 to 672, 155 as of this writing. Wow that's a lot and that is good for this blog (lower no. means higher ranking). I hope next time this blog will have a page rank. You know why I want that. :D

I am so thankful to all that visits my blog, read and comments on my posts, you helped in improving my traffic. Entrecard droppers also helped, some traffic from Google searches etc., photo memes and of course bec. of my viral linking and my still on going birthday contest.

Again THANK YOU very much to all of you and please do come back!!

Happy Birthday to my Sis JoyD!

My sis JoyD and I both celebrate our birthdays on November, mine is last Nov. 16th and her b-day is today the 25th. She is our youngest sibling and now living in the Land Down Under. I am so thankful to her and her hubby Joe for they sponsored my vacation there for 3x already and hope that there will be 4th time hehe.. wink*

Happy happy birthday sistah! God Bless you & your family and SEE YOU here in Pinas next year. We are all excited to see you esp. the kids!

Go visit my sis' blogs and greet her as well WHEN MOM TALKS and THE WAY OF LIFE IN OZ.

RT: Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Cherry Pepper plant at the backyard of my brother in law's grandpa. Bottom photo: regular red peppers being sun dried before being pickled and eaten.. Yay too hot for me? What about you do you love peppers?

Monday, November 24, 2008

Ang PINAKA Smart Ways to Manage your Money

Not all of us are good in this area so here are some tips that we can follow. Ang Pinaka TV show over at QTV 11 provided us with this list. Watched the show last night (Sunday) and fortunately I was able to jot down the Ang PINAKA Smart Ways to Manage your Money.

Can you tell me which of the top 10 have you done so far?
1. Pay your Debts - Debt Reduction (Pay your loans, credit cards etc.)
2. Mutual Funds - where a private co. will pool the money of investors to invest on buying stocks etc.
3. Maintain Deposit ( Savings or Time)
4. Invest in Bonds - Security loans or Government Loans
5. Buy in Stock Market
6. Invest in Real Estate ( Land, houses or buildings)
7. Become an Entrepreneur - Be your own boss!
8. Buy Foreign Currency
9. Invest in Pre-need plans (Educational, health etc.) in my opinion educational insurance is not a good thing to get anymore as many co. are closing down already
10. Invest in Jewelry, Antiques, Arts

Saturday, November 22, 2008

:Updates on my B-day Contest and a Twist!

Yay my birthday contest is almost about to end and you know what I am extremely happy that many have joined. Just in case you came here late, YOU CAN (anyone) still join bec. my contest will end on Nov. 30, 2008 8pm Phil. time.

To give you an update there are 70 bloggers who subscribed to my feed as of this writing but only 65 are qualified to join for there are 5 e-mails still not verified. VERIFY your e-mail so you are eligible so you will not loose your chance of winning.

I still have to count all your comments, posts etc. and I will just do that once the contest ends so I will not be too hard on me. This is gonna be exciting for sure.!! Christmas is coming and an added $$ in your pockets is a great way to have a good shopping hehe. Thank you for joining

NOTE: I will be giving my birthday contest a little twist. You will earn extra 3 points if you will subscribe via e-mail to my FAB & CHIC FINDS blog (you can see the form on the right hand side of that blog.) Again you need to VERIFY your email subscription.

This is a good way to increase your chance of winning. If you have done so just leave a msg and the email addy that you used here.
Thank you for joining!!

:Photohunters: Reflection

Taken on a gloomy morning near Harrington Park. It was a cold morning last Jan. in Sydney but still I decided to walk and took my camera to get some shots. Still not an ideal day to go brisk walking that day bec. storm just passed but wanted to go nature trippin' so off i go.
Join us at Photohunt.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

: Naughty Kid!?

Just wanted to share this little incident that I witnessed here at my net cafe. One afternoon a family (man, woman, a grandma and 2 lil' boys) rented an internet at my shop and asked to be assisted at YM bec. they will going to chat with someone.

Anyway, I noticed that the older kid (about 5 yrs. old) is playing with the glass door, opening and closing it and sometimes he'd go in and out of the shop. I asked the guardian to tell the boy not to do that. He stopped for a while and did something else, lay on the floor, teased his smaller brother that he made it cry and other stuff, the usual playful and bored kid. He is just unstoppable, I was worried bec. my other customers are already being distracted. I can also see the grandma is a bit ashamed and was talking to the kid with a soft voice.

What is so distracting is that I saw the lil boy got angry at his granny and even got his slippers and smack his grandma on her buttocks with matching angry voice. I was shocked, he did it again the 2nd time and that was the time, I told the boy it was bad and he should not do that to his grandma. Gosh, the grandma did not reacted but it seems she is tolerating this attitude of the boy.

What happened to the kids these days? If my niece or nephew will do that to my mom or to me, for sure they'll get a dose of their own medicine. How do you discipline a child like that? What could be the reason the child acted like that? I am guessing, that the child lacks attention or discipline from her guardians (btw the kid's mom is working overseas). Please share your insights about this please.

My New Camera Bag

Like I mentioned in my previous post, bought anew camera bag where I can put my camera, extra lens and other accessories in it. I am quite happy with that purchase eventhough its a bit pricey but knowing the durability of it bec. my other co-bebots has it, I know its worth the price. I have a small review and photos of the 6 million dollar crumpler bag on my shopping blog.

Just in case you want to purchase one, it's definitely a good buy. You just need to know what size you want to buy bec. there are many sizes and designs of Crumpler bags.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

:WW: Let There Be LOVE!



Let there be LOVE and make it SWEET ok!

Those hearts are actually made of Cotton Candies (as you can see it's kinda melting hehe) shaped into hearts by my teenage niece. They asked me to take photo of it bec. they are goin' to put it on their Friendster accounts and thought of sharing it here. Join us at Wordless Wednesday.


Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Lunchdate with my Bestfriend

Last Saturday, I was really scheduled to go shopping alone in Greenhills to buy something for myself. It was my yearly ritual to buy new blouse, shoes or any just about anything since it's my birthday anyway.

My bestfriend RACE texted me if I am going so she came along so I decided to treat her for lunch. There are many restos around the Greenhills area but we decided to eat at Las Paellas Cafe. I had a yummy baby back ribs while Race had the Porkchop Andaluz. We just shared a mango cake as dessert and a bottomless iced tea. It was a delicious lunch, took some photos and even asked the waiter to take a pic of us hahaha.

We strolled the Shoppesville and the Virra Mall stores and oh boy we are both drooling over those HP Compaq laptops. We are both eyeing HP brand and I guess Race will buy it this Dec. while me probably around early next year (keeping my fingers crossed on this hehe).

I also bought a blouse (that I wore on my b-day), a blouse, CDR/DVDRs, and oh boy bought my 6 Million Dollar Crumpler Camera bag too. Actually I wanted something else (a cheaper one ) but gosh when I saw that Crumpler bag, I never let it go! lol. So now I have a new cam bag (i will share the pics later). Oh well.... my bes and I had a great time shopping, it is seldom that we go out and I am happy that she went out with me last Satuday.

Monday, November 17, 2008

WS: My B-day Pictures


With my niece Reign
It was my 41st birthday yesterday and I spent it with my family. We had a very sumptuous lunch over here at my bro's place and oh boy we are all stuffed. I cooked some shrimps while my bro cooked grilled spare ribs and caldereta. I also have spaghetti, my blockbuster fruit salad (see recipe here), choco Red Ribbon cake. I thank the Lord for all these blessings.

4 Winners of my Special Raffle

As promised on my post on my b-day that I will be randomly choose 4 well wishers on my b-day yesterday and here are the
4 winners:

1. EDS
2. Suzanne
3. Amor>>>> her credits passed to Dhadah bec. Amor has no EC
4. Sunshine for Life


Congrats! You won 500 EC credits, please leave your EC profile URL so I can send you the credits.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

It's my b-day!!

(This is an auto post) Hooray... probably by the time you read this I am at the church or having b-day lunch with my family. Stories later....

I'm glad that you are here to celebrate it with me. As promised I will be having a special random raffle just for today for all my b-day wishers. I will be giving away 4 - 500EC credits for 4 bloggers, winner wil be announced Monday, 17th.

NOTE: My mini- bday contest is still open till Nov. 30 so if you haven't joined yet, pls. do so.

Friday, November 14, 2008

:Twitter/Bebots Christmas Exchange Gift

This is fun! My twittermates/co-digiscrappers are having a Christmas Exchange Gift just like last year and we already picked our "baby" via online bunitan (techy huh!). Anyway, I already know my baby's wish and I will be purchasing it already. We need to send our gifts before Dec. 5 bec. as you all know during the holidays there'll be delay in the shipping of the items. We started it early bec. also don't want to receive our gifts on Jan. 2009 or valentine's day haha.

I already have my Twitter/Bebots Christmas Exchange Gift Wish List that I posted on my other blog and I know my "mommy' already read it and I know she is so kind to buy my preferred gift. I actually have a hint now who is my mommy but I hope it is not right. Yay it's exciting to receieve something this December. Love you my Twitter/Bebot Mommy!

:I'm Excited

: A Little Self Pampering

I have scheduled to go to the salon yesterday afternoon but of boy it was tiring hot to go outside so I did not go. This morning, about 10 am I did not open my store and head to my fave salon just near our place. It's always nice to give myself some little pampering since it is also my birthday on Sunday.

I had my color dyed to dark brown (almost black) covering all the brownish color that I had before as well as my gray hairs. Aside from that I also had a hair spa which is relaxing, love the little massage on my body. I did not have my hair cut since I don't want it to be murdered again hehehe. I already cut my own hair last week using the thinning scissor that I bought at Watson's. That's it, just had a relaxing morning at the salon. No pics to share, coz there's really nothing major changes.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

: My New Lens Baby !!!

Ok i have been saving a lot these past few days bec. I really wanted to buy a new lens for my camera. Finally, yesterday I went to Quaipo trying to be careful bec. of the cash I am carrying and went to the camera shops to look for the lens that i wanted but not every store has it since it was just recently released by Canon.
It was at HENRY's in Hidalgo, Quiapo (where i also bought my camera) where I bought my Canon EFS 18-200mm IS (image stabilizer) lens /f 3.5-5.6. I am trying to haggle for the price but my charm didn't work haha, they said that price is like that which I agree. Anyway, I bought it since I really wanted the focal range of it and this is the b-day gift for myself.
O talagang siningit ko pa mukha ko haha.
I was really overwhelmed with how big the lens is, imagine I was just using my 50mm 1.8 lens then shifted with a bigger lens. Wow, it was a bit heavy coz I got small hands but I know I will get used to it in no time.

I tested this morning and Here are
Sample shots.

@18mm ---------------@55mm

@135mm -------------------@200mm

I love the focal range of this new lens of mine but still I love my nifty fifty 50mm more bec. of the 1.8 aperture of it. Oh well, i got a new baby again and gosh I got a hole in my pocket now. pweeeh..

:LP: Kinagisnan

Kinagisnan na natin ang pagdarasal kahit noong bata pa tayo at hanggang ngayon. Sabi nila iyan ang pinakaimportante at esensyal na dapat naging gawin sa atin buhay. Lagi tayong nag darasal para humingi ng gabay, tulong, hiling at dapat magdasal din din tayo upang magpasalamat. Sali na sa Litratong Pinoy.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

:Update on my B-day Contest

Hey all as you all know I am currently having a mini-birthday contest here on my blog that I started last Nov. 3. I am very happy that many have joined and continue joining. To update you all, as of this writing:
~ 48 subscribed to my feed via e-mail but only 44 are qualified bec. 4 didn't verified their e-mail address. So if you haven't verified your email pls. do so to qualify.
Continue blogging about my contest for it has 5 entries (pts.)/ blog. This is getting exciting so if you haven't joined yet, come and join the fun! For those who joined and subscribed to my feed via e-mail and RSS. Thank you very much and good luck to all!
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NOTE edited: to make it more exciting, pls. come back exactly on my birthday on Sunday Nov. 16th for I will be giving 2,000 EC credits (500 EC each on 4 bloggers that i will choose randomly via random.org). Isn't this fun? also be sure to guess my exact bday/year and guess how old I am. I'm excited hehe. EC Credits will be sent Mon. or Tues.

:A Death of a Friend

It was around 11 pm last night when I texted a belated b-day greetings to my long lost friend way back in college, Ruth who is now a doctor at Martinez Hospital. Fortunately she didn't change her number all those years so I was happy when she replied. She thought that I was in Australia for good so she was also surprised to received a text msg. from me.

She also asked me if I knew the death of our dear friend Lucy in April. They tried to reach me but like I said I was out of the country. I was so shocked and in disbelief when I saw it on text so I immediately called her to know the real story. It turned out that she died from an imparction (heart attack) and could not be revived anymore.

What makes me sad is that I was in Australia when that happened and I wasn't able to see her for the last time. It is giving me goosebumps everytime I think of it. What makes me more sad is that it's been many years that we have not seen each other and now I learned that she is gone already. I offered a small prayer and lighted a candle this morning in our grotto.
"To my dear friend Lucy, sorry for I have not visited you. I am offering you these candles and may you rest in peace and be with the Lord"

:RT: Red Fluffy Door



This is perfect for the theme. The long fluffy red closet door of my nephew Braiden. You can even put some felty numbers or letters on the door.

Monday, November 10, 2008

: Sunday Shopping and my New Eyeglasses

If you could remember my old post about how I hate my eyeglass before, finally I got a new one yesterday. Went at SM near our house after lunch but I really didn't plan of buying or have my eyes checked up that day . Went inside the Ideal Vision in and there are 50% off on all branded quality frames like Giordano, Tommy Hilfiger and more but the frames from Winchester brand suited my small face so I end up buying that. It was a good deal since I got it at half price, (fr. P3,600 to 1,800) and I only added P1,000 for the glass and the consultation is just for FREE since I ordered from them. The eye doctor that examined me was also very nice and listened to all my eye concerns.

All I wanted was an eyeglass that I can only use in front of my pc and just for reading so she had mine customized for that. Right now, I am using it already and I have no complaints so far and it is far more affordable than my old progressive glass that I had last year. I showed it to my niece and I was laughing bec. she said that I looked like a doctor. hahaha.

I also bought some new Christmas decors for our Christmas tree bec. it's been decades now since I bought a new one. I will show pics later.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

:A Scammer or What?

It was a sleepy yesterday afternoon when a woman in her 50's or 60's and her woman companion entered my net cafe. I was alone at that time and of course doing something in front of my pc.

Jen: Ano po yon?" (Can I help you?)
Woman: Ammmm.. Are the old folks (man & woman) still there?
Jen: Huh? What old folks? Who are you looking for? (I was trying to let them say the name)
Woman: Don't get mad ok? I was just looking for my relative who lives here and I can't remember their names. What are their names?
Jen: I"f you are talking about my grandma and grandpa ,,.. ohhhh they are long gone." (I stated the name of my granny)
Woman: Oh yeah that's it Ka ____, (she said the name that I said). What is the surname again?
Jen: (I was already suspicious of them bec. if they are my distant relatives, then they should have known the names or even the surnames but answered back: "Oh (i said the surname) po"
Woman: "Hmmm that's it bec. we are so and so"
(mentioning their surnames and my grandma's surname to make it appear that we are really relatives.. "If they alreay dead, can I talk to their sons/daughters?"
Jen: Ohhh they are not here actually, I said
Woman: (Being persistent) "Can I just at least talk to anyone? Are you related to the old folks?
Jen: Yes, why po?
Woman: A relative of ours died eh.
Jen: Oh can I have his name? Can you write it down so I can tell my mom & aunt about it.?
Woman: Getting somewhat irritated "Oh he is goin to be buried tomorrow eh"
Jen: Oh, I see, but at least I can tell them the name and the place where he is buried.

The woman, seemed restless and really insist to talking to my mom (who is not really here that time) or my aunt, whom I don't want to call in their house bec. I know this is going to be another modus operandi where they will insist that they are your realtives and in turn they will ask for money.

Like I said if they truly are our relatives they will not ask for the name and even the surname of my old folks.. right? And they would really give the name of the dead and their place. In this case they didn't, so I presumed they will just trick us like what happened to my aunt long time ago. Gosh these days, there are so many people who'd fool someone just to have money.

Anyway, the 2 woman left with sad look on their faces, or should I say "nanghihinayang" that they wasn't able to get through me. I am just being cautious and careful, but if they are truly are saying the truth then I am sorry. I told this to my mom and others and they said it looks a bogus one.

Gosh.... anyway happy weekend eveyrone, I'm off now to have lunch then later on I'll go to the mall


Saturday, November 8, 2008

How To Use Yahoo Mail Stationery

Just had fun choosing cute stationery from Yahoo lately. It's another way to jazz up our e-mailing pages. It's actually very easy to use:

1. Make a new message, click the the Stationery tab on the right hand side (see image below) then.
2. Click the dropdown menu to choose what themes like Animals, Flower, Nature, Sports, etc. that you want, then just click the samples on the right side and now you have your own Yahoo Stationery.
3. If you don't fancy stationery with images you can choose solid colors
4. And if you really hate using theme just click NONE below the Stationery tab

Here are some samples and hope you learn How to use Yahoo Stationery . Aren't they cute? Click images to view bigger
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NOTE: If you are using G-Mail you can also use their G-MAIL THEMES/Stationery see How to Activate your G-Mail Themes

:Toy Hunt:: Toy/s with Legs


I was looking for an entry yesterday fro today's theme and thought of this cute doll of my niece Reign given to her by her godmother when she was just 1 year. Of course she could not play with it then so her mom carefully stored it that is why it still looks new and not dirty. She is already 5 years old so she can play with it already.

It's huggable and take at look at those long legs.. aren't you envy? hahaha. Join us at Toy Hunt every Sat.