my Christmas Wishlist

Should the 2012 Mayan Calendar Doomsday (December 21, 2012) be wrong; these are the stuff that I wish kind-hearted Santa would give me for Christmas:

I would love to think that I am a pretty decent cook, after all, the stuff I cook that I share with my staff are always a hit, either they do taste good or 20% of our company's population have dysfunctional tastebuds. Lately, as inspired by yellowcab's twice baked potato halves, I have been baking...well potato halves. But I have plans to bake a pie sometime soon too. But the thought of pre-heating the oven scares the chef-wannabe in me. The few times I used our oven, I had to ask my mom to pre-heat it. My cousin asked me to bake some potatoes for her and asked me to do it in their kitchen. Instead of using their conventional oven, I got to use a simpler electric one with the same results. So this one will probably make me want to spend more kitchen-time. And yes it might be true that I get inspired to cook when I am inlove,this time around, it would be really nice if I really am love -struck, but truth is, I am just carb-struck!

I read somewhere that if a Virgo does not find time to lose weight, weight will find them.. and I concur. That is why I am always trying to be active in sports and to eat healthy, at least include fruits in my diet. But I really can not finish a whole apple, or chew on a cucumber. If I have a juicer, I could just swallow it and try to keep it down by pinching my nose. you know these healthy stuff are not always a tasty treat. 

Bath and Body works' white citrus and Nenuco colognes. I used to be a fan of heavy perfumes, but lately, these sweet-smelling stuff has caught my fancy. 

My penmanship used to be very very very bad. But since it has dramatically improved and I now write more legibly, I have come to be a bit particular about my writing instruments. Back in college, I used to collect pens and I have come to love pens by Pilot and Zebra. Working with schedules and plottings, I find these 4 in 1 pens with fine points (.5) heaven sent. 

Call me a wimpy kid, but in this electronic age of tablets and iPADs , I still do keep a traditional diary. The Starbucks diary has always been very appealing, but the kuripot side of me wins over my desire to get that diary. 1st I am not a die-hard coffee fan. Sure they may be times I crave for caffeine, but a 3-in-1 coffee mix can fix that craving.And 2nd, I do not have plenty of time to drop by Starbucks. Back when I was in Macau, I always dropped by a shop in Taipa near Wa Bao that sells school and office supplies. I brought home a couple of these dainty planners that I bought from that shop. It's been 5 years, I have used all of them. 

Keeping my fingers crossed that I am on Santa's "nice" list!

FOODIE FRIDAY : My (not so) Happy Bundle

Eversince I have started reporting for night shift duty, this little drawer that holds numerous flyers for food delivery has been a good friend of mine. See this promo from McDelivery 

I am a huge Mcdo Fan... I have mentioned this before here . Some time last August, I also tweeted this :

So last November 8, me and my staff decided to dial 8-Mcdo and ordered for a happy bundle. Service was really fast and efficient, our order arrived 25 minutes after the 8-Mcdo girl asked me to synchronize our timepieces. Too bad I didn't know back then that I could send a photo of us enjoying our happy bundle and we could get a chance to win J Lo concert tickets! This in mind, 7 days later, with money to spare as it is payday, and with the same group of people, we decided to again order a happy bundle. This decision was made after we had our early dinner . I will always make room in my tummy for McDo, moreso if it means getting a chance to see Jenny from the block perform live!

We placed our order at 7:45pm. But our food arrived at 9:20pm! 

8:50pm  - I dialed 8-Mcdo to follow up on our order. From the lady I spoke with, I learned that, they received our order at 7:45pm and that it was dispatched at 8:05pm. I asked the lady what time is it on their system and she replied 8:50pm. An hour has elapsed since the time our order was acknowledged but we have yet to receive our food. The lady said our food will be coming from their branch in Airport Road, a 15 minute jeepney ride from where I work. The lady gave me the branch's contact details and advised me to directly forward my inquiry to that store.

As soon as our conversation ended, I dialed the number she gave me and a girl took my call. I explained that I called to inquire about our delivery that was dispatched from their store. I was asked to stay on the line. I waited for a few seconds and another girl talked to me and all she said was that our order has been dispatched and that it is on the way. I asked if they have a way of getting in touch with their delivery guy so as to know what happened. The girl said "walang pong cellphone yung rider" (really?).I asked if their time is synchronized with their 8-Mcdo system and before she answered, I was again placed on hold. This time it was a guy who spoke to me. I was getting upset by the minute, I was only asking if their time is the same as that of their delivery center and now I have another person to talk to again. Upon hearing a different voice from the other end of the line, my first reaction was " Wait you're a different person, need I tell you too the reason why I called?" This guy now told me that they are trying to locate their rider and told me that he will call me back in 10 minutes to update me. And he just kept saying pasensya na po for the delay. 

9:02pm - I received a call from Eric. Telling me that their rider returned to their store, with our food. He allegedly sent a message to the mobile number we gave asking for our location. Huh? At first I was told that the rider does not have a cellphone, now he texted us? Oh and right, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport is a very difficult place to find, especially for McDonald's Airport Road Branch!!!

I told Eric that I wanted to speak to their rider so I can give him instructions. It turned out that delivery guy was not familiar with the place because he was just a reliever. And meron siyang cellphone, I guess the fact that he is just a reliever, the people from that branch just  didn't know his number. Eric said I should expect my food in 20 mins. He also assured me that the food has been replaced. For all its worth, he was apologetic. I also asked for the branch manager's contact details. I know I was starting to sound AMALAYER-ish over the phone.

9:20pm - Our food arrived. But we were too pissed to take a photo for the J Lo tickets promo. We didn't order for an apple pie, but 1 was given to us. Nice touch, not really an apple pie fan but it was a thoughtful gesture. But wait! A hotfudge sundae is missing!!! I checked the receipt :

Yup we were charged for the sundae. I have decided to just let it pass, it has been a long day, I don't want to stress myself any further. It was a happy bundle gone sooo wrong!I have to admit that I was tempted to storm to their branch and do my own AMALAYER rant. Good thing I was not yet done with some paper works that I wanted finished before I go on day off.

After 5 minutes, Eric called, he was asking if we received his goodwill apple pie. I said yes and thanked him. I also informed him that a hotfudge sundae was missing. So he said he will again send his rider to deliver the sundae. 

I have had my fastfood chain days. Spent more than a year working for KFC so I know things like these happen. Delivery guys lose their way, incomplete orders being dispatched...but both things happening to the same customer? Am I that jinxed? 

US Visa Application - Part 5 : The interview

This is it! The dreaded interview day. I have heard a lot of stories of applicants being denied of a US visa. There really is no guarantee,this is the day that will determine whether I am eligible for a US visa or not.

What to wear?

Wear something comfortable yet presentable. Some people might tell you to wear your nicest clothes, and your finest jewelry... I don't deem it necessary. No need to wear your sexy stiletto, keep your Jimmy Choo's at home. First because you will be standing in line for quite some time before you get to enter the embassy and second, if you plan to impress the interviewer with your shoes, don't bother, they will not see it. I wore a plaid top, khaki slacks and silver glittery ballet flats that I got for 175 pesos at a department store's kid's shoes section. I also brought with me a pink cardigan.

What to bring?

I had with me my visa confirmation letter, my passport (current one and my previously cancelled one), 2x2 pictures (just in case they find the photo electronically attached to my application not acceptable), other documents that I prepared (please refer to my previous post),my company ID, Sophie Kinsella's Can You Keep a Secret, a black ballpen ( you will need this to fill up a form once you enter the embassy). Consider bringing an umbrella too, you will spend  quite a long time outside the embassy while waiting to be allowed to go in. That is why I think it is best to get the earliest schedule, at least the sun is still a wee bit friendly. (My skincare expert told me sun exposure before 8am is still ok, but of course sunblock is still necessary).

What not to bring:

A lot! While waiting in line, a few enterprising folks will approach you holding a list of the things that you cannot bring inside the embassy. I was warned not to bring my mobile phone and any other gadgets (tablet, camera or any recording device) . A small bag is preferred. But the list that they show you outside is more restricting. A few of the things that I remember are:

• Lighters
• Food
• Memory card
• Usb
• Perfume

I made the mistake of bringing with me my office bag, which contains pretty much everything I may need to survive being away from home for at most 2 days. I had with me a bottle of perfume. These people walking around with this list will offer to safekeep the "prohibited" items that you have with you. They handed me a plastic bag, told me to put my perfume and a pack of crackers inside and gave me a number. Works pretty much like a supermarket baggage counter, only they are mobile and you have to go looking for them , somewhere by the foot of the overpass where there are little stalls selling food items (roughly 200 meters away from the embassy's gate). Don't bother asking how much they will charge for safekeeping your items, they do not have a fixed charge and will just tell you to give them any amount. To be saved from the hassle of trusting strangers with your personal belongings,  just don't bring the above mentioned items. No chewing gums too.

My mom was the one driving and we parked a couple of blocks away from the embassy. The embassy is located along Roxas Boulevard and there is no guarded parking spaces available. We walked to the embassy and joined the end of the line for non-immigrant visa applicants at around 6:20am. Behind us, lines for the 7:30 appointment was already being organized by some security staff.

The line started moving a little before 7:00am. Before we reached the gate, we were asked to fold our confirmation letter crosswise and to slip it inside the passport. Upon reaching the gate, a barcoded sticker was placed at the back cover of my passport and a pink slip was given to me. I was told to get just one number for me and my mom.

Once inside the gate, I again presented my passport together with my mom's passport and we were given a number. We proceeded to a covered waiting area where we filled up the pink slip with our personal details. While in the waiting area, an electronic board displays the numbers that are currently being processed.

Applicants are ushered inside the building by 10's. My cousins's family was number 2122 and me and my mom was number 2123. We stood while waiting for our number to flash on the monitor. Once I saw our number, me and my mom proceeded to our designated counter.We gave our passports and our confirmation letters as well as the pink slip. Basic questions regarding our personal details were asked, birthdate, stuff like that. The guy at the counter took the pink slip and returned our passports and confirmation letters.

We again waited for our number to be called.This time, my cousin's number and my number consecutively flashed and me and my mom was processed after my cousin's family at the same counter. We were entertained by a very pleasant filipina with an amazing american accent. She was very friendly and she made me less nervous.  This was where our fingerprints were scanned.  After this was the final step, the interview with the consular officer.

I tried to read the Kinsella book I brought with me, my mom took out her crossword puzzle booklet, but somehow, I couldn't focus on reading because I kept glancing at the electronic monitor and can't help but listen to the other applicants while they were being interviewed. I found the interview with the merchant seamen, entertaining, the consular officer handling their interview was a pretty funny guy who cracks a joke once in awhile.

As soon as my cousin's number was flashed on the monitor, I placed my book inside my bag and prepared my documents. I was a bit worried when the monitor skipped a few numbers and flashed number 2130! Have they forgotten about us? Was there a pre-screening and are we being interviewed at a later time? Mini-panic attack!Good thing there was another applicant who asked a roving embassy personnel and it was explained that numbers are randomly flashed.

Not too long after my cousin's number was flashed, I saw my number and we proceeded to be interviewed by a different consular officer. As I approached her counter, I smiled and said good morning. She asked the following questions:

Consular Officer: How are you related?

Me: She's my mom.

C.O. : Oh you look like sisters.

Me: You just made my mom very happy.

C.O. : What will you do in the states?

Me : vacation and visit relatives.

C.O. : Who will you visit?

Me : My cousin.

C.O. : What do you do?

Me : I work in the airport.

C.O. : As what?

Me : As a duty manager for passenger services.

C.O. : For how long?

Me : I'm on my 12th year.

C.O. : How much do you get per month?

Me : blah blah pesos

(To my mom) C.O. : How will you pay for your ticket?

Mom : I am entitled to discounted airline tickets as a dependent of my brother.

(To me) C.O. : How long do you plan to stay in the states?

Me : Around 3 weeks.

C.O. : What are the countries that you have visited?

Me : Japan, Thailand,Macau.

At this point, the consular officer took a green sheet of paper, and while scribbling something, she was telling my mom that her application is subject for further review. She assured my mom that there is no need to worry, that this happens quite often. She handed the green paper to my mom.As for me, she said that she thinks everything is okay and that I should expect to receive my passport via courier within a week.

After the interview, we left the embassy and went to find the roving baggage counter. I gave her 50 pesos and she returned my perfume... But not my crackers.

I was interviewed on a Tuesday, the courier delivered my passport Friday morning. I was granted a 10 year multiple entry visa. My mom's passport was delivered after 10 days.  She too was given a 10 year visa.

There really is no guarantee that you will be granted a visa. Don't believe those who offers to assist you with your application for a fee and assures you of a visa. There are no shortcuts, you can't pay someone to go through the application process for you. The embassy's website contains all the information that you may need in applying for a visa.  There is a tagalog version too. You really have to honestly fill up the application, present yourself to the embassy for an interview and answer the consular officer's questions consistent with the information you have provided in the online application.

US Visa Application - Part 4 : Prepare for the interview

After the interview appointment has been set, you will need to print your confirmation letter as this will be the one that you will need to present. Stated on this letter are the documents that you need to bring with you to the embassy on the day of the interview. I was just asked to bring my passport. But it also stated that I can bring other documents that may be required to support my case. For this I have prepared my payslips, an employment certificate, bank statements and proof of ownership of real property. I went as far as memorizing my cousin's (the person I stated in my application that I plan to visit) home address and where she works. I also asked my cousin where she plans to take me (popular tourist spots) should I be granted a visa, although honestly, a trip to Victoria's Secret for lingerie shopping and to Bath and Body for body splash overload will be exciting enough for me... And of course, outlet store, outlet store, outlet store! It would be nice to be able to watch an NBA game too.

I tried to be as organized as I could possibly be with my documents. My mom, who clearly has more organizational skills than me, had her documents in a clearbook. I was told to only present documents when the interviewer asks for it,  so the last thing you would want is to fumble while looking for your documents. They say an interview would last for only 3 minutes, I don't think the interviewer would patiently wait without getting pissed if you take your time in finding the document that she needs to see.

The night before the interview, I called up some friends who have gone through the experience of applying for a visa too. They just told me to relax and to be early for my appointment.  After preparing the folder containing all my documents, I also prepared the clothes that I will be wearing.

Washed my face, brushed my teeth, whispered a prayer, set my alarm to go off at 4:30am, checked my fb and twitter one last time and tried to sleep.

US Visa Application - Part 3 : this little pig went to the bank

After the online application form has been properly completed, the next step is to pay for the US visa application fee. I got this table from the us embassy website :

160 US dollars for a non-immigrant visit visa. Whether your application for a visa gets approved or not, you really have to shell out this amount. Once you have decided that you are ready to part with your hard earned cash,  Go to this site : http://ustraveldocs.com/ph/ph-niv-paymentinfo.asp

and choose whatever payment option will be convenient for you. I decided to pay cash at the bank. 

After clicking on the option, you will be directed to a page that you need to print. 

Should you be applying with your family, please print a separate slip for each member, 1 payment slip = 1 applicant. Present this to the bank. 4 hours after your payment has been processed, you can now arrange an appointment for the interview.

Go this this site : https://cgifederal.secure.force.com/

and create an account.

After being able to successfully create an account. you will see this page:

Now we are ready to find a suitable date for our interview.

choose the visa type that you intend to apply for:

You will be directed to a page where you will be asked for your personal data. Please note too that you will be asked to input your DS-160 confirmation number so you must keep that handy. This part will also ask for your mailing address. approved visas are mailed so make sure to correctly input your mailing address.

TIP: Choose the earliest interview time! Tell you why on my next post!

US Visa Application - Part 2: Honesty is the Best Policy

The first step to getting a non-immigrant US visa is to go to this website:

https://ceac.state.gov/CEAC/

click on the 1st option and you will be directed to this page:

Scroll down and select the location where you are and click START AN APPLICATION. You will then see this:

Take note of your application ID , print it if you can. I personally just wrote it down. Scroll down to choose a security question you want to answer and click CONTINUE.

will then be directed to this page:

It took me roughly 40 minutes to completely answer this all the way to the security background questions. As you can see, details about your passport, travel and US contact will be asked. I had the following ready:

• my passport
• my SSS ID card 
• the name, address and contact details of the person I will be visiting
• if somebody else will pay for your travel expenses, the name, address and contact details of the one sponsoring your trip should also be ready.
• information about my work

TAKE A TIP:

• Read carefully and answer each questions as honestly and accurately as possible.
• I found the right sidebar helpful too.
• Don't leave any questions unanswered and tick the DOES NOT APPLY button if the question is not applicable.
• You can leave an item blank if you see *OPTIONAL 

If at any part you failed to complete a needed data, you will not be allowed to proceed to the next page and will be alerted.

A box with letters written in red will show you which items you failed to answer, a corresponding red arrow will point to the items that needs to be answered. 

The security and background part is answerable by yes or no.  Read everything carefully. After completing all the security questions, you will be asked to upload a photo.

My cousin Ken was kind enough to take my photo and upload it. Please make sure that the photo you will upload satisfies the photo requirements. Click here to see the requirements set for visa photo. Please note too that should your visa be approved, the photo that you uploaded will be the one that will be attached to your visa. My cousin Ken took a couple of shots before we were able to find a suitable one to upload. 

While I was having my photo taken, Ken reminded me to:

• Remove my eyeglasses 
• Not to tilt my head 
• not to show my teeth when I smile

After the photo was uploaded and has been approved, the next step will be to review all the information that you have provided.

Should there be an item that you feel needs to be corrected, click on the edit portion and you will be able to make the necessary changes.

After making sure that all given information are correct; you will be asked to confirm the location where you will submit your application:

After which you will be asked to electronically sign your application and submit it.

There! A bit time consuming, a few clicks here and there but not really very difficult.  Next post will be paying for the application fee and getting scheduled for an interview.

US visa Application - Part 1: tell you a secret!

I was granted a 10-year multiple entry B1/ B2 visa which I received just yesterday. And as a sign of my gratitude, I will help the American embassy with "walang sikreto" its public service campaign against visa scams. I was at the embassy last October 16 for my interview and I saw this tarpaulin in the waiting area:

to know more about the embassy's scam-busting campaign click here

The secret? There is no secret! I went through the process unaided and only paid for the 6720.00 pesos (equivalent to 160.00 dollars) application fee through the bank. You really don't need to pay for assistance in obtaining a US visa. I hope this campaign can help put a stop to US visa application scams.

Want to apply for a US visa? Follow my next posts and I will try to be as detailed as possible and hopefully be of help. 

FOODIE FRIDAY - cafeteria foodtrip

I had grand fitness related plans for Friday. I was supposed to wake up early to jog and then proceed to the badminton court for at least an hour of shuttlecock-smashing-calorie-burning activity with my cousin Ken. But Ken's dad ( whom I fondly call my fake father), was rushed to the hospital Thursday night and had to spend the night there. Needless to say, Ken can not join me with my fight-the-bulge plan so I just went with him to the hospital.

I was not able to take a decent breakfast and was already hungry. Ken munched on a piece of oily bread he purchased at ministop while we were on the bus and had with him a pack of roast beef flavored potato chips. We arrived at DLSUMC a little before 10am, Ken's mom was waiting for us. My fake father seem well, and really did not look like he needed any assistance. He was ready to drive himself home but has yet to obtain a clearance from his doctor. Before Ken's mom left, she told us to have our lunch at the hospital's cafeteria. We nodded but in my mind I was already placing my order for twice baked potato halves at the pizza place just across the hospital building. An hour later, 2 of my fake father's siblings arrived. Ken and I decided to check out the hospital's cafeteria. Ken's mom was right, there really was a lot going on in the cafeteria. Aside from the usual rice and ulam stalls, there was a hotdog stand, a fruit shake stand and also a nook that sells RTW's. I decided to eat an early lunch, fish fillet and tortang talong cooked on banana leaf while Ken who had rice for breakfast just ordered lugaw with egg. All these for just 125 pesos, I find that reasonable. While waiting in line to check out our food, I asked Ken to grab a bottle of lemon iced tea from the chiller, he said we should try the fruitshake.

I had this feeling that it was one of those fruitshake stands that uses fruit-flavored powder mixes. It was a pleasant surprise to learn that they use fresh fruits. Being starved, I ate while Ken was still waiting for his mango-strawberry shake. The fish fillet was nothing fancy, it was so crunchy I thought I was eating fish crackers,the tortang talong was too oily. And I think their food warmers are not working since everything I ate, including the rice was as cold as a healthy puppy's nose. When Ken returned to our table, it was my turn to get my shake. Avocado is my favorite, but it is out of season so I was not surprised to see "not available" across the photo of the avocado on the fruitshake stand's signage. I spent quite a while looking up at the pictures of possible shake combinations when something on the menu piqued my curiosity.

Cheese? Fruitshakes with cheese?  Seriously? This I got to try. I ordered for a mango-peach-cheese shake. The lady preparing my shake grabbed a pack of presumably mango and peach slices and tossed it in the blender, then she took a thick slice of cheddar cheese and tossed it in too. She added a cup of crushed ice, evaporated milk and sugar syrup and turned the blender on. I paid 50 pesos for my shake ( 20oz with fresh fruits... Very reasonable...) and told Ken that my shake has cheese. He took a sip and liked it too. 

I found my shake to be a bit sweet, the mango dominated the peach. But i love the way the cheese made my shake creamier. The cold cafeteria food may have disappointed me but this fruitshake managed to put a smile on my chubby face. 

After 2 hours, we went back to the cafeteria for merienda. We both ordered a hotdog sandwich.  30 Pesos for a king size tender juicy hotdog... not bad . The best part was we get to put our chosen condiments. Lucky for me since I am not really fond of mustard. They have thinly sliced cabbage and carrots available too. This time Ken ordered a mango-cheese shake, i opted for bottled water. We went back to my fake father's room and watched The Grudge. I wanted to go back to the cafeteria before going home to get a fruitshake again. But I think my conscience whispered "glutton".

Going to the hospital is not something I find very enjoyable, it can get very depressing. But the cheap cheap cafeteria food ( talking about the hotdog sandwich here) and the yummy fruitshake made my day not as gloomy as I expected. 

FOODIE FRIDAY - say it with donuts

I am ignoring that red line under the word donut. I will spell it the way I grew up associating everything that is colorful,round with a hole in the middle and diabetes-inducing sweet with Dunkin' Donuts. 

For a time Dunkin' dominated the my donut world. Mister Donut was also a part of that world, because it was readily available at 7-11 branches. Then came Go Nuts Donuts, and I really went nuts for their amazing glaze and pastillas flavored donuts. Then came Krispy Kreme DoUGHnuts. What's with the UGH? Goodbye amazing glaze for this additional UGH gave me the "world-famous-melt-in-your-mouth-doughnut" ... Krispy Kreme's original glazed.  I have yet to try the newest kid on my donut block... J. Co Donuts. I always pass by their MOA branch and I am not exaggerating when I say that the lines are too long. Yes I am curious to try it, but patience is a virtue I do not have. It is still so hyped-up so everybody wants to be the first to try.  Besides, I have yet another donut place.

Not too crowded and serves me the best cheese flavored donuts. And it can get cheesier. I first learned about this place when my nephew came home with a box with little donuts spelling out I - L-O-V-E-Y-O-U ... or something to that effect. This was a present from his girlfriend. 

Sweeter that your average sweet without making your bloodsugar shoot up. I also did the same for my group. With the knowledge that we will be having burgers for dinner, and eventually will be needing something sweet for dessert, I asked my cousin ken to visit Cello's Doughnuts & Dips branch near Zark's burgers and had this 1 made:

Cute isn't it? I was able to convey my message of thanking my team and everybody got their fair share of dessert. I even got to take 2 donuts! I tried the A of "thank" cheese flavored, yummy , yummy , yummy and also the N of "NH", finely crushed m&m's ... I still like the cheese. 

I think they are famous for the cheese and oreo topped donuts. The usual round donuts are readily available. But if you want something like this done, you have give them at least 3 hours lead time. Each letter cost 30 pesos. Feel like shouting out your message? Get them in bigger letters for 45 pesos each.

Sweet Friday everyone!

Kissing taxi rides goodbye

I commute, everyday. If I am lucky, I get to hitch with friends. But more often than not, I take a jeepney ride home or if I can find someone to split the cab fare with, I take a taxi ride to the nearest place where a shuttle service terminal is. I was not born with a silver spoon. Don't be deceived by the fact that I graduated from an exclusive university. My family was able to afford it because my mom invested in an educational plan with the remittance my dad was sending us while he worked as a bartender in a cruise ship where he eventually met a girl and left us. Whatever school fees my scholarship did not cover was paid with the help of my supportive relatives. Yes I grew up with household helpers but not because my mom was too lazy to look after us but because she had to work. No I was not an english-speaking child, I may have a good command of the english language, maybe because I got into reading at an early age, with books that I borrow from classmates. We are not rich, comfortable yes, but there are times we also struggle to make ends meet.

Numerous facebook posts on incidents involving commuters like me disheartens me. Stories of taxi drivers working in connivance with holduppers, taking everything and forcing you to surrender your atm cards together with the security codes, taking all that is of value and leaving you in an unfamiliar place. Consider yourself lucky if they will not sexually assault you.

I take taxi rides not because I do not want to squeeze myself in an over-crowded bus but because I have had a long day at work and I probably don't have enough energy left to stand in a bus for at least an hour. I take taxi rides because I can not afford to buy a car. I take taxi rides because I do not know how to drive and even if we do have a family car, only my mom who will turn 60 years old soon is available to pick me up. Taxi riders are not from the elite, they are from the working class, who punches their timecards and takes orders from bosses. 

I'm not trying to say that the target for crimes like these should be those who are uber rich. My point is, those who take taxi rides are taxpayers and I hope that the government can help keep the streets safe for the riding public. Until then, I guess I will have to really save some energy for that bus ride. 

Sunday Secret - start today

My favorite secret from postsecret.com for this week is : 

What made this secret special is not the realization to be a better person... But the desire to start today. We all know what we want in our lives, to live a healthier life, to move on from a hurtful relationship, to improve our craft, to learn a new skill... But like participating in a marathon, we all wait for the gun start before we make a move. 

No more waiting for a sign, or for a better time, the time is now, today not tomorrow.  To get closer to what I want, to stretch further to reach my desires and to wake up and pursue my dreams. 

love at first oily bite

ZARK'S BURGERS !!! Got introduced to this place only last July when they offered the jawbreaker promo. A burger that has 3 patties,bacon,spam...the works, that normally costs 250pesos was being sold for only 150pesos. I wanted to try it, but it was such a great hit that we needed to find the right connection for us  to get to experience it.  I have to admit though that I was a huge failure with the jawbreaker.It was just too much for me. 

For my birthday, considering the huge appetite of my sister and my nephews, I decided to treat them to Zark's too.  

Situated just across DLSU, This place is filled with memorabilia and photos of archers in basketball action. I doubt if an Atenean will feel at home

Notice the catsup dispenser's missing nozzle? This is not a place for Posh Spice but a haven for hungry vikings!

The famous Jawbreaker! 3 patties, bacon, spam, tomatoes,cheese, lettuce, mushroom .... If you think you can finish this in 5 minutes (including the huge serving of fries and a glass of lemon iced tea), then take the jawbreaker challenge and pay nothing for your calorific meal! 

My personal favorite. Double cheeseburger, with mushroom,caramelized onions, lettuce and tomato! Just right for me. I was able to finish this thing without feeling like a bloated blowfish ready to throw up! 

This too looked promising! flame-grilled half-pound black pepper crusted patty. That crunchy looking thing sticking out is a slice of bacon... breaded and deep-fried to crunchy perfection. Got so inspired by this I am thinking of having deep-fried bacon for breakfast some time soon! 

I am not a huge nacho fan but this was a welcome treat too.

3 weeks after my dinner with my nephews, I also brought my airport staff for a very late September birthday celebration. There were 3 of us who turned a year older and the initial plan was to have a pizza feast at Yellow Cab. But we later realized Yellow Cab may not be able to satisfy the group's appetite and most of them got curious with my Zark's stories so we then decided to bring the group to Taft Avenue. Most of them tried the jawbreaker (but none was brave enough to take the 5-minute challenge) but only 3 guys were able to finish the whole thing. most of them left a patty untouched, there was even one who obviously got overwhelmed by the size and only managed to eat the spam! We ordered a total of 25 burgers (including take out for those who were on duty and were not able to join us)and paid less than 6000 pesos. Not bad since we all went home with overstuffed tummies! 

I have only tried 2 Zark's burgers so far, and I plan to try more! They have one wrapped in bacon, patties in between Krispy Kreme donuts, burgers with blue cheese dressing... but I doubt if I will have enough courage to try their tombstone burger! Does the name intrigue you? Have a look at their menu and see if you can handle it.

The "kabetching" Theory

"walang babaeng pinangarap maging kabit" -Sari (The Mistress)

Is there really no one who ever wanted to be a mistress? I will be risking my pristine goody-two-shoes image with what I will admit : Back in 2003, me and some of my airport friends, agreed  that being a mistress is far better than being a wife. We had plenty of reasons to believe so, and we called it our "kabetching" theory. 

• The "kabetching" or mistress is well loved by the married guy.
• She is always showered with gifts and presents.
• She knows what is going on with the married guy and his wife but the wife is blissfully ignorant.
• When the husband had a fight with his wife,be it about him womanizing or not, he almost always tells the mistress about it, and she has the chance to comfort him and this will endear her to him more.

... And so on...

I did believe those things back then, but as time passed by, and along with it came more responsibilities and inevitably maturity, I somewhat forgot about it. I never really had the chance to prove that theory. And after watching The Mistress, I came to the harsh realization that our theory might be flawed. 

"Limang taon. Limang taon na kuntento lang ako sa kung anung meron kami ni Rico. Di ako nagreklamo, di ako naghanap. Tapos dumating ka, nagsimula akong magtanong." - Sari 

The mistress will have to be contented with what the married guy can offer her in terms of time. Christmas, valentine's day and other events are always celebrated with the real family. They can't be seen together in public so they can only go to places no one will find. She can not ask questions about his family, she can only wait for him to volunteer the information.

"mahal ko sya" -Sari 

When she is not in it for the money, but because she has fallen, truly,deeply,madly,genuinely,head-over-heels,crazy... (you get the point) ... inlove with the married guy, the mistress is bound to get hurt big time. Because no matter how much she loves the married guy :

"as long as I am alive, you will never be promoted to wife" - Regina

 So I guess at this point it is safe to say that our kabetching theory might not be all that fancy after all. I hope that in a perfect world, there will be no mistresses. Because nobody, not the wife, nor the mistress deserves to be hurt. Because everybody, deserves to be happy and nobody deserves to feel unloved,unwanted and unneeded.

They used this song as background music, the orchestra version... It is a song from 2006 (?) and I only liked it now because of the movie.

Busy week ahead

My last two posts were published using my playbook. Truth is I really have a few stuff in mind that I want to blog about, I find it hard to do so using my playbook,editing is difficult. A post that would normally take me 40 minutes to finish takes a few more minutes because my fingers tend to fall on the wrong buttons very often. I'd rather use the desktop, but with 4 teenage nephews, and a mom who is constantly trying to beat my bejewelled blitz score, our lone pc's activity can be compared to one that is in a computer rental shop. 

I have had a very lazy start for this week. My workweek starts on a Sunday, I filed for 3 days leave, so I reported for work for just 2 days. And now it is my off again. Did a lot of eating out during that 5-day long (days off included) staycation, after all, it was my birthday weekend. I was reunited to the 3-pounds I lost the previous week in preparation for a photo session with my cousin Ken.

But I have a very busy week ahead. Much of my time will be spent blahblahblah-ing in a training room for a 3-day long system training for 5 of my staff. I hope I can still find time to blog about these: 

¤ A movie review of this:

...saw it with my mom and we both cried our eyeballs out. I was supposed to have my ID pictures taken after the movie. But I had to postpone it as my eyes got swollen from all the crying.  Come to think of it, I have never done a movie review before, and I am not really very confident about doing 1. Maybe I will just write about my favorite lines from the movie.

¤ my birthday treat for my nephews

my pearly whites ... ready to get very oily! Spent an evening with my sister, my big nephews and Ken... and this photo was taken by Aye. With appetite as big as ours, Zark's was the place to be. Maybe for this post, I will be posting mostly photos.

¤ weekly secrets. I love PostSecret .period. A Sunday will not be complete without me looking at other people's secrets. I used to post my weekly favorite. I am planning to revive that. Hope I can.

¤ my travel plans.  I have been invited to go to Singapore. I hope it pushes through. I am excited. Maybe not much about the place but to see my former colleagues and and to spend quality time with my loved ones... away from work and schedules and deadlines. And a bora trip is also being brewed. 1 word , 4 letters and it is something i really want to do now ... D - I - E - T. I want to look good in pictures!

aaaah so much to talk about so little time. Last, I saw this one while surfing and immediately went aaaaaaaw. Linda, whoever you are, you are one lucky girl. So I guess guys really have a hard time saying the word sorry... ego maybe, but this makes up for what this guy can not verbalize. *sigh* inggit much!

click on the photo to view the whole story... 

Tweet-to sotto

My 3 latest tweets are about Senator Vicente "Tito" Sotto III. I find his act of plagiarizing a blog and tagalazing a speech very disturbing. They say hate the deed, not the dude... But how tito-sen defends his misdeeds is more bothersome than the deed itself. Don't get me wrong, I do not have a deep-seated hatred against this actor-turned politician. As a child, I even had dreams of meeting him and exchanging banter with him in the question and answer portion of little miss Philippines in the noontime variety show that he used to actively host. But I was never really an uber cute child, so I never really thought I'd pass the audition. I guess at a very early age, I have already manisfested my fear of rejection.

I am guilty of cyber bullying him... does he deserve it? maybe. Because I am not huge fan of plagiarism. I know that this blog of mine is not something that the Mr. Sotto would copy.  I know I may not live to see a 6-digit figure on my blog view counter because I am aware that not too many are interested with my random ramblings. But at least I can say that the things I write are all my ideas: wrong grammar, incoherent thoughts and spelling errors included. I do follow some very nicely written blogs and I do sometimes get my inspiration on what to write about from these "plagiarisable" blogs. But I always always state the source... and link them too... because those little counters that tell how many took time to read his posts is a treat to a blogger.

I am pretty sure Mr. Sotto will not be happy if someone else will claim to have thought of the teamup word game "Pinoy Henyo". So please Mr. Senator... don't just copy-paste, at least have the decency to paraphrase. and please give credit to where credit is due... cite your sources.

From Russia With Love

I am a very very lazy blogger, I just realized that since I started this blog almost 2 years ago, only 2089 people took time to read my random ramblings... And I think half of these views were done by yours truly... Ok that may be a bit exaggerated... Maybe just a quarter of it. I wonder how accurate the stats are though, a glimpse at my most recent one:

My Top 5

PHILIPPINES - 917 views

I am not surprised. After all much of what I blog about, foodtrips, places I've been to, and other activities happened in the archipelago. Not to mention most of my friends are in Manila. So I guess the Philippines being at number 1 is justifiable. 

UNITED STATES - 441 views

I doubt if the Joe's and Jane's reads my blog. I am pretty sure my friends and relatives who have flown to the land of milk and honey are the ones who takes time to check what I have been doing.

GERMANY - 68 views

I honestly expected a middle eastern country; say UAE or an asian territory to occupy spot number 3. I have quite a good number of friends in Dubai,Qatar and Singapore. I called Macau my home for 14 months and even if I have yet to revisit that place, I managed to keep in touch with my Cantonese friends as well as my Filipino friends who work there. Germany, I probably know a maximum of 5 people there. 5 very busy people who I doubt has time to blog hop.

UKRAINE - 66 views and RUSSIA - 58 views

At number 4 and number 5 are Ukraine and Russia respectively. I definitely do not know anybody from Ukraine and Russia. I wonder what part of my blog interests the Ukrainians and Russians. Weird but interesting.

Well it doesn't really matter who reads my posts. I just want to write.
Busy busy week ahead. Time to hit the sack.

Bright Minds Read

"If you are a kid, reading is really important stuff."
- Bruce Jenner

As a kid, I used to read a lot. My allowance back then was just enough for my daily expenses, for me to purchase a book; I have to really save up for it. I envied my classmates whose moms buy books for them. You see my mom was a working one and I never really wanted to bother her to ask her to buy a Sweet Valley Twins book or a Nancy Drew book or one of those books that lets you choose your own ending. I simply borrowed from my classmates. I remember this particular seatmate of mine in high school; Ivy, she was really neat and took good care of her books.  Whenever I was given a chance to borrow her Sweet Valley books, I took extraordinary diligence in making sure that the sides of the book never had a crease. I read lying on my bed and opened the book just enough for me to somewhat peep through the entire page. I almost did not flip the pages, I somewhat figured out a way to flip my head, or my whole self. I may not have my own books, but I still consider myself lucky to have classmates with books who was kind enough to lend it to me.

But there are kids who can't buy books... and their friends can't buy as well... and I think what's worse than not being able to read is being able to do so but not having something to read. A few days back as I was cyber-stalking someone on facebook, I chanced upon a post from a friend who is very active with TREK (TRails to Empower Kids). A group of friends who did not just admire the beauty of the mountains but also saw how deprived the isolated tribes were. So they have decided not just to trek, but to bring treats to the tribes that they visit.

Sometime next month , August 25-26, they will again embark on a journey,to have a good exercise, to marvel at the beauty of nature and most importantly, to bring treats to Primary School Kids in Nagtipunan, Quirino.  I am such a wimp and wouldn't want to go with them, not for the fear of being away from my urban lived comfy life, but from the fear of embarrassing myself because I might just be deadload for the group.

So I just told my friend that I will try to collect books for the kids. And I need help. I need books that an 8 year old can read and learn from. To my mommy friends, I know some of your kids have been given books that they no longer read and are just collecting dust, I am more than willing to meet up, and catch up too with a cup of coffee. I also need pens, crayons.. lots and lots of them.  I want these mountain trekkers to really have heavy bags on their backs full of treats.

nostalgia kicking in again

a blogpost from DEC 2008.....

CATHY's ADVICE


I had a long chat with my high school seatmate Cathy a couple of weeks ago. It was so nice to talk to her again after a very long time. She has migrated, fell inlove, got her heart broken, cried an ocean, fell inlove again, got married and now living blissfully.  She has always been a delight to talk to, so sweet.. to the point that I sometimes wish I could be like her, but then again it would not be me anymore.
She was very enthusiastic when she was telling me about her wedding. How she met her lucky husband, how i loved the personal touch of her menu, how she managed to look stunning despite the fact that it was a do-it-yourself wedding.  Of course, no catching up will be complete without a little nostalgia… our carefree junior high school days, how we would go around the classroom after lunch break to collect some coins from our classmates to be donated to the school to build a new gymnasium (she was the elected treasurer, i was her appointed assistant) and the times i would go to their house in las pinas to finish some projects.

Then she asked me if I still write poetry. I said not  anymore. I was pleasantly surprised that she remembered that I used to write poems. Of course my works would not have been comparable to a Sartre, nor could have it been worthy of a Noble prize, but just the fact that someone remembered my works was compliment enough.  I used to write poetry, back in high school,intense emotions triggers my literary creativity.

Cathy then asked me to try it again, at least to keep me off the television. So here goes… I am not so sure if Cathy checks my blog.. i hope she’ll have time to blog hop one of these days and chance upon my page.

TEARS

The tears I shed,

tell so many tales,

If you see tears rolling down my cheeks,

Would you care enough to ask?

or care even more to listen?

Did I shed a tear because of deep sorrow?

Or could it be tears of joy?

I could have cried out of anger,

or could it be out of fear?

Would tears be enough to replace words I could not say;

like how much I am sorry, or how much I worry?

Am I glad?  Am I sad?  Am I hurt?

Is it because I am missing you?

Or is it because I am happy of where I am right now without you?

Did I try and lost?

Or was I lost and now happily found?

What are the tales that my tears are telling?

Would you bother to stop and try to comprehend?

Or would you just look away, and pretend you never saw me crying?

a bloody post

Been using my healthcard lately, something that is not really euphoric. Yeah Yeah I used to be fond of going to clinics... I'd be lying if I said I never liked being in one... after all, I did date two MD's. But lately I have been having some health related issues that I had to be dragged to a medical facility. Had to go through some blood exams as the  doctor suspected that I am anemic, after seeing how pale my palm was. I have decided to include blood typing to the tests too, after all, that's a whole syringe of blood to be sucked out of my suspected anemic person's vein... I might as well ask them to utilize every drop of it. Unfortunately, this specific test is not covered by my healthcard, I had to shell out 170 pesos for it. Geez i could have just taken an intelligent guess and say that my blood type is O, after all, 40% of every breathing human is type O.

After 8 hours I was able to get the results of my tests. Yup, I am anemic and yes my blood type is O+. 

I have heard before that Japanese people match personality traits with blood types. As if I do not know myself well yet, I have sought the help of my ever reliable friend Google to find out more about me based on my blood type.

I came across this blog : http://ladygirlsblog.blogspot.com/ and found this entertaining comic strip about my blood type:

On a more intellectual and less entertaining level, I have found out these personality traits and found myself nodding in approval :

According to this article,Type O's like me are social butterflies who are often popular and self - confident.  Creative, and enjoys being the center of attention.  I can make a good impression on people because type O's are often quite attractive. It says type O's are organized .. I am compelled to disagree on this part. But it also mentioned that type O's are determined. It was also nice to know that people who share my blood type are stubborn people and my  stubbornness will help me reach my goals and that I could be a good leader too.

Self-confident and stubborn... a not so appealing combination, but I am enjoying every minute of being me.