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Archive for March, 2009

My cousin Dimples gave birth to a beautiful girl this month. Her baby’s name is Lhian Ysabel. I saw her when we went to Baguio last weekend to witness the silver wedding anniversary of tita Anchong and tito Gani. Lhian is so cute and adorable, and I think she resembles her father Ivan. I’m not sure if they’re planning to have a baby shower soon since Dimples didn’t mention anything about baby shower table decorations or anything about a party for that matter. If it won’t happen, then for sure I’ll look forward to her first birthday.

Last week was another awesome out-of-the country trip to Singapore and Malaysia with some good friends. We met our ex-HP officemates (Karon, Ben, Mike, Jyue and Malvin) who are now working there. For a full story, you can read Mich’s or Alvin’s blog entries.

We stayed at FernLoft City Hostel in Chinatown. It’s entirely not as gorgeous as the Anaheim California hotel, , but we booked it because first, it’s a lot cheaper; second, we only intend to stay in the hotel to sleep, nothing more and third, its location is very accessible and strategically near one MRT station. The catch? You have to maintain your silence and your night owl vision if you share your room with other people you don’t know. The good thing though is that the hotel breakfast includes unlimited toast with a choice of your spread – peanut butter, margarine, blueberry jam, etc.

I didn’t bring a camera since I know all my friends are bringing their own and I just like to pose. Mike and Karon brought their DSLRs. Alvin, Mich, Pat, Daisie (not sure) & Elvin brought their Canon digicams. I’m a big fan of Sony but seeing all my friends using Canon, it seems that I am lured into buying Canon instead.

In Singapore, we were able to go to Vivo Mall, Sentosa, Clark Quay (where Alvin and Mike tried the G-Max reverse bungee), Singapore Zoo, and Fountain of Wealth. We got to visit Karon’s nice condo as well. On the last day Alvin and I wanted to shop for ‘pasalubong’ for our family but unfortunately, Chinatown is already closed at 11 PM and we were an hour late. So I just asked a favor from Becca to buy some chocolates in Mustafa.

We were able to squeeze in a side trip to Malaysia but we only got to visit Petronas Twin Towers. We then spent the rest of our time in the Suria KLCC Mall. Daisie, Ben, ate Karen and I thought of sleeping at a SPA, massage parlor, a movie theater or even in a cheap motel just to take a few hours of rest. Ben, Karen and I ended up in a Reflexology Center in the KLCC Mall and were able to steal a nap during the ~1.5 hours of a relaxing massage.

Overall, the trip was fun and exciting and I’ll surely miss my travel buddies.

While going over my cookbook, I saw a recipe that included yogurt as one of its ingredients, so I added this in my list of grocery items last weekend because the picture in the cookbook seemed yummy.

Here are the recipes containing Yogurt:

• Yogurt Dip of Cheese & Mushroom Quesadilla
• Fruit Smoothies
• Grilled Seafood and Chicken in Yogurt-Lemongrass Sauce
• Banana Cake

I often purchase yogurt (my favorite is banana flavor) because of its health benefits. I searched around the web and found out some interesting facts:

Yogurt 101

• You can spell it as yoghurt, yogurt, yoghourt, youghurt or yogourt.
• This is derived from a Turkish words that means ‘to knead’ and ‘dense/thick’
• Yogurt is a fermented milk product, which explains the sour taste

Yogurt is a perfect dessert alternative especially for those who are health conscious. It doesn’t guarantee any impact on weight as compared to diet pills that work, but it does provide some benefits.

Benefits of Yogurt (Source: Wikepedia, webmd.com, health.learninginfo.org)

• Contains good bacteria that are necessary for the body to function at its best. Healthy levels of good bacteria also promote digestive health and boost the immune system
• Those who are moderately lactose-intolerant can enjoy this milk by-product without ill effects
• Yogurt has medical uses for a variety of gastrointestinal conditions, and in preventing antibiotic-associated diarrhea
• Yogurt is believed to promote good gum health
• Yogurt may help prevent osteoporosis
• May reduce the risk of high blood pressures
• Yogurt is also a good source of calcium and protein

I suggest the next time you buy some groceries, include this healthy dessert in your list.

Ever since I was young, I always loved to travel. Whenever I get the chance, I go to a new place to have a fun and exciting adventure. I just came from a trip to Singapore and I don’t have any plans to make that my last 

As of today, here’s my travel wish list:

El Nido and Amanpulo
I plan to have vacation here after my wedding because I don’t want to be dark-skinned on that special day. My friends highly recommend these two beaches because of the wonderful sceneries, clear water, white sand, and great foods.

Though I hate direct sunlight because it burns me, I love going to beaches since it allows me to relax and unwind, and if I can, I would even pay for a property near it, similar to those endorsed by the Wilmington NC real estate company.

Paris and Italy
I’ve never been out of Asia, so one of my goals is to visit a European country. I’m a fan of Italian foods so having the chance to dine on a 100% authentic Italian restaurant is a dream come true. I love to visit beautiful places that would make me say Wow!

Las Vegas and New York
I like to witness the city life in the U.S. I’ve never set foot on an American soil, so I guess to be in Vegas or New York is an exciting way to start.

I’m starting to save for my next quest. So if there’s a good-hearted generous specie out there would be too kind to donate for my travel expenses, I will definitely appreciate it.

Summer is just around the corner and a lot of businesses are taking advantage of this season to grow their revenues. They engage in promos or gimmicks that will increase their customers and boost their sale. The latest I’ve seen is that of Shopwise.

Tagged as Shopwise Summer Sarap, the promo runs from March 13-April 12. The top prizes include a Brand New Kia Carnival, Trip for two to Hong Kong and LG Home Theatre. The promo is actually different from the traditional ones. The winners will not be drawn. Rather, those who are drawn are contestants for the ‘pabitin’ game. This means that you have to be lucky twice to take home the grand prize.

I got few entries for this promo and I’m keeping my fingers crossed hoping that I’ll win, though I’ve never won in any major promos before.

Creating your own websites is relatively simple nowadays. A lot of what-you-see-is-what-you-get web design software are out there that will help you create your website quickly. Gone are the days when you spend hours or even days working on the design. Today, it’s wiser to spend those hours to generate your content.

Most of the themes and templates for WordPress, Joomla and other platforms that are available on the internet were created by these web design applications. So far, the best application that I’ve ever used is Artisteer. In as little as one minute, I can come up with a very nice design for a website.

Artisteer allows you can generate random designs. After which, you can modify the details such as headers, footers, body, menu and a lot more. Given this flexibility, you can generate thousands of unique themes that you can sell or give away.

The latest version allows you to export your design into a WordPress theme, a Joomla template or a Drupal Theme. You can also export it into a traditional website design.

Here are some of the designs that I made with Artisteer. All of them are created with just one click! :)

We recently watched ‘He’s not that into you’ in Eastwood’s latest movie house – the Eastwood Ultra 7. Here are some of my thoughts about the film and the new cinema.

The Movie
The film was good. Different types of relationships and experiences were depicted. The two of them are quite noticeable.

Starting off as married couple, college sweethearts Ben and Janine seems to display a good relationship. Everything was ruined when Ben engaged in an affair. He then admits to his wife after arguing about the wood flooring for their new house. Janine tried to forgive him, but totally decided to have a divorce after discovering that Ben was lying about his smoking habits. In the end, they separated.

On the other hand, Neil and Beth are also having a perfect relationship, except that Beth wanted them to get married, while Neil doesn’t believe in marriage at all. They separated, but got back together after Beth realized that Neil is still the perfect man for her, setting up the scene for the best part of the film – Neil proposed to Beth.

All in all, I rate it at 7/10 in IMDB.

The Movie House

Generally speaking, the experience was great. The cinema offers recliners for the complete relaxation of the moviegoers. Drinks and unlimited popcorn are inclusive in the ticket fee. The only downside is the price. At P350 per person, this is already equivalent to a normal cinema ticket and a great deal of food. That being said, I think that you can get your money’s worth if you watch a high-quality film that perhaps run for at least two hours. Otherwise, I suggest going to your normal movie house.

Nicollete Sheridan a.k.a Edie Britt is leaving Wisteria Lane. I learned about this a few weeks ago but haven’t felt the impact until I watched the episodes 15 and 16. Nicollete’s character really adds spice to the whole story. Her house is my favourite among all others in Wisteria Lane. It didn’t need any fence installation because it’s attractive as it is.

Edie will be remembered as the hot and sexy blonde housewife. She’s not yet gone as of episode 16. But for sure, Edie Britt will be missed.

Trivia: Sheridan originally auditioned for the role of Bree Van de Kamp.

To have good health, diet and exercise are the two major factors to consider. Sadly, some are completely ignoring the importance of physical exercise. A common misconception is to directly associate physical exercise to gym work out. While it’s true that the gym can provide complete machinery that will support your exercise needs, it’s not the only solution. For some people, the gym idea is totally inconsiderable because of the lack of time and budget. The good news is that there are some alternatives for those who aren’t gym fanatics.

Set-up a home gym
This is perfect for those who get tangled between their personal life and a demanding work environment. You can start of by purchasing weights and dumbbells, then later upgrade to treadmills and other equipments. The idea is to have a 30-min to an hour workout at least every other day before hitting the showers in the before work.

Walk, walk and walk
Walking is an exercise. This is no secret. It’s one of the best ways to stay in shape because it actually flexes your muscles and strengthen your cardiovascular system. Whenever you get the chance to do so, like completing some errands or having a short travel from one building to another, it’s highly recommended to walk.

Quick but significant exercise
A 15-30 min exercise performed regularly is very helpful. There are a lot of quick exercise programs that actually targets the whole body. These are designed by fitness enthusiasts.

Last December, I had a chat with my uncle Dan.  He is a CISCO certified network specialist in Australia.  I’m trying to find out if he could probably help me land a job there.  He started to discuss topics from servers, KVM switch, LAN, VOIP and a lot more – all of which are completely out of my interest.  As it turned out, he said that he can’t easily support me because his field is on networks.  He said that it would be easier for me to look for a job there if I establish a specialization in a certain area.   Maybe now is not yet the time.