Guess who came over for Halloween.









That's what happens when a pre-school teacher goes on semestral break :p

P.S.
This is my 666th post and it involves jack-o-lanterns. Creepy huh?

RIP Tita Julie.

We will really miss you.

Julia Jellybeans update:



She can roll over na! Yeah!

Next stop, training for the marathon :p

P.S.

The video's kinda dark pala :(

I've been helping my brother come up with his Christmas giveaways. I suggested a gift pack that would contain a bag organizer and a cute notebook, practical yet cute stuff that every girl would want (I know I'd want to receive something like that :p)

The bag organizers were easy enough to order because the seller also happens to be my ex-roommate (hello kaka!). But the notebooks were another thing altogether.

I first sent the notebooks seller a personal message through multiply and I got no response. I eventually learned from another of her retailers that said seller was abroad and had no internet access there so she relied mostly on her cellphone to keep track of orders. Stupid me, I was still unable to get her cell number then :p

So I tried again and filled out the reservation form in her site (halata bang I really wanted those notebooks? :p) and she responded that same day too confirming the availability of the products I wanted.

hi! wholesale price is 120/pc lang. Are these for xmas gifts? That would be a nice idea. :-)

This was my reply:

hi cindy!

thanks for replying :)

yup, the sueno notebooks are intended as christmas gifts :)

i would like to order 5 pieces each of: mocha, red, flower power and patchwork.

that's a total of 20 notebooks in all.

please tell me the total wholesale price for the 20 notebooks including shipping fee to Las Pinas MM, as well as how the payment can be sent.

thanks again!

sincerely,
jill

Then three days later, she replies:

No problem, jill. :-)

Nyerk. That's it?! What about the account details or the product availability?

I sent one last email, one last try:

hi cindy!

so what's the quotation? where should i deposit the money?

That was two days ago and I haven't received a response yet. I guess I'll have to scrap out those notebooks from our gift packs this year.

So much for customer relations.

Yesterday was my dad's second bi-monthly post-operation check-up in PGH and Manila Doctor's Hospital.

With the rains and Wednesday Baclaran traffic, it took us about an hour and a half to get to Manila Doctors. The two check-ups went very well and my dad was issued a clean bill of health (He was told to join a marathon or something :p). We were ready to leave Manila by four pm and immediately headed straight to Kitaro for some very late lunch (or early dinner, depending on how you look at it).

My dad ordered the sushi and sashimi platters, like he usually does while we had our regulars too.

A few hours later, my dad said he was having chest pains again so we rushed him (actually he rushed himself) to Asian Medical where he arranged for his cardiologist to meet him at the Emergency Room.

After an EKG reading it became apparent that there was nothing wrong with his heart and it was probably just acid reflux from the wasabi or the newly prescribed med which had stomach irritating qualities.

His cardiologist sent him home saying that there was no need to stay overnight just to wait for him to pass gas :p

If not for the fact that my dad was in pain and we were all worried that his heart had betrayed him once again, it was actually quite funny. That is until we received the hospital bill. And my parents don't have health insurance (Philhealth doesn't count because it really doesn't count talaga. Lousy shit.) so hello credit card na naman.

I am currently researching on health/hospital insurance for my parents now and Medicard is out of the question because their eligibility and coverage is from 18 years old up to 60 years old lang.

The point of this meandering post is to remind myself to get insured.

P.S.

I have a job na! :) I'll be working as a legal researcher at an Alabang law firm. It's so near my house that I can just take a tricycle to Toyota Zapote and then walk to the office. The salary is I think smaller than my Makati counterparts but considering that I'll have practically no transportation expenses, I still think it's a good deal.

Although I do hope they've fixed their airconditioning system na :p

So far, I have sent out 10 resumes and have gone on two interviews.

I think both interviews went well, but I'm being biased of course :p

Unlike the interview for law school, these weren't in front of a panel. Rather, it was a one on one interview with the hiring partner. For a moment I could actually pretend that we were just chatting about my family, law school and life in general. That is until the partner asks what my expected salary and then I am rudely jolted back to reality.

Both times, my expected salary was not what they expected me to expect :p

After four years (ay, five pala)of law school and six months of reviewing for the Bar, it seems like the pay just isn't commensurate enough for the torture experience.

Paano ako yayaman nito?! So much for my grand plan of retiring to my own private island before I turn 35 years old :p

The word for the day is: Diversionary

Last time a bomb went off in the Glorietta vicinity was around 3 or 4 years ago when a bomb went off in a bus at the Ayala MRT stop.

I remember it was February 14 and I was on the MRT when it was announced over the speakers that the train would not be stopping at the Ayala station. Of course that was really annoying but when I got off at Buendia, there were all sorts of bomb talks na. I immediately texted my parents to tell them I was fine and my mom texted back saying "K". So much for parental love huh? Apparently, my parents were out at some restaurant on a date and had no idea why I was telling them that I was still alive :p

Now the blast happened inside Glorietta taking the lives of several people and injuring scores more.

Sen. Trillanes in an interview said that this is Project Green Base all over again, referring to the Davao blasting which was allegedly masterminded by then Secretary of Defense Angelo Reyes and Gen. Esperon. Karen Davila then asked the reporter if the senator's inflammatory (and currently baseless) pronouncement will help the current situation, to which the reporter replied that it won't but the people have a right to know about what the senator said.

Right now, we identify the dead and cure the injured. Later, we can entertain the conspiracy theories.

Let's get our priorities straight Senator people.

I've been in close contact with the green-eyed monster these past few days.

It's as if I'm envious of everyone and everything around me. This is what usually happens when I'm idle with nothing productive to do.

I hate it.

On a positive note, now that I've come to grips with that maybe I can go about and finally do something about it.

I really have to find something to be busy over soon. After all, I'm almost finished with Theme Hospital :p

I just finished working out a few minutes ago and now ang baho ko na. Wala lang, I just wanted to share.

I'm so bored.

P.S.

Why does Mariel Rodriguez scream all the time while hosting PBB Celeb Edition 2 (I don't want to say Uber. Argh!! Too late)?! And she goes on and on hardly giving Bianca a chance to butt in.

I don't know why but I'm not excited with this batch of celebrities. Deal or No Deal girls?! Ano ba. What's up with that?!

Maybe it's because I'm a ka-Lifestyle Network rather than a Kapamilya, but I hardly know any of those people there. But isn't Megan Young from Starstruck? What is she doing in Channel 2? I'm so confused :(

I'm not yet emotionally ready for it but what the heck.

I'll be going to my first law firm interview today :)

Wish me luck!

This is how my niece and nephew usually look like when they're back home in San Jose California:




And this is how they look like in the Philippines:



It's the third world curse I tell you :p

Tita Jill annoying Baby Julia

I just deleted all the sellers from my Multiply account. From now on, it's strictly for friends, classmates, relatives or in short, people I actually know who aren't trying to sell me something. Kasi snob na ako ngayon. Tse! :p

Wala lang, it became tedious scrolling through pages of delivery orders and new stocks (which were usually announced in all caps with exclamations pa to convey a sense of urgency. HURRY!! FEW STOCKS LEFT!!!BUY NOW OR FOREVER BE DAMNED!!!!!!!)

I don't even know why I'm explaining myself.

Good night!

Today's rant is about the DTI Business Name Registration System.

So I checked online to see if it was possible to register a business name through the internet and it was (one point for DTI). Click here.

The website is well-made and very informative. A lot of time and energy was obviously devoted to it (two points for DTI).

So I clicked on the "Start Applying for a Business Name" and the Terms and Conditions page appeared (TOC were not in legalistic gobbledygook so another point for DTI), clicked on the "I Agree" button then I had to put in my proposed business names. A quick search happens then if the business name is approved, a form appears. I typed in all the necessary details, even those without the red asterisk symbol. However, I got stumped with the portion regarding Owner's Address because you're asked to put the first three letters of your Town/Municipality and then click on the "Look Up" button. Afterwards, a pop-up box will appear showing several towns/municipalities with the same first three letters and then you're supposed to click one of those. I'm assuming that your choice will then be placed in the appropriate box.

I don't know if it's just my PC (the same thing happened with G's PC) but nothing happened after I clicked on "Las Pinas" (from the choices of Las Nieves, Lasam and Las Navas). So I clicked some more still nada. Eventually I just left it alone and continued filling out the form and clicked the "Next" button at the bottom to go the next page. But I received an error message because the municipality and province were not filled out! Duh. Blame it on your faulty pop-up box.

I guess it's game over now and so much for thinking I could actually apply online in the comfort and convenience of my home.

Paging DTI! There was so much promise at the start only to be shot down by that piddling pop-up box with the faulty Java program.

It looks like I'll have to go and line up in a government office (one of my top five most hated things to do). Woe is me.

I discovered something very disturbing about myself a few days ago.

I was lined up for the c5 toll booth and, as is usual on a Saturday afternoon, the line started even before the "1 km" mark. So like a dutiful citizen, I got in line behind the other cars and slowly inched my way forward.

Usually, there would be all sorts of cars trying to cut in line about this time. The primary target is often a lumbering cargo truck which takes a few seconds before it can move forward. This gives the singit just enough time to position itself with impunity.

This is just the sort of thing that gets my blood boiling and sets my teeth on edge. And before you can say "I'm an asshole singit" I'll be cussing na and giving the perpetrator the finger and sending all sorts of evil thoughts his way. Yeah, I have road rage.

Anyway, that afternoon, the line was fairly tolerable and there were no evil singits to be found. However, I found myself craning my neck, trying to see if there were any singits further along the line!

How perverse is that?! I was actually looking for an opportunity to get all worked-up again. I think I enjoy getting mad because it tells me that my moral compass is pointing the right direction while the others are all screwed up.

That's right, I'm better than all of you!

Now that I see it for what it really is, I realize just how pathetic it is. So there, I'll try to be more zen now and avoid my stress-triggers (particularly a certain site with a certain writer who apparently starts typing without processing what would eventually come out on screen. There you go, I'm getting starting to get mad again...).

Peace and love incorporated is now my new battlecry.

Ommm.....

I just came back from the Cubao Expo Fair. The original plan was to meet the multiply sellers for a future project, as well as to cover the event for Kikay Exchange. Mission accomplished and more because I managed to cross out a name on my Christmas list and came home with a few goodies for myself too. I was supposed to be on a semi-shopping moratorium, but I just couldn't resist! There were a lot of cute and interesting things there.

Brokeville, here I come.

Pictures from the past few days:

Killer the walking furball

At Recipes Greenbelt with Grace and Joan

Di ko alam kung anong trip nila Juno at Ian dito :p

At Sofia's first birthday party. My cousin Jepsey (Sofia's hot mommy) lost all of her pregnancy weight (and more!) barely two months after she gave birth. I guess being a dietician helped a lot too. Her secret is to lessen carbs and fats. Madali lang pala eh, yakang-yaka.

I was in Greenbelt yesterday and was at the Cubao Expo today. Those are two nights in a row that I went out of the house (school days excluded of course)! I almost feel as if I'm beginning to have a social life :) Although both times I was home before 11pm, so much for being a card-carrying member of the hip and happening crowd :p

Today was my first time to go to 168 and while it was fun to look around and poke and peer at all sorts of merchandise, it definitely got tiring after about an hour or so.

It didn't help that most stores sold practically the same things (at least with regard to clothing and accessories). Thus the challenge becomes finding the lowest possible prices for your item of choice.

It was also interesting to note that in almost all the stores, the cash registers (or the money bag) were operated (or held) by Chinese-looking men or women, while the ones doing the actual selling were young Filipinas. Why is it that most of the industries and establishments are owned by people of Chinese ancestry? Maybe this has something to do with the fact that the primary Filipino dream is to finish his/her formal education so that he/she will be employed in some famous corporation with a splendid benefits package. While most Chinese are practically trained to become enterpreneurs (most of the cashiers I saw in 168 and Divisoria were young adults) from the day they were born.

Or maybe I'm just generalizing.

Anyway, I'm really wiped out from today's shopping trip. Today's valuable lesson is to only go to Divisoria when you have to buy wholesale or have to buy a lot of stuff. But if you only plan on buying a shirt or a pair of jeans, save yourself the hassle and just head off to the nearest mall. Nonetheless, it is an interesting place to roam around in, so put on your rubber shoes, shove aside your primadonna attitude and summon all your patience and good humor because you're definitely going to need them.

Now excuse me while I take a nice, long shower.

So far I have:

1. completed my resume
2. sent out one resume (thanks Tara!)
3. played Theme Hospital every day (thanks Edj!)
4. taken Killer to the vet for his monthly Frontline
5. gone to the bank once


I need to:

1. start handing out resumes
2. buy a suit and pumps
3. get a haircut
4. get a TIN and do what needs to be done (right G?)
5. go to divi and check out supplies for our xmas project
6. get a new passport (i think i my old one got thrown out with all of my law school stuff)


I want to:

1. go to the Binondo food tour (let's go Lianne!)
2. go to the Multiply bazaar in Cubao
3. use my mom's LPDH spa GC (full body massage or foot massage? hmmm...)
4. buy those white sneakers at the Converse outlet store in Harrison Plaza


So far that's about it. Obviously, there's nothing important going on in my life right now :p

The past few days in pictures:

Her parents woke her up and made her wear that sign. The indignities of childhood talaga :p

Waiting for our other batchmates after the Ethics exam, so we can make our grand exit to Taft Avenue together

Oo, masaya ako na tapos na ang bar!! Thanks Portia Sorority for the bouquet :)

And breathe in. Posing sa Boracay

Enjoying my breakfast buffet at La Carmela de Boracay (free wifi!). Check out my shades, endorsed ni Juday yan!

At the Bamboo Lounge with Sharon, Migs and Kit

Wake up Eugene!

I definitely prefer Boracay in September, rather than during the summer. It's more intimate (no suffocating crowd!), the weather is kinder and absolutely no lumot.

I went back to the dorm yesterday to remove my stuff and I deliberately packed up my things quickly so I wouldn't have time to feel sentimental.

But it didn't work because the moment I loaded the last bag in the car and went back to surrender my keys, the sight of the stripped down roon (kaka already removed her stuff a few days earlier) still left me sighing.

Goodbye my protracted student days. Now my next adventure would revolve around becoming a productive member of society (welcome to the wonderful world of taxes!). Can't wait :)