blankPixels

Want to Pre-Purchase Heroes of Newerth?!

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:22:00 PST

Dilemma: As much as you want to pre-purchase Heroes of Newerth, you can't because you don't have any money to spare... or you simply don't want to use your hard-earned money for a game.

Well, how about this... start making money online and earn that $30 to pre-purchase Heroes of Newerth.

Okay, this post is to advertise my new blog about how I make money online:

You might not believe me but I made money online through Paid to Click (PTC sites) and all the other money-making programs I featured on Pinay Online Money Maker.

I already posted some payment proofs there but it's not yet complete. Well, actually the blog is not yet complete as I still need to finish a few more articles/guides. So, you might see some supposed-to-be links there that don't link to anything yet but here are a few stops for you in case you want to get started:

Complete List of Trusted Paying Online Money Making Sites
Tips and Techniques
Payment / Income Proofs
Sitemap (a list of articles currently available on this blog)

And for Pinoys:
My Pinoys Guide to Making Money Online

I hope I can convince you to join as my referral with the different online money-making sites/programs I featured there on my blog.

FACT:
For Pinoys, you can use Paypal money to pay for online game load through DigitalMartian. That's where we buy our monthly game load for Ragnarok Online. Hehehe.

And for Heroes of Newerth addicts, here's a screenshot of the Pre-Purchase payment options you'd see on the Heroes of Newerth Pre-purchase page:

Yes! You can pay through Paypal! So, why don't you join any of the online money-making programs I featured on my blog (Complete List of Trusted Paying Online Money Making Sites) so you can start earning your $30 so you can pre-purchase the game?!

Right now, I can actually pay for 2 Heroes of Newerth pre-purchased accounts but my partner and I are still deciding if we should pre-purchase 2 or just 1 account and we'll just share. Hmmm.... anyway, I've been working on my new blogs so I might not have time to play anymore. But, hey, I'm still interested in pre-purchasing the game.

Anyway, go ahead and visit my blog - Pinay Online Money Maker - and I hope you can join as my referral. I'm thinking about giving out my remaining Heroes of Newerth beta keys to anyone who'll sign up as my referral on any FriendFinder website I featured on my blog. What do you think? Hmmm...

If you have any questions, feel free to post a comment there on my other blog. I'll answer your questions, I promise.

30 Heroes of Newerth Beta Keys Sent!

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:12:00 PST

Want to PRE-PURCHASE Heroes of Newerth but you don't have the money to do it?! Read this:
Want to Pre-Purchase Heroes of Newerth?!
You can earn that $30 online... and I'm not kidding! S2 Games is accepting Paypal payments for pre-purchasing!

Alright, I'm not yet done sending them but I'm almost halfway in sending all the 30 beta keys. Yes, I'm sending 30 beta keys!

Update: I'm done sending all the 30 beta keys! Go and check your emails now. If you didn't receive an email from me, sorry but better luck next time! There were about 3 chosen posters who failed to subscribe to my blog so I had to give it to others who met the requirements. Check the bottom of this post to see the complete list of winners.

Thank you to all who participated. There were a couple that were really interesting. Scroll down to see some of them.

By the way, to those who think that people from my country, the Philippines, have more chances of being selected, you're wrong. It doesn't really matter. I only wanted to know how many from other countries and from the Philippines are visiting my blog for the HoN beta key. I chose the winners based on their answers to the question.

Now, I still got a few more beta keys (thanks to my friends and to 2 of my visitors who gave me their beta keys) but I decided to give them away in a different way. I'll post an update here later PLUS some entries of the winners.

Keep posted!

Alright, here are a few of the entries that I enjoyed and were chosen to receive the beta keys:
The question was...

If you were to fall off a cliff, which would you prefer?
Fall face up or face down?
Explain your answer.

These 2 entries made me laugh:

Well for starters, I should mention I'm terrified of heights, so just thinking about it gives me shivers hehe. But if I were to choose face up or down, I would definitely go down with my face up, in hopes of surviving. I think that there is still a small chance that I would survive, and if I would survive, I would go do all the things I wanted to do in my life and would tell everyone I know not to go on the same cliff as I did lol. - Anton

Face down, otherwise I'll get motion sickness. I don't want my lunch to fall down and hit me in the face after I'm dead. - Adde

The following were chosen because they were hopeful in the face of death... nice!

My answer to the question is that I would rather go face down. I have just read the part in the Deception Point (written by Dan Brown) where the characters fell from a glacier cliff. In my imagination, I see them as falling face down. Well, that's just to add up to my 'face-down' reasoning. But the real reason is that there might still be a chance to survive when you see what's ahead. Maybe you might be able to grab a part of the cliff or something else. Probably you have something with you like a rope that you can use. So it might be more reassuring when you fall face down. - Anonymous

If i were falling i will face to the up and try to hold something .at least i got a chance to survive .i think everyone will looking a chance to survive even there is only have 10% but u still have the chance to hold something to climb up. - Fung

This one made me imagine actually being on a cliff, about to fall... didn't really think that my question was that morbid 'til I read these entries. Hehehe.

I suppose I would prefer face down. Because cliffs tend to be quite high xD. So I would choose a quick death over lying there dying with broken legs and who knows what more... Brrr I really hope no one will ever have to face such an end. And I don't care about my looks cause I'm already ugly xD

I prefer with face down in 1,2,3 and face up 4
1. If I fall in a wather and live I get fucking good filing of adrenalin
2. If I fall in wather and die my deat will be quick so i whan't fill how my legs get in my neck
3. If I fall on ground and die it same like 2
4. If I fall on ground and live faster i'll sacrifice my legs than my head

Among all the entries that I've chosen, this is the one I like the most. This is very close to my answer to that question. I want to face my death. I want to know when it's coming.

I would fall face down because I don't want to hit my end ignorantly. I want to know exactly what will happen and when it will happen. I can also accept my end while I'm falling rather than looking up, closing my eyes, pretending this wasn't happening.

And I just want to answer this one:

Hi Mhel! Again its me, its my second time posting in your great blog. Why? because you're the one who gave me an idea to gift my girldfriend a present out of a letter ala scrapbook which you also gave to your partner with her birthday if I'm not mistaken. And after the first time I got a HoN beta key, I always read your feeds. I'm glad your Myoma has been removed safely also with your mother's. - Ronaldo

Thanks for the concern. My myoma and my mom's weren't removed 'coz the doctor said it's too small to require surgery or removal. And I'm glad I was able to help you with an idea for a gift to your girlfriend. I usually design scrapbook pages for my loved ones on special occasions like their birthday or my friends' anniversary. It's personal and creative. Wish I can see what you made, though. Did you design it? Or you had someone else do it for you? I wanna see it! Email it to me or something. :)

Here's the list of the email addresses of those who were chosen. If you don't see your email on the list, sorry. Just wait for my next giveaway. I guess this isn't the final giveaway after all.

dota.ichigo@gmail.com
mittinmils@hotmail.com
tentacolboy@gmail.com
ran.rojo@yahoo.com
aaronarulrudge@yahoo.com
crime_minister02@yahoo.com
anton_midi@hotmail.com
pkhailes@hotmail.com
afterlife0614@yahoo.com
nmfdelacruz@yahoo.com
mindlessramble@gmail.com
eisenheim08@gmail.com
fungmiew2004@hotmail.com
rashmartinez@yahoo.com
reddragon_258@yahoo.com
stefanhofn@gmail.com
benjaplant@gmail.com
ejat_collin@yahoo.com
benjie_jerald014@yahoo.com
emosanitary@yahoo.com
Marcus_sacrifar@hotmail.com
lalaquin@hotmail.com
konz3n13413y@yahoo.com
mile047@gmail.com
mush_prince04@yahoo.com
jonas361@gmx.de
Ivo.b111@hotmail.com
lurry_dragon@yahoo.com
hu_u21@yahoo.com.ph
boxecon130@hotmail.com

Thank you to all who participated! I enjoyed reading your entries!

Heroes of Newerth Final Beta Key Giveaway on my Blog!

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:59:00 PST

Want to PRE-PURCHASE Heroes of Newerth but you don't have the money to do it?! Read this:

Want to Pre-Purchase Heroes of Newerth?!
You can earn that $30 online... and I'm not kidding! S2 Games is accepting Paypal payments for pre-purchasing!

This Beta Key Giveaway is now CLOSED.
Comments are now disabled. If you don't receive an email from me within 24 hours, your entry was not chosen. I'll post the names/emails of those who won once I'm done sending the keys out. Thank you all for participating!

To everyone who were able to send in an entry for this giveaway, beta keys will be sent out shortly. I had difficulty selecting which ones should win because some answers were almost the same. Sorry for the delay.

Since S2 Games sent out free invites again to current Heroes of Newerth beta players, I will be giving out my 3 invites plus my friends' who won't be using them anymore. I was the one who helped them get a beta key ucf3et6ifk55gr8 so they willingly gave their latest beta keys to me.

Right now, I have about 20+ beta keys to give away and I might have more in the next 2 days. All the Heroes of Newerth beta key giveaway winners will get a beta key EXCLUSIVELY to their email.

So, this time, the requirements would be kinda tougher. To be eligible to win a beta key, you need to do the following:

Again, subscribe to my blog by entering your email address into the feed form on the right sidebar. Make sure you confirm your subscription by clicking the verification link ingqggx5cs71cs9 on the email that will be sent to you.
If you already subscribed before, make sure you have confirmed your subscription. I will check if you're on my subscribers' list before I send you the beta key.
Post a comment entry on THIS blog post ONLY.
I hate beggars. So, stop begging for beta keys to my email, through the comments section or my other blog posts. You have to earn the beta key.
Include the following info on your comment entry:
- What country you're from
- Your EMAIL address
Answer my question below:

If you were to fall off a cliff, which would you prefer?
Fall face up or face down?
Explain your answer.

If you don't answer this question, you will not be qualified. I'm not kidding!

I'm giving you Heroes of Newerth wannabe beta players until Saturday, my brother's birthday, November 7th, ONLY to post your comments.

Good luck!

If you have a friend or you already have a HoN account jnyhf17wa912vhl and you're wondering how to send invites or get a beta key for your friend, here's how:

1) Go to http://beta.heroesofnewerth.com and login using your current account username and password.
2) Once you're logged in, click on the Invites button on the upper 0dl871wqt9vt2f8 right side of the page.
3) On the Invites page, just enter your friend's email address or your email so you can get the beta key through that email. I suggest you use a Gmail account so you can get it right away.

I have a confession to make. I'm not sure if these beta keys were already given away. I think some of these were given to me by those who received a beta key from me before and I didn't take note if they were already used or given away. But, please, try them if they're still working. And, please, if you were able to create an account using one of these accounts, post a comment below and mention which beta key you were able to use. Thanks!

wo1n70hxggmsfaq
v740609ep5ehbwd
ubel93leu9ldd2h
ps2dkrybkmdf4l7
eqsblw7k5ueem03
zizx3sty0ctfzz6
a53r4vl0ser8n8f
be54fg3mvf4zxpl

The 20+ beta keys I'll be giving away are all new ones so if you didn't get to use one of the beta keys I have posted on this blog post, then, send in your comment/entry to this final giveaway.

Globe's ImmortalTxt Extended!

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:30:00 PST

While Mai and I are miles away (I'm still in Manila, she's back in Cebu), our usual means of communication now are through texting, Yahoo! messenger. I'm not really a textaholic and I don't like texting or even phone conversations (wait, I did work in call centers before, right? Okay, that's a different story). I have no choice, though, because that's our only ways to communicate. And so far, it's been expensive.

Okay, we don't actually call each other and spend hundreds of pesos on text messaging but for us, it's a big deal that we have to spend Php 50 almost every 4-7 days to text each other. We're both using Globe sims and I didn't really pay attention to Globe promos until today.

My bro actually informed me about this promo weeks ago and I didn't bother to learn more about it so I thought it's only for 1 day (I think he did explain it but I wasn't paying attention), and I might use the load to call someone and won't be able to because I converted it to ImmortalTxt. But, since our texting expenses is really off the charts (okay, for our budget, that is), I decided to look more into this.

Globe ImmortalTxt promo works like this - you convert Php 10.00 load to ImmortalTxt and you get 50 texts to Globe and TouchMobile #s PLUS 10 texts to OTHER networks. And, wait, there's more!! There's NO expiration date! How great is that?!

I know, I know, I'm way too late in availing of this promo. I say, it's better late than sorry. Heehee!

Alright, here's how to convert your Globe prepaid load to ImmortalTxt. Note that this is only available to Globe Tattoo and Globe Prepaid subscribers.

Make sure you have at least Php 11.00 remaining balance:
Php 10.00 to convert to ImmortalTxt
Php 1.00 as maintaining balance
Text IMMORTAL10 to 8888.
Wait for the confirmation message that your Php 10.00 load has been converted already.

That's it! Hurry and convert or register now because the promo was only extended 'til November 30th!

Now, here's the catch. Actually, there are 2. Although there's no expiry date for ImmortalTxt, you still have to load to maintain your SIM's validity. Secondly, if you use up the Php 1.00 maintaining balance (for instance, you used up all the Globe-to-Globe/TM but not the texts to other networks), you won't be able to use the remaining ImmortalTxts you got left until you load at least Php 1.00 again to your sim.

If you want to find out how much ImmortalTxt you got left, you can text IMMORTAL<space>BAL to 8888. Take note, though, that you'll be charged Php 1.00 when doing this.

So, I'm off to converting at least Php 20.00 to ImmortalTxt so I can text away! I'll now take advantage of all promos I can get. Woohoo! (lolz)

A Simple Act of Thoughtfulness Goes a Long Way

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:27:00 PDT

I just had to blog about this!

I had breakfast earlier (Tinolang Manok, yum!!) and afterwards, I walked back to my room. Our teen housemaid/helper surprised me and greeted me a "Happy Birthday" and handed me this....

...a birthday card designed by her.

I thanked her and was really surprised to receive something from her. It's 2 days after my birthday but I still appreciate the effort and the thought she put into the card she gave me. My brother didn't even make me one! LOLz.

This made my day, really. And it kinda made me remember that I'm not always bitchy. I'm kind. I'm caring. I respect people and their feelings. I'm not trying to convince anyone I'm all that but I know I am. And that's another reason why I feel I'm blessed or lucky - because I get to touch people's lives. I know I have this certain aura or effect on people that makes them wanna be a better person. Gosh.

Okay, going back to the letter, I know exactly why she made that. She's a nice kid. She's actually our past housemaid's daughter and we hired her to help us with the household chores in the weekend. She's very caring. I think she heard about my condition and she asked me twice already if I'm doing okay. I mean, we're not close. I barely talk to her unless I needed to. Plus, I've been away for more than a year. But, I guess what pushed her to give me that card was because I was also nice to her. I smile back at her. I reply to her questions or whenever she talks to me. I respect her as a person. And I saw that spark that made me realize that she saw that I'm sincere. I'm real.

Alright, I'm making a big deal out of this simple birthday card. Wait, let me rephrase that. It's not a simple birthday card to me. She actually thought about the design, how she'll phrase her thoughts or what she wanted to say to me and she even thought carefully about the exact time she'd give it to me.

I'm deeply touched. She really made me smile. Thanks, Mane! As if she can read this blog post...

Mango Brown Betty Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:36:00 PDT

This is the first time that I posted a recipe here on my blog. But, since Mai and I are setting up our own food blog really soon (with the help of my bro, of course), I decided to post this recipe here as an introduction (naks!). I'd be posting maybe 2 more in the next days. A friend requested this recipe because she saw a photo of this on my Facebook page.

This is so easy to make. My bro made this using a microwave and all the ingredients were conveniently available at our kitchen. I so love it, especially the filling. And I love the crunch. Just look at the photo on the right. That's how the filling looked like. Yummy!

This recipe was from my brother who made it for me. So, enjoy!

Mango Brown Betty

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups of mango slices (long cuts)

4 cups of bread crumbs (read steps #1-2 to make your own)

1/2 cup of butter (or margarine, whichever is readily available)

1 cup of brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder

PROCEDURE:

To make homemade breadcrumbs, bake some bread (my brother used leftover pan de sal) in a microwave oven at high for 4 minutes, or until they harden.

Use a blender or food processor to crush the bread into your desired texture for the bread crumbs you'd want to use. Make sure you have at least 4 cups of crumbs.

Combine the 4 cups of breadcrumbs with 1/2 cup of butter.

Now, we'll use this mixture and the mango slices and layer them up to 4 layers (or if you want more or less, it's up to you).
First layer should be the breadcrumb mixture. Press it to make sure it's flat or evenly layered on a pan or bowl.

Add the mango slices on top.

Combine brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon powder.

Sprinkle the sugar mixture on top of the first layer of mango and breadcrumbs.

Then, add another layer of breadcrumbs, then mango slices.

Sprinkle with the sugar mixture just like step #7. 3 – 4 layers would be enough.
The top layer should be breadcrumbs with no mango slices. Just sprinkle the sugar mixture on top)

Bake in a microwave oven at HIGH for 12 to 15 minutes.

Let cool.

That's it! Easy, right? My bro's a very good pastry "chef" and he loves preparing different kinds of pastries for us. He loves cooking in general and that's one of the things I really miss about him.

Anyway, I'll be posting his recipe for his version of Chocolate Mousse Cake. It's soooo good. The cake reminded me of KFC brownies and the white chocolate, the choco mousse and the choco strips mixed so well. It'll really make your mouth water. It took me about 5 hours to finish a slice 'coz I can't get enough of it and I knew I still had to control my cravings. Gosh!

Here are photos of his Chocolate Mousse Cake. I'll post the recipe next.

Funny, when I finished editing and publishing this post, the Google Adsense ad at the bottom of the post page is "5 Tips to Lose Stomach Fat". So, the Adsense crawlers think that's related to my post, huh? Heehee!

Cebu Pacific 100,000 Piso Promo Seats All Sold Out?! Are You Kidding Me?!

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 05:58:00 PDT

Just a few hours ago, I blogged about Cebu Pacific's Piso Promo that's only available 'til November 2. I was about to book 6 round-trip tickets a few minutes ago only to find out that there were no available promo seats anymore. I knew about the promo this morning but I had to make sure Mai's family are okay with the schedules and all that.

I Googled for more information because I can't get anything on their site. The Piso promo ad is no longer there so I had this suspicion that it's no longer available or they cancelled it.

Guess what?!? I found their Twitter page (CebuPacific5J) and found out that all the 100,000 promo seats they allotted were already sold out. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!

The promo was available only for flights from June 15 to September 30, 2010. It's available for all domestic and international flights. And, they were only available for purchasing/booking from October 31 to November 2. Now, as much as I want to believe that they're REALLY all sold out, I can't.

100,000 seats sold out in less than 24 hours?!? Are you kidding me?! Sorry but I don't believe that the promo seats can be all sold out in less than a day.

So, now I'm thinking that Cebu Pacific's Piso Promo was all a trick. Or they didn't anticipate that lots of people would be availing of the promo in a very short time so they decided to NOT give all the 100,000 promo seats after realizing that there are many who would want to travel on the promo dates next year.. I just don't freaking believe that it can be sold out in less than 24 hours. In 2-3 days, maybe. But, not in less than 24 hours.

So, if you're like us looking for that Piso Promo, forget about it. I don't think Cebu Pacific even had the intention to give out all the 100,000 promo seats. Sheesh.

If the promo seats were for Summer 2010, October or December, I would've believed it. Or if we were in a vastly populated country, yeah. Most of the people I know didn't even know about the promo. And, I've been getting lots of visits regarding this promo today and they all seem to be wondering how they can take advantage of the Piso Promo seat since they can't seem to find it anywhere on the Cebu Pacific site anymore. Ridiculous, really.

Tsk tsk. I strongly disagree that the 100,000 promo seats they allotted are all gone, booked or purchased by REAL people. I really believe Cebu Pacific didn't have that intention to sell them all out.

By the way, while I was trying to book the flights earlier, their site was intermittently slow and inaccessible. It can be because there were 100,000 people trying to book their tickets online but if they're planning on offering promos like this, their site should be able to handle the bandwidth. Tsk tsk. Or maybe, they were updating the site and taking out the promo because they changed their minds not to give out the 100,000 promo seats anymore. Hmmm...

How about you?!?! Can you freaking believe it?!

I was thinking, if they've got 6,000+ followers in Twitter and they book 10 to 20 tickets each, that's possible. Argh. I still can't believe the seats were all sold out that fast. I hope they'd offer more promos soon and that their site can handle the demand. Sheeshhhhh.

This is becoming a live blog. I still can't get over the fact that I wasn't able to avail of the promo. Tsk tsk. I still think there's something sinister about the whole thing. We were able to avail of the Piso promo before and we only booked the flight 2 days after it started so it's just crazy that everything's sold out. Maybe they want to check first which flights were being booked the most and... okay okay, enough about this. I need to move on. LOLz.

Cebu Pacific One Peso Promo is Back!

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:37:00 PDT

Update: According to Cebu Pacific, all the 100,00 Piso Promo Seats were sold out... IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS. Are you kidding me?!?! I don't believe it. This was all a trick, eh? Read my post about it here.

Cebu Pacific is at it again! The 1-Peso promo is back and they're offering it for ALL domestic and International flights from June 15 to September 30, 2010.

The promo is only available from today, October 31 to November 2, 2009. So, what are you waiting for?!?! Hurry! It's only available if you book online or through any travel agents on Amadeus (no idea about this).

My nanay is actually planning on visiting us in Cebu next year, around Holy week and that's in April. So, yeah, too bad. But, I hope I can convince her to change their schedule so they can avail of this promo. Imagine, for the 3 of them (her, tatay and my bro), it'll only costs Php 891.60 and those are all round-trip tickets already!

Well, in case my nanay can't afford to change their sched because of responsibilities at work, I also tried booking for 6 people from Cebu to Manila in case Mai can convince her family to go here in Manila for a vacation from June to September 2010 instead. And it will only cost us Php 1,783.20 for 6 round-trip tickets! Oh my gosh, right? LOLz

So, if you have plans of visiting other parts of the country or even abroad, you've got 'til November 2 to think about it and book your flights online at CebuPacificAir.

Click here to book now @ CebuPacificAir.com.

Happy 29th Birthday to Me!

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:11:00 PDT

It's my birthday today. Yes, it's the start of my 29th year on Earth.

How did I celebrate my birthday? Well, there was really no celebration. I couldn't celebrate the way I wanted to because of the numerous medications I'm taking because of my condition.

A lot of my friends greeted me on Facebook and through text messages. I'm glad they remembered. Thanks to the birthday reminder feature of Facebook. Hehehe.

Anyway, my birthday's not complete, though, because Mai isn't with me. I'm still here in Manila with my family. Because of my condition, I had to prolong my stay here. This is my first birthday in 4 years that she wasn't with me so it's kinda sad 'coz I know she'd do everything to make this day special for me. She said that I'll just have an extended birthday celebration. We'll have our own celebration when I return to Cebu. I know how hard it is for her not to be with me on my birthday.

But, hey, my nanay brought home Greenwich pizza and lasagna, as I requested. And I had my brother buy me Jollibee 2-piece Chickenjoy and Tuna Pie yesterday as my own gift to myself 'coz I've been craving for it for weeks now. Yeah, all that greasy fast food made my day. Hehehe.

In my past birthdays, I always have friends come over and we drink all night long. Now, I guess I kinda grew tired of all that partying. But, of course, I still miss them because I remember having soooo much fun with my friends around. Now, I enjoy intimate celebrations with my life partner Mai and my family in Cebu or in Manila. But, I'm still looking forward to a drinking session with my friends next time when I'm back here in Manila and I'm in good health.

What's my birthday wish? Nothing extravagant. I just wish and pray for a long, healthy life, and the same for my loves ones, too. This is my first birthday that I wasn't in good shape. But, I'm doing better and will be completely okay soon, hopefully. I've already quit smoking (yes, 6 months nicotine-free!) so losing weight is next to my list. I really need to lose the weight I gained in the past years because of my lifestyle and PCOS. I know it won't be as easy as me quitting smoking 'coz I love food but I hope I can accomplish it in the next months.

Wish me luck!

Blogger's New Post Editor - Love It!

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:33:00 PDT

I am so loving Blogger's new post editor. Now, it feels like you're writing your blog in Microsoft Word or something. It's really making me want to blog more often!

If you haven't seen the updated or newest Blogger post editor, here's a peek:

One of the things I love about the new Blogger post editor is you have more control over the images that you upload and use on your blog posts! As shown in the example image above, when you upload a photo, you'd be given options such as the size of the image, its position or if you want to remove it. PLUS, you can now DRAG and DROP the images anywhere you want it! How cool is that?!?!

Yeah, I'm pretty excited about this whole post editor thing because now, I'm more inclined to blog more often than before.

Okay, now some of you might be confused about how to upload multiple images. The thing is you can only upload one image at a time. There are no more options to upload multiple images at once BUT you can add more photos to upload on the Photo Upload window one at a time and it will all show up one by one once they're completely uploaded. Here's an example:

Once they're all uploaded, you can click on the image you want to place on your blog post first then add the rest later on. Again, cool, huh?!?

What I hated about the old post editor was all the images are all on top of the blog post and you have to manually paste the image tags to wherever you want them placed. Now, Blogger gives you FULL CONTROL of the image positioning.

Sorry but I can't stop talking about having more control over the images because it's one of my major issues with the old Blogger post editor. I'm so glad they fixed it and I love the new editor.

Now, you might be wondering how you can activate or switch to the new editor. Well, just go to your Dashboard then go to the Settings tab -> Basic tab -> Scroll down until you see the following:

Simply select the updated editor and save your settings.

I hope you try the new Blogger post editor. I'm sure you'd love it, like I did.

Thanks, Blogger!

Corruption Plagues Ondoy Donations to DSWD

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:51:00 PDT

Someone I know posted a link to a blog post about what's happening to donations that were sent to DSWD for distribution to victims of the recent killer typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, and just a few days ago, Ramil.

This really pissed me off. In this time of need, when a lot of our countrymen are in desperate need for food, or anything to get them by the day after the killer typhoons destroyed their shelter and their lives, the government and its officials still had the guts to take advantage of the situation.

Please read and check out the photos on the blog post below:
http://pinoyfunnypictures.blogspot.com/2009/10/repost-from-blog-ni-ella.html

The original poster took those photos while they were volunteering at DSWD. I'm not really sure why the donations had to go through DSWD when they could've just been sent directly to Philippine Red Cross. Apparently, it was a directive from the President herself. I bet there were millions of donations that were coursed through DSWD that we won't even see or hear of. Sheesh!

If you check the blog post I mentioned, you'd know that there are tons of donations still with DSWD that haven't been packed and distributed yet to hundreds of our countrymen who need them. Why? Wala daw volunteers. Dammit. Have you seen the amount of people who volunteered to help Philippine Red Cross pack and distribute donations?!? And DSWD can't get a decent amount of volunteers to help them?!

Geez. What the hell is wrong with these people?!?! Do they really have to stoop this low and steal these donations away from those who need them?!? Where did their conscience go?!?

I can't believe this, really. And it pisses me off big time. I really believe in karma so ang Diyos na ang bahala sa kanila.

Please spread the word. Let everyone know about what's going on with the donations to DSWD.

Heroes of Newerth Account Registration is Now Open for a Limited Time Only!

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:07:00 PDT

Yes, you read it right! All you DotA addicts who have not played Heroes of Newerth yet, this is your chance!

Heroes of Newerth account registration is now open but for a limited time only.

Hurry before it's too late!

Click here to go to the HoN registration page.

My Nth Time with Another Incompetent Smart Bro CSR

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 06:14:00 PDT

I just got disconnected from a call I made to Smart Bro's customer service hotline. I was complaining about our poor internet connection at home in Cebu and this male Customer Service Rep disconnected the call while pretending that there's a problem with my connection to their hotline.

SHEESH! I've worked as a Team Leader and as a Quality Specialist in call centers before so I KNOW very well the "techniques" of CSRs to avoid calls, especially when the customer is pretty difficult to handle.

I've had similar experiences with Smart Bro's Customer Service department. That's why we switched to Bayantel years back. Most of their CSRs are plain incompetent. I wonder what kind of training they undergo because they sure hell need some spanking!

I know what ticked the CSR I was speaking with. I didn't agree to undergo all the useless troubleshooting with him because, like what I told him, I've already done everything that should be done because I'm very technically knowledgeable. Well, I actually had Mai do it since I'm still here in Manila but she's also techie so she knows what needs to be done.

I knew the problem was not within our premises because our internet connection is very good from morning 'til the afternoon. But for the past week, in the evening, we usually experience intermittent or no connection at all. That's what I told him when I was explaining why I don't think the problem is with the router we're using. But, no, he kept on insisting that I disconnect the router and connect the antenna directly to the goddamn computer. Sheesh! How incompetent and stupid can they get?!

He's lucky I didn't get his name. If I did, he'd wish he was dead.

Okay, just exaggerating. But, I'll make sure his supervisor and the whole department would know about it.

He sounded incompetent and like a newbie to me. He can't even say his scripts straight. Sheesh.

CSRs should all be trained on how to handle difficult customers, especially today when everyone is becoming more and more demanding when it comes to getting quality customer service.

Attention, Smart Bro Customer Service Department - better evaluate your CSRs.
I spoke to this very rude and incompetent CSR at 8:51pm today, October 18. The call lasted for a few minutes only because your CSR disconnected the call. I hope the call was recorded.
He pretended to complain about my connection to him, saying that the line was choppy, and then the line conveniently gets cut off while he was still saying "So nakarouter pala kayo..."

Tsk tsk. If he was my rep, he wouldn't get away with it. Wait, let me rephrase that. If he was my rep, he wouldn't even think about doing that to a customer 'coz I coach and guide my reps very well. And that's 1 thing I'm very proud of.

Hayyy... kakamiss tuloy mag-coach ng mga agents, lalo na mga pasaway. It's really gratifying to see naughty CSRs start behaving because of me and my coaching. Gosh. Magbuhat ba ng sariling bangko. LOLz.

UPDATES

The only thing good we got out of this complaint was we had the RJ45 cable replaced after Mai requested for it from the tech who came over. The cable wasn't the problem actually because we get good connection in the morning. Funny thing, though, the technician acted like that was what fixed the problem. Sheesh. Why does it always happen that when a technician comes over to fix your connection problem, it seems that everything's running perfectly okay?! That's just mind-boggling, really.

And regarding that rude CSR who hung up on me, I hope they made sure all the CSRs know that there are customers like me who do complain and can get their asses in trouble. Fear of receiving complaints against them should be instilled in these agents so they can take their jobs more seriously. Sheesh.

10/20/2009 (1.44am):
If you check the comments below, someone from Smart read this complaint and they're asking me to send them an email to investigate the disconnected call and our internet connection problem.
Well, I sent them the email just now, including screenshots of traceroute and ping tests performed by Mai at our home in Cebu to show them how BAD our connection is.
I really hope they can do something about this.
But it's good to know that they're also "online", y'know. That they actually care about what's being said about them online. I really hope, though, that they take action and finish the job to make customers happy.

Cafe World - My Newest Facebook App Addiction

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:07:00 PDT

If you're having troubles with anything while playing Cafe World, leave a comment below and I'll try to answer it for you.

I've been on Facebook for only a few months and I can tell you that the different Facebook applications got me so addicted that Mai and I never miss to include the different Facebook apps we play in our conversations. We're almost always in front of computers because of our internet cafe business so we got a lot of online time on our hands hehehe. Heck, the game/application feature of Facebook was what convinced me to finally update and jazz up my Facebook profile after months of no activity.

Currently, I'm playing Cafe World, Home Inn and Pet Society (another post coming up about that). I started out in Farm Town but I got so bored with the gameplay I had to leave my farm behind heehee. I needed something simple but challenging.

And that's what I love about Cafe World. The interface and gameplay is simple but there's the challenge of coming up with a unique design that works for you and making sure you have enough cooking up for your customers.

I did try Restaurant City but dang, I got bored the first few minutes I was playing it. The only thing I like about it was that you have control over the design of the outside look of your cafe. That's it.

Going back to Cafe World, when I first played it, it kinda reminded me of Farm Town in the sense that the recipes or dishes have their own cooking times that you need to remember so they won't spoil. After a few more days of playing it, I was hooked!

There are a lot of things I love about Cafe World. Let me tell you some of them:

It was created by Zynga, who brought us some of the most fun and addicting Facebook apps such as Texas Hold 'Em Poker, FarmVille, and the ever-popular Mafia Wars.
You won't experience too much lag or slow loading times when playing. Unlike with Restaurant City, where you have to wait too long before you get to play.
I love the concept of the cooking times for each dish. You have more control and for me, the gameplay won't get old so quickly because they seem to be adding more exciting features weekly. I can't wait for the new expansions!
I also love the fact that you need to conceptualize on what layout and design will work best for you. I had to try a couple of layouts before I reached this final design. My waiters can teleport the food to the tables and everyone gets served quickly. Still needs a lot of addons but we'll get to that soon! I'm starting to gradually replace all those cheap chairs with the Ciao Booth so I don't have that much money on me. Plus, I forgot to remove the doors when I logged out earlier so my buzz rating was really low. Just had to get it out there. LOLz.
You don't really have to worry about the ingredients of the dishes you prepare. I just hate that about Restaurant City. They made the game too complicated but at the same time boring for me.
You can help your friends earn more money by sending them gifts that they can serve their customers for a certain amount of money. Plus, all the customers will get served per gift so you'd really appreciate those people who actually send you gifts and it will also push you to send some back. Nice, eh?

Now, the only thing I don't like about Cafe World is how my avatar/chef and everyone else look like. They're too 2D. But I don't really care that much as long as they continue with the updates in-game.

TIPS on Playing Cafe World

How do you freaking close your cafe in Cafe World?!
Easy. Just remove all the doors. Anyway, you can get them back from your inventory without spending another dime.
This way, if you don't have any more food left, you can close your cafe while you got food cooking and just put them back when you're ready to serve them. This is good if you want to keep your buzz rating up.

Can't decide on your cafe's layout/design?!
Want some tips or ideas? Visit this forum thread to get some ideas: Show Off Your Cool Cafe

How to test your layouts if they'll work for you?
Why test your layouts in the first place? Well, with your new layout, some customers might not get served by your waiters. That's why you need to test your layout.
Now, how do you do it without losing any money? After you've applied your desired layout, observe. Check if there's any customer not being served with your current layout. If you see this problem, DON'T let your customers finish what they're eating! Why? So it won't affect your buzz rating when your dissatisfied customers leave your cafe.
Just switch back to design mode (click on the Customize or Chair icon) and do some changes with your layout and then test again.

Why are my waiters not serving some of my customers?
This is the most common question people are typing in Google which leads them to this post. There are just 2 reasons why some of your customers or all of them are not being served by your waiters:

The server is not yet recognizing your layout or it could be a server timeout. Try refreshing the game. If it continues, then click on the Customize (chair) icon and click on OK to see if the problem persists. If it continues, then, you need to change your layout.
Your current layout isn't effective and needs to be changed ASAP. Like what I mentioned on my previous tip, test your layout if there'll be some customers who won't get served. If you experience this, it means you need to clear your waiters' path to the customers table even when using teleportation. Just play around with your layout 'til all the customers are served. I had to test mine 5x before I got to my final layout that worked.

Want to increase your buzz rating?

Add more doors so more people can get in. Trust me, this works.
Make sure you have enough food. Don't leave your cafe open with no food to serve. Try cooking different dishes with different cooking times. I suggest close your cafe and then cook Spitfire Roasted Chicken on all your stoves. Then, once they've been served, open your cafe and cook other dishes with shorter cooking time.
Serve your customers faster by taking advantage of TELEPORTation. Heehee. Make sure your waiters' path to your customers tables are blocked so they won't walk all the way from the counters to the tables. It will save you time and you can serve more customers faster!

How to make more money?!

Send gifts so you can get some back. Use them when you have about 6 or more customers sitting so you won't waste them. I get about 10 gifts daily (my friends are all very kind = meaning they're all addicted to Cafe World, too, and they know I send gifts daily hehehe)
Of course, make sure you have enough food served/prepared for the time you'd be away from your cafe.
Check and compare the prices of the dishes when you buy them and how much profit you'd get when you've sold all the servings.
Visit your friends daily. Leave tips when you do so they'd be glad to tip you, too.
Get more people on your friends list to play the game! The more neighbors you have, the more money you'd get from the Daily Bonus. I get 5,000 daily because I got about 30 neighbors already.

How to Level Up Faster?
Well, if you have enough money, cook and then delete Spitfire ROasted Chicken. It'll give you 60 exp points everytime. It's really expensive to do that, though. But, if you're after leveling up faster, you can try this.
If you got too much time on your hands, continuously cook dishes with the shortest cooking times. It's kinda tiring though. I tried it like 3 consecutive times and I stopped 'coz it's really tiring.
Visit your friends daily. I don't religiously do this but I try. Also, you might observe that after visiting 20 friends, the exp points decrease to 1. At that point, I stop visiting unless when I really need coins hehehe.

MY WISHLIST for Cafe World
Here are a few things I wish they'd change in the game:

Fullscreen feature, just like in Farm Town. So you can really get into the game. Ack. I'm such a nerd. LOLz.
I find it kinda irritating that when I try to zoom out the whole browser page, the game screen doesn't zoom out but cuts parts on the right side of the game. I wish they'd do something about this 'coz I really prefer smaller game screens so I'd have access on all the buttons and icons (I'm using a wide LCD laptop screen).
No integrated photo feature so I had to take photos of my cafe manually - you know, PRINTSCREEN.

I really love Cafe World. I can't really wait for their weekly updates because I want to get the next expansion. If you haven't played the game yet but you're already playing other Facebook games, I suggest you try Cafe World. It's the newest addiction in Facebook today.

If you got any tips you want to share with me, things that you've tested yourself to be working, leave me a comment here. I'd love to try them out.

I Have PCOS & Myoma

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:58:00 PDT

Last week, I had myself checked at the Metropolitan Medical Center in Manila. We'll be switching HMOs this week so my nanay wanted us to use it for a general checkup before it expires. Instead of a general checkup, I went to get my eyes checked and to visit an OB-gyne regarding my irregular menstrual cycles.

I've been having irregular menstrual periods since I was still in college. I started out having periods for one month straight and none for 2-3 months straight. I thought it was normal because I started to take contraceptive pills back then (I don't really want to get into the details of that here). I didn't really consult my Nanay about it even though she's a Nurse and a Family Planning consultant. I just thought it was okay since I don't feel any pain at all. Alright, I'm scared of finding out I'm sick or something. What phobia is that? Never mind.

For the past 2 years, I've had the same menstrual cycle but most of the time, I experience really heavy menstrual flows. There were even days I had to wear overnight napkins because the regular ones just can't take all the flow. Still, I didn't have myself checked because I thought (alright, I was just looking for an excuse not to have myself checked 'coz I'm kinda scared of doctors) it was normal since I don't get my period for 2-3 months straight.

This year, it worsened. I've had really heavy menstruation since June. Nonstop 'til September. At first, I thought it'll stop by the end of July but it didn't. I started to feel anxious about what's going on but I didn't want to have myself checked in Cebu because I prefer my Nanay to be around (mommy's girl? LOLz) PLUS I don't want Mai's parents to shoulder all the expenses. I have my HMO card with me but I wasn't familiar yet with how to use it. Yeah, after years of being enrolled to different HMOs, I've never used any of them. Not even for teeth cleaning. Nada.

Alright, it's not just about the expenses, my HMO and my Nanay not being around. The main reason was I don't want her to worry about me. I know her very well. She'll be sick worried if she finds out anything negative about my health when I'm too far away from her. I know her too well. So, just imagine her reaction when I told her about my nonstop menstruation since June. I saw how worried she was and she lost some sleep that day. I told her not to worry too much since we'll have a checkup soon.

So, Wednesday came and we went to Metropolitan. After getting in touch with our HMO coordinator in MMC, I went to see the OB-gyne first. I was scheduled for 2 checkups - 1 with the OB-gyne and 1 with an opthalmologist.

I met Dr. Eva Caroline Tecson. My nanay made sure she was there with me during the whole consultation. As soon as I told Dr. Tecson about what I've been experiencing, she told me that I might have Polycystic Ovaries Syndrome (PCOS) because she can see that I've got too much hair going on on my face and arms. Sheesh. And all this time, I thought I was just "balbon". LOLz. Plus the fact that I'm overweight.
Kidding aside, she scheduled me for a Transvaginal Ultrasound (TVS) and Complete Blood Count (CBC) to check my platelet count. She wants to make sure I have PCOS and to find out if there's any other reason why I'm experiencing heavy menstruation. She's really good. I love that she was thorough when answering my questions and explaining why she's asking me to get the tests. Before we ended the consultation, she did a minor checkup and proceeded to instruct me to get the tests and go back to her. My nanay also had herself checked and was asked to get a TVS, too.

I went straight to the opthalmologist after my visit with Dr. Tecson. The Optha who did my checkup was Dr. Pimentel. He's also my tatay's doctor. I was wearing contact lenses at that time so he can't really measure my eyesight's grade. He just verified if I still have scars in my left eye. I told him about my plans on undergoing lasik surgery. Am I glad he was my doctor! He's actually one of the best opthalmologists in the country. He was even featured on TV. He is also teaching his specialty in UERM. He was also very accommodating and VERY thorough when he explained what will happen and the risks of lasik surgery. He even offered to include me to his list of patients for January so I can get a discount for the surgery. He's very warm so I love him already! He prescribed 2 eyedrops for me - 1 was an antibiotic and the other was an anti-allergy. He also mentioned that I shouldn't wear my contact lenses for 2 straight weeks before my lasik surgery so they can accurately get a reading of my eyesight grade.

By the way, I also found out through Dr. Pimentel that it's better for me to use disposable contact lenses than extended ones because of the dirt that accumulates on the lenses through time. Wow. And my previous optha (I won't name names) told me that it was better if I stick with extended ones and just make sure I clean them. Hah! Am I glad I'll be having lasik soon.

Anyway, after my visit to the optha, I hurried to get a CBC test and went to the 5th floor for my TVS. My nanay was with me during the whole test. I was praying the whole time. The doctor found MYOMA measuring 2 cm cyst inside my ovary. I looked at my nanay and she started getting worried. Good thing the doctor who was doing the test told us that it's just a small myoma and that we shouldn't worry too much. I was kinda scared, though, 'coz I thought I'd have to undergo surgery to have it removed. I couldn't wait to get Dr. Tecson's view on it. I'm glad we got the results of my CBC after 2 hours and my TVS in less than 30 minutes.

After my TVS, my nanay also had hers and she also found out she has 2 small myoma in her. They were smaller than mine. We were both worried at that time so we went back to Dr. Tecson's office. Unfortunately, she was out on a case - a patient of hers was giving birth. She told her assistant to ask us to wait for her and so we did.

When Dr. Tecson saw my CBC and TVS results, she said it's good that I don't have anemia even after months of heavy menstrual bleeding. And I'm glad she also said that the myoma found in me isn't something that I should worry about. She's not even going to have them removed. She said, though, that we'll be monitoring if it'll grow or something. So, she said I should at least get myself checked once or twice a year. Phew! Then, she prescribed Progesterone tablets (Norethisterone) that I should take 3 times a day for 10 days straight. She said that I should have regular menstruation after 2-3 days of taking the tablets. As soon as I get my period, I should start taking pills to help regulate my bleeding. It should stop within 7 days and if it doesn't, I'd have to go back and have her check me again. She also reminded me that I'd be experiencing discomfort, particularly with my breasts.

Because of the results of my checkup, my flight back to Cebu on the 19th was postponed. Mai and I had it moved to November 4 instead so I'll still have time to monitor my menstruation and go back to Dr. Tecson just in case. I am really praying and hoping that I wouldn't have to go back to her and that my menstruation will normalize. So far, my bleeding stopped. I'm on the 6th day of taking Progesterone so I'd know by next week if it worked. Please pray for my health. Thank you.

Still Want a Heroes of Newerth Beta Key/Account?

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:25:00 PDT

Want to PRE-PURCHASE Heroes of Newerth but you don't have the money to do it?! Read this:
Want to Pre-Purchase Heroes of Newerth?!
You can earn that $30 online... and I'm not kidding! S2 Games is accepting Paypal payments for pre-purchasing!

I know there are still a lot of you looking for Heroes of Newerth beta key.

PLEASE STOP POSTING COMMENTS on my other blog posts asking for a beta key.
I won't give you one. Why? 'Cause I hate reading off-topic comments on my blog posts.

For the lazy ones who still didn't completely understand my instructions on my previous posts about Heroes of Newerth, I'M NO LONGER GIVING OUT HoN beta keys. It's starting to irritate me that some people can't even bother to read my post. If they did, they could've saved themselves the trouble of posting comments and whatnot. Sheesh. It's not even funny anymore.

Anyway, if you're still itching to play Heroes of Newerth, I've got fantastic news for you...

Be a Fan of Heroes of Newerth on Facebook.
They'll be opening up beta registrations for 24 hours once they hit 200,000 fans on Facebook. Just click here to go and view their Facebook fan page.

As of this writing, there are 181,022 fans. So, hurry! Be a fan now and just wait for the fan update on when they'll open beta registration. My guess is that it'll happen by tomorrow, basing on how fast I see their # of fans increase by the minute.

So, AGAIN, stop posting on my blog asking me for a beta key. I DON'T HAVE ANY BETA KEYS ANYMORE! I already gave out all of my beta keys.

And please, stop asking why you can't post comments on this blog post. I disabled it.

Good luck with your HoN registration! Cyah in-game!

My Photobucket Account Exceeded 10GB Bandwidth Limit

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:39:00 PDT

For sure, you've noticed that my blog header and all other images here on my blog aren't showing up. And in their places, you'd see that irritating "Bandwidth Exceeded" and Photobucket is giving me the option to activate them ASAP by upgrading to Pro. I'm not interested in doing that just yet. Maybe next year, I will.

Wow. Didn't know I could exceed their limit. It was pretty surprising for me because in the past months, I never had this problem. I guess I'll have to switch to Google's free image hosting instead of Photobucket. But, we'll see.

Any other free image hosting sites you can recommend?

Sorry for the inconvenience but I'm working on fixing this image problem ASAP.

Excuse all the dust while I do that. :)

Update:
I managed to upload my blog header and images in half of my blog posts to my Google Picasa account. I'll stick with Google from now on. I don't want to experience this hassle again.

I still need to upload and update some of the old photos on my posts in the past months so please bear with me. Thanks!

Congratulations, Kenneth! You're now a Graduate!

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 11:02:00 PDT

I am dedicating this blog post to all the graduates this October 2009, especially my brother and his friends over at Our Lady of Fatima University in Valenzuela.

My only sibling, my beloved brother (naks), Kenneth, graduated today, October 11th, 2009. He graduated with a degree in BS Nursing. Their graduation was held at PICC at 12noon today.

I'm glad that he gave in when I asked him to attend his graduation ceremony so our parents and I can attend with him. I told him that it's going to be his gift to our Nanay for everything she sacrificed and did for us to get proper education. I know that deep inside, my brother still wanted to attend his graduation but is just keeping this crazy thought that attending his own graduation ceremony is NOT COOL. C'mon. Whoever thought of that MUST be crazy, right?

Anyway, Mai and I went back here in Malabon for a vacation and, of course, for my brother's graduation. Unfortunately, though, Mai couldn't stay longer 'coz of responsibilities back in Cebu (our internet cafe). Only my whole family was able to attend my brother's graduation.

I was supposed to be the photographer but unfortunately, I failed to take decent photos and videos DURING the ceremony. There were some "technical" difficulties PLUS my brother's "SHYNESS" (I call it kaartehan, honestly) so I only got to take 2 photos of him and they were not even of average quality. And that's why I'm not going to post them. Okay, I'll post the video on Youtube and will post it below this paragraph later. (Wow. Real-time/Live blogging. Huh? Never mind hehehe)

Good thing my brother brought his Canon digital camera with him the whole time so he was able to capture some photos of him (with the help of his friends) before and during the ceremony. I took most of the photos after the ceremony so he'd have photos with his friends who also graduated today.
Of course, we had some photos taken with him, too. Good thing our Tatay was able to enter the theater where the ceremony was held so we could take photos with him inside the theater.

After the photo shoot (naks), we went to Aristocrat in Roxas for dinner and as our celebration for Kenneth's graduation. Here are some photos I took:

We ordered Lechon Kawali, Chopsuey, Pansit Bihon, Sisig, and Sweet & Sour Fish Fillet. Kenneth also ordered Pork Barbecue. Yum! Here are photos of the food we ordered and us dining.

After dinner, we went straight home. They're now all sleeping but me. I just wanted to finish downloading, editing and uploading all the photos we took today because I'm tired of me procrastinating yet again hehehe.

Lastly, I would like to show you the digiscrap page I made for my brother for his graduation.

To Kenneth: Congratulations, kapatid! Words aren't enough to describe how proud I am of you and what you've accomplished so far. I know you have a long journey ahead of you but I know you'd do great things! I love you so much, bro! Sorry if I can't stay 'til your birthday but I hope you know that you're in my heart and mind wherever I am.

Like what I said on the scrap page I made for you, wherever you go, whatever the weather, always bring your own SUNSHINE. 'Coz you are on top of my list of people who bring sunshine to my life. Whatever you decide to do in the future, I'm always here to back you up. And you should know by now that you got Nanay and Tatay's support, too.

Again, my beloved brother, CONGRATULATIONS!!

What Time Is It?

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 08:09:00 PDT

I've never been really fond of watches. I used to wear a watch everyday when I was still in high school and a few years into college. I stopped wearing them because watches usually last only for a few months with me. Why? Because I easily break them. So, I just told my nanay to stop buying me watches because it's just going to be a waste of money.

How do I keep track of time, you might wonder. Well, I have my cellphone with me everytime. That's why I got used to not wearing a watch for the past decade.

But, when I got home last week, Monday to be exact, my nanay proposed that we go shopping for a watch that she'll give my brother as a graduation gift. Then, she said that she wants to buy me a watch, too. Something that should last a bit longer than my previous watches.

So, we went to SM North Edsa. I was a bit surprised with the new buildings and the new design of SM City in QC. Anyway, going back to the watch, we went to some of the jewelry shops there and found nothing that was close to my liking. I don't want to push myself to liking any of the designs because if I do that, I'll end up not using the watch. Might as well think over it twice before actually buying it.

When we got home, I searched the web for different watch designs and found something that I particularly liked - Michele Watches.

Alright, I can't really afford to buy these watches but damn, I love their designs. They're unique and very fashionable.

I love their Tahitian Ceramic Watch Collection, particularly this one:
Yes, those are real diamonds on the watch. Definitely, if I get my hands on one of those (in my dreams), I can't wear that in Monumento or Colon/Carbon in Cebu. Hahaha.

Expired Medicines: To Take or Not To Take?

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:31:00 PDT

I've been contemplating on this medicine bottle pictured below:

It's my Calcium supplements. I've been thinking since last week if I should continue taking them even when it says on the label that it will expire this month. Now that it's October 1st, I decided to do some research before I gulped one this afternoon.

I found these 2 very interesting articles that you might want to read:
Do Medications Really Expire?
When Do Medications Actually Expire?

If you don't want to read, let me just give you the gist of these 2 articles. According to them, the expiration dates on medicines were just put there by manufacturers mostly because it's not going to be profitable for them if they don't. Plus, it's a requirement for them to put expiration dates on medicines, it's mandated by law.

Also, based on these 2 articles, the expiration date on medicines is just a marking point for manufacturers to let us consumers know that the meds might have lost their potency or their intensity after that date. But, it doesn't mean that it's no longer safe to still take them. Heck, the author of the Medscape.com article I mentioned above even proves that a 4-year expired Tylenol still worked for his mother-in-law.

HOWEVER, according to both articles, not because the expiration date doesn't reflect exactly how long a medicine would have its effect or potency, we should ignore it completely. IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDED ON THAT MEDICINE, after the expiration date, TOSS IT! If it's just for headaches, upset stomach, or, like mine, a Calcium supplement, it's okay to take it as long as it doesn't look rotten or something.

Soooo... I took that Calcium med earlier. I don't feel anything crazy. I just don't want to throw it away since it still has about 50+ tablets in it.

Wow. I love this new knowledge. :)

A Call to Help Ondoy Typhoon Victims

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:51:00 PDT

Would you like to donate to Ondoy typhoon victims?

Here are important links and contact #s that you need so you can donate and/or help:

Philippine Red Cross - Ways to Donate
(http://www.redcross.org.ph/Site/PNRC/wtd.aspx)
You can coordinate with your local Red Cross. They need volunteers now to help pack and distribute the donated goods to various parts of the affected areas in Luzon and Metro Manila.

Click here to check Philippine Red Cross Local chapters where you can walk in to volunteer to help or where you can bring in your donations.

National Disaster Coordinating Council
Visit their site to find out where you can drop off your donations for Ondoy victims. They also posted their bank account # for your donations.

I hope there's a way to donate online, using Paypal. I've seen it somewhere but I don't know if they're legit. Will try to find some other way to help when I go back to Manila next week.

Jacque Bermejo - Is She the Devil or the Victim?

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:19:00 PDT

Please read updates at the bottom of this post so we can help Jacque.

DISCLAIMER: I know how very mad people are with Jacque Bermejo. I'm actually one of those who were FURIOUS when I read that insensitive post. I am in NO WAY related to her. I don't know ANYONE close to her. And this post is NOT written to DEFEND her but to make people THINK that MAYBE, there's some truth or possibility that someone's really out to ruin her life. PLEASE READ MY WHOLE POST before leaving a NASTY comment.

Jacque Bermejo - she's one of the most famous Filipinos to-date. No, she's not a celebrity. She's not even a hero. So why the hell is she so popular?!?

I actually posted some kind of introduction to this person on my previous blog post about the typhoon Ondoy and its destruction of most parts of Manila, Philippines. But, let me give you more details about this person.

Jacque "allegedly" posted the following on the Facebook group Definitely Filipino last Sunday, when killer typhoon Ondoy flooded the streets of Metro Manila and destroyed and took lives of my countrymen:

It was a VERY insensitive comment from a fellow Filipino. Heck, it's a damn self-righteous, insensitive comment from a HUMAN BEING. This comment angered hundreds of Filipinos (including me) that were members of Definitely Filipino and they started posting screenshots of Jacque's post for everyone to see. This started an ONLINE WAR against Jacque Bermejo.

People started researching about her. There were people who posted her phone numbers, where she works, where she lives in Manila, and her other social networking sites. Her Multiply account, http://starfishbuang.multiply.com, was flooded with curses, mockery and funny posts from thousands and thousands of angry netizens. I even saw a few that weren't Pinoys. That's how mad people were because of her comment.

Some of you might say that people's reactions were EXAGGERATED. That we should focus all our energy instead on helping those who are in need. But, can you really blame them?!? Let them flare. Let them flood her with spam and hate messages. That's what she deserves for that nasty comment. You can't blame these Jacque haters because they're mad at her insensitivity, her self-righteousness. Just because she's living in a different country doesn't mean there's not a bit of her that's Filipino, that she's better than us. Her color, her nose, everything about her, she owes to being a Filipino.

Now, the point of this post. This isn't another Jacque-hate blog post. This is where I actually want to share my "speculations" as to the true identify of this Jacque Bermejo who posted that nasty comment. There were news and rumors that her brother claims that Jacque's Facebook account was hacked and the hacker was the one doing all these damage to her name. Here's a quote from TheGossiper. According to the brother:

ok! it all started sa Friendster last year 2008, my sister told me that her account was hacked by someone mad at her prolly inggit or may galit... she really doesn't know or what's the reason why she has been hacked, of corse she's pissed off because this person keeps messing up her friendster profile. So, hinayaan lang ng sister ko yun, since wala nmn xang alam sa social networking or kung ano man, she's a working woman na at wala xang panahon magfriendster.

Ngayon naman this issue has been spreading about her posting such harsh words:
"buti n lg am hir in dubai maybe so many sinners bak der!so year deerving wat happend!"

Ang ate ko hindi ganyan kung magenglish, edukada sister ko at nag graduate sa UP. We came from a PROVINCE and part of a political family. Hindi basta basta si ate jack magpopost na magsisira sa family name namin. Dumaan din kami sa hirap, at for your information binagyo din ang lugar namin, TATLONG BESES. Why in the world will my ate as a filipino disgrace our family and citizen, sana po wag muna kayo manghusga.

Hintayin lang po sana ung explaination, for she doesn't have internet nor load right now, its around 3am-4am at dubai, and I have hard times contacting her myself.

Kung sino ka man gumagamit ng pangalan ng ate ko, mahahannap ka din ng mga bermejo.

Now, do I believe the brother? NO. But could there even be a slight probability that what he's saying is true? YES.

Initially, I didn't even think that the hacked account thing might be true, that they were just trying to save their ass for that stupid comment. But, after all my anger subsided for a bit, I started to analyze everything.

#1: It's VERY easy to pretend to be someone else on any social networking site.
If you don't believe me, you're too naive. Take for example my partner Mai's sister, Ann. This happened just a few weeks ago. Okay, scratch that. Actually, it's still happening. Her desperate ex-boyfriend couldn't live without her and can't accept the fact that Ann doesn't want him anymore. He hacked her Facebook account (actually, not really hacked 'coz he knows her password 'coz they shared their passwords 'coz they've been together for 4 years already. Y'know, Ann already trusted him.) He started posting nasty status messages using her Facebook account, like "i'm so hot", knowing that Ann's parents, family and friends had no idea that her account was already hacked. When Ann told us about this, I sent an email to Facebook to report this and eventually, her hacked account was deleted.

Did the guy stop? No. He created another Facebook account and started posting photos of them so close to each other. This angered me, Mai and Ann. He also started posting some photos of Ann that shouldn't have been made public. They weren't pornographic in nature but we know that Ann won't let those photos be posted by anyone. I sent the guy messages through that new account and told him how desperate he's looking, that he should get a life and move on. He replied, thankfully, and claimed that he's only doing that 'coz he loves Ann so much. I said thankfully because that reply was actually my proof that he was using Ann's name to ruin her. I told him that he's only hurting Ann with what he's doing. After that dialogue, he deleted the photos from that new account and we thought that we won't be hearing from him anymore.

We were wrong. He created yet another account. This time, though, he took someone else's photo and pretended to be that person. He couldn't seem to control himself and he sent a message to Ann's mom. He was asking her if Ann had duty that day (Ann's a nursing student). He used to that a lot - sending text messages to Ann's mom pretending to be her classmate and he'd tell Mama that Ann actually doesn't have classes that day. He knows that Mama would scold Ann for leaving the house and lying to her. Unfortunately for him, Mai and I were with mama and we saw that message. That's when we realized that he was Ann's ex.

So, why did I even tell that story here? Well, it's because I wanted to show you that THERE ARE people who can do such things like hack an account or pretend to be someone else to ruin their image, their lives. Ann was just lucky enough to have people like me and Mai who did everything we could to teach that guy a lesson. Unfortunately, though, it seems that he never will learn 'coz he still continues to create accounts just to piss us off.

With most people having the convenience of internet access at their own homes these days and the low rental rates at internet cafes, I do not doubt that Jacque Bermejo COULD BE yet another victim of these lamers. All you need is the person's first and last name, a photo of them (if you got more than 10, the better so you'd look more convincing), some info about them (their birthday or age, where they live, etc), a few of their friends' names, and a fake email address. That's it! Very easy, huh?

#2: The Multiply site http://starfishbuang.multiply.com is just too funny.
Unfortunately, as of this writing, Jacque's Multiply page has been cancelled. Someone might have reported it to Multiply or the owner cancelled it. But I found the site too funny for words. Why?

- There was a post there saying something like "starfishes have no brain so maybe that's why I'm like this" in a bad English text-speak version. I don't think anyone in his or her right mind would compare himself/herself to a starfish that has no brain. It's like calling yourself an IDIOT. Okay, SCRATCH THAT. I know there are some very NAIVE people who can actually do that.

- There were photos of Jacque on there and there were captions like "look at me, i'm so beautiful" or something to that effect (damn, I can't find my screenshot). Again, like my first point for #2, it's kinda funny to actually praise yourself, especially your looks, on photos you posted. But, then again, I know a lot of people and I've seen a lot of profiles where the owners actually call themselves "cute", "pretty", and "gorgeous" (among other things) on their photos' captions. LOL

- When I saw Jacque's photos, she doesn't look like she's working as a MAID or a SLAVE to anyone. She seems to be working as a professional in a decent office. According to people's research, she's a Marketing and PR Officer. So, what I'm saying is she might not be as CHEAP as we thought she is. That fact might be another proof to support that she doesn't speak poor, text-speak English. But, then, again, I know some people who work as professionals but still talk and act like they're not. Now, I wonder, when will I get to my point? LOLz

#3: There are people who can do any kind of nasty things to people they hate.
I want to go back to what I said earlier - it's pretty easy to pretend to be someone else and ruin that person's life when you have internet access.

Let's be fair to Jacque for even a minute and think about this possibility - someone hates her SO MUCH that he/she created a Facebook account to maliciously ruin her name. That lamer started to be creative and realized that the Ondoy tragedy was the perfect time for him/her to finish Jacque off. One simple nasty, insensitive comment on an all-Filipino Facebook group can start the fire, knowing where and how to push the Pinoy netizens' buttons. We have history of starting an online war against people who say nasty things about Filipinos and our country, so that surely did the trick. Now, Jacque's life is ruined, and so is her family's.

While checking updates on this whole Jacque-hate thing, I found this on TheGossiper. They claim that this was a post from Jacque Bermejo, telling her side of the story:

I am issuing this statement to clear my name in the current controversy in which I allegedly posted a highly insensitive and offensive message on the social networking website, Facebook, in relation to the victims of typhoon Ondoy that recently struck parts of the Philippines.

About two years ago, an anonymous source created these accounts using my identity, posting my personal details, my real pictures captioned roughly and attacking other people. Because of these incidents, I reported such abuses and sent my credentials to the administrators of such sites, particularly Facebook. I have been abused and am still being abused online in social networking websites such as Facebook, Friendster, Multiply etc.

In the early stages, I was advised by close friends to ignore the situation, saying this would simply go away. Unfortunately, it has not stopped. Hence, I filed a complaint with the Dubai Police about eight months ago hoping they could help me with my problem. Should anyone wish to check my statement, my case is still under investigation with said authorities.

Time passed and these sites continued to generate malicious, obscene and cruel messages that are widely exposed and relayed to the public under my name.

Yesterday, September 27th 2009, I received phone calls from my close friends regarding very alarming posts in the above mentioned websites that directly offended flood victims as a result of typhoon Ondoy..

These malicious statement(s) which are posted under account names Jacque or Jackie are not of my doing. It is unfortunate that such statements were maliciously attributed to me and I do sympathize and understand the adverse and somehow verbally violent reaction that has been elicited by such insensitive statements or posts. Rest assured, I have taken every legal step that can be done in this regard.

I too, have become a victim as much as those who may have lost their lives and properties to such a devastating natural calamity. This recent controversy has greatly affected my reputation, my family, and my friends. I am devastated and shocked at the extent my character, my personal information and private space have been violated.

I have a deep respect and regard for my country. I am proud to be a Filipino and would never say or do anything to harm the interest of my country or countrymen. I have also had the privilege of participating in civic-oriented activities in Dubai, particularly in trying to help my fellow countrymen seek employment during the height of mass layoffs brought about by the ongoing global financial crisis, as well as those seeking employment for the first time. Making a mockery of any unfortunate incidents befalling any of my fellow Filipinos is simply contrary to my character. I condemn the person or persons behind these malicious acts to impute damage on my integrity and I hope that you can dig deep into your hearts and minds to truly find the truth in all these.

I actually finished reading that whole block of text just now, AFTER I've started writing this blog post. I've searched everywhere trying to find out if this Jacque Bermejo was already interviewed on TV or video but I found nothing.

Now, the purpose of me writing about her and the whole situation is because I want everyone to stop, think and put yourself in her shoes. What if her account was INDEED hacked or someone else is using her name in an attempt to ruin her life? How would you feel and react if you were Jacque? Me? I'd be terrified and SAD.

I know how much popularity this issue has gotten and I'm still amazed that no TV station has tried to help Jacque if indeed this was true. Or maybe, she was already interviewed and they realized that Jacque can actually do such a thing.

SERIOUSLY. Jacque needs to show herself and have herself interviewed LIVE or on TV so she can tell her side of her story HERSELF. I want to hear her speak in English during the whole interview so she can get people to believe her. I know I won't believe her if she doesn't speak in English during the whole interview. But, then, again, I know some people who are very good when conversing orally in English but when they start writing or composing anything written in English, they fail. But, at least, it'll kinda help in proving that she can't be that same person who posted that comment.

HONESTLY, I believe that it was the real Jacque Bermejo who posted that comment and she's just trying to save her ass NOW. Why? 'Cause I know that people are capable of saying such things even in a horrible time like this. But, I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt. She needs to clear her name if she wants to save herself and her family from all these hatred from Filipinos. In any way she can. No matter how impossible it is to make everyone believe her NOW. I'm not kidding. SHE NEEDS TO DO IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE for her sake, and her family's.

*sigh* Let's see what's going to happen in the next few days.

10/01/2009:
Someone posted a comment (check below) with a link to the article below over at GulfNews.com
Fake web posting on floods triggers tsunami of vitriol

First of all, I wrote this blog post because I want people to CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITY that Jacque is the victim here. You can't blame people for doubting. All we need is proof. It was just normal for people to react so negatively towards what was posted by the Jacque hacker because there are people who CAN say things like that even in worse situations than the Ondoy tragedy. So, now that we have some proof that she was a victim, I really hope that people would CALM DOWN and think.

I'm sorry to hear that Jacque's life was tremendously affected by this. I'm not sure if people will start believing that she wasn't the one who posted that nasty comment. But I really pray she can get her life back.

And I really hope that loser who started all this will burn in hell. I'm not kidding. Including everyone who posted self-righteous comments about the Ondoy tragedy. God knows who you are.

Ondoy Tragedy, Jacque Bermejo, & Prayer for Pinoys

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:26:00 PDT

If you haven't heard yet about the killer typhoon Ondoy that hit the Philippines Saturday night and caused a month's worth of rain to pour down in just 6 hours last Sunday, then, you should start reading the news more often.

Anyway, this was the 2nd flood that caused so much damage and lives (1st was the Ormoc, Leyte flood) here in my country, the Philippines. There were a lot of people affected, even from areas you wouldn't expect would get flooded - Makati, City of Manila, etc.

Watching these videos would show you how lives were devastated by Ondoy:

It's a huge tragedy and a lot of Filipinos weren't ready for it. I'm in Cebu and we didn't feel how strong this typhoon was 'til we saw videos and photos in Facebook. I was so worried about my own family in Malabon, one of the areas in the Philippines that has been hugely affected by floods in the past years. But, to my surprise, they weren't affected at all, except for the power outage. Navotas and Malabon were not affected compared to the rest of Metro Manila, which was a huge relief for me 'coz I couldn't imagine how they'll survive the floods last Sunday. I guess the dam and all the roadworks that were done to these towns resulted to them being "spared" from all the flooding caused by Ondoy.

Self-Righteous, Heartless Pinoys

Everytime we experience flood in Malabon and Navotas, I always blame people for being irresponsible in throwing their trash, and I hate the local government for not doing anything good enough to resolve the flooding. And when I saw this tragedy, I did think that in the back of my head - that we could've saved those many lives if only we were responsible enough to keep our drainage systems clog-free. However, I didn't post anything about it, I didn't even have a minute to blame myself and my countrymen for what happened. Why? 'Cause I saw how much destruction this flood caused my country. I was heavy-hearted to see the videos of the flood and its after-effects.

That's what I don't understand about people like the now-famous (in a really bad way) Jacque Bermejo, Flex Naval, lizard_man, makati_girl and the rest of them heartless morons.

About Jacque Bermejo. If you don't know what started her fame, here's a comment she posted on Facebook:

Translation: "Good thing I'm here in Dubai. Maybe there are so many sinners back there (Philippines) so you just deserve what happened."

She posted that Sunday when the flood caused by Ondoy was devastating most of Manila and putting the lives of her countrymen in peril. Take note, she's also a Filipino!

Her comment generated a LOT and I mean A LOT of negative reactions from Filipino netizens. They flooded her Facebook account with messages, curses, and mockery. There were even people who researched on her identity, her background, her life and they found her Multiply and Friendster accounts. Heck, they even got her contact #. That's how mad the Filipino netizens were because of what she posted.

It was so irresponsible, self-righteous and stupid of her to post something like that on Facebook, especially now that most Filipinos have internet access and news can easily travel to different groups of people nationwide. Ever heard of the UP student who killed cats? He was bombarded with hate messages even from non-pet lovers because of a blog post about how he enjoyed hurting and killing a cat. And, now this?!

(I'll have another post entirely dedicated to her stupidity or my speculations about some people claiming that the real Jacque Bermejo had no idea about what's happening 'coz someone hacked her account and all that blah.)

Update: Jacque Bermejo - Is She the Devil or the Victim?

Gulfnews: Fake web posting on floods triggers tsunami of vitriol - The REAL Jacque Bermejo was already interviewed by one of the news sites in the Gulf. Please read and share with others. Let's help her get her life back.

And then I read this post from Flex Naval:

Translation: "You're all stupid. Your reaction to the rain is just exaggerated."
And there were a couple of replies to that post that I'll also translate:
Cathy Symaco: "Who told you to leave the house when the heavy rains started the night before?"

How stupid can these people get?! OA? Exaggerated? Didn't you see how much damage the rain caused? How many lives it took?! Damn assholes. Idiots. Then that Cathy comment, did she even think that there were people who went to work Saturday because they still have to earn a living because only classes can be cancelled during bad weather?! Again, IDIOT.

Then, I saw this post from makati_girl and lizard_man from Pinoy Exchange:

lizard_man: "Ang Pinoy ay di dapat magreklamo sa BAHA dahil ang kanilang KATONTOHAN ang sanhi nito. Tapon ng tapon ng basura sa kung saan saan... yan ang KULTURA ng PINOY... tapos kapag binabaha, NGANGAWA-NGAWA. Walang dapat sisihin ang mga Pinoy kundi mga sarili nila. Hindi dapat kaawaan ang Pinoy sa kanilang kalagayan. Dapat ay ang maging tingin ng mundo sa kanila ay karapat dapat lang na mangyari sa kanila yan dahil hindi sila nag e-EVOLVE. Sige, huwag kayo magbago ha. Pagpatuloy niyo lang yan Pinoy at ang susunod na baha ay parang sa istorya ni Noah na halos lahat ng tao mamatay. Sabagay magandang population control yan para sa Pilipinas para mabawas-bawasan ang mga TONTO sa mundo. (roflol emoticon)"

Translation: "Filipinos should not complain about the flood because their stupidity caused the flood. They throw trash everywhere - that's the culture of Pinoys. Then, when it starts flooding, they whine. There's no one else to blame but Pinoys themselves. They should not be pitied because of their situation now. People in the whole world should realize that Pinoys deserve what they got or experienced because they never evolved. Go ahead and do not change. Continue what you're doing and the next flood will just be like the story of Noah's ark when almost everyone died. Anyway, that's a good way to control population in the Philippines so there'll be less idiots in the world."

makati_girl:
"It is just natural selection manifesting itself. Nature is just de-selecting Pinoys for existence in this world. Only the fittest deserve to survive. As a society, Pinoy society is proving unfit for this world of civilizations. People throw garbage everywhere, they elect corrupt and incompetent people in the Government, they just don't think enough. This is why these things will keep happening to Pinoys. It is natural selection before our very eyes. Pinoys have not evolved so yeah, Pinoys will be extinct except for those smart enough to leave Pinoy society or stay on top by changing their cultures. I really don't feel sorry for Pinoy society for what is happening to them. I am Japanese and Chinese by heritage by the way so there."

Wow. Take note, again, that these comments came from Filipinos. And from their comments alone, I know that they don't have any relatives or friends who were affected by the flood. If they did, OMG, that's way worse!

First of all, yeah, they have a point. Like what I mentioned earlier on this post, our drainage systems in most parts of Manila maybe clogged by trash, which was the major factor that resulted to the flood. I get that. I know that. But, damn, did I go out starting threads in forums and Facebook blaming us Pinoys for what happened? I didn't. Because I believe that THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR ANY BLAME GAME. This is the time to help one another, to pray for our countrymen who are in deep troubles after the flood.

What's even funnier about these heartless Pinoys' comments were they didn't even mention that they actually care about what's happening to their countrymen. No, they just went around lashing out at Pinoys. How sadistic of you, people. Not because people throw garbage everywhere, they deserve to die in a flood, lose their loved ones, and their properties. It's just mean to even think that. Sheesh.

I am a strong believer that people can change. Take for example people from Malabon and Navotas. I'm not saying a lot of them did their part but because of the floods that they've been experiencing almost everytime it rains, they learned their lessons not to throw their garbage just everywhere. The local government also tried their best to fix the roads and the dam. We learn from experience. GIVE YOUR COUNTRYMEN A BREAK AND A CHANCE TO CHANGE. Lashing out at them or ridiculing them and wishing they were dead won't help, IDIOTS.

I feel so MAD about all these nasty comments that Pinoys deserve what happened in Manila from other PINOYS. Actually, even if it came from anyone else of different nationality, I would feel the same - mad at their insensitivity. Stop the blame game and for now, let's all work hand-in-hand to help those who suffered and are still suffering because that's the only thing we can do now to HELP our countrymen get a chance to CHANGE.

Thank you, Lord, that my family in Malabon is safe. Please help those who are in need and I pray that they'll be able to start afresh after all the destruction that they've experienced in the past 2 days. Bless those people who are opening their hearts and minds to help those who are in need. And please open the hearts of those people who can't see through their prejudices and self-righteousness so they can, too, help those who are in REAL need.

Related Articles on the Web:
Philippine National Red Cross - Ways to Donate
Hollywood stars tweet for ‘Ondoy’ victims

In My Life - (Review) - It's A Must-See Movie!

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 01:28:00 PDT

Our friends Lindon and Joseph are here in Cebu 'til Tuesday for a vacation and to celebrate their 2nd anniversary. And today, we went to Ayala Mall to watch "In My Life", a movie starring Vilma Santos (Shirley), John Lloyd Cruz (Noel) and Luis Manzano (Mark).

The story revolves around these 3 people. Mark is Shirley's only son and Noel is Mark's boyfriend. Yes, Luis and John Lloyd played gay characters. That was the first shock when I found out. I thought the movie was going to revolve around the 2 of them, you know, how hard it is to accept gay relationships here in the Philippines where most parents are still conservative. I thought it's going to be a coming out story. But, it wasn't.

Shirley was a very stiff mother who works as a librarian. She has 3 kids - Mark who works and lives in New York, a daughter who's in Australia and another daughter who still lives with her but who has her own family. Well, okay, I didn't pay attention to the names of the daughters 'coz I was really focused on the main characters.

Shirley did know about Mark and his sexuality but they never dealt with it or discussed it. I thought the movie was going to be mostly about Shirley and her son Mark. It wasn't. I loved that the movie's plot leaned towards the relationship between Shirley and Mark's boyfriend, Noel. Okay, I'm biased. I love John Lloyd. His acting in this movie was phenomenal.

This movie is a must-see for families out there, especially those who are secretly hurting or have some kind of unresolved differences. It hit me so hard that I was crying a river inside the cinema. There were so many scenes and dialogues that were very familiar. It's like the scriptwriter knew me, my nanay and my brother Kenneth. Damn!

I remember when I decided to move here to Cebu permanently. I knew and I can see how hard it is for my Nanay to see me go and live far away from her. It was so damn hard for me, too. She said, if she only knew that I'd be leaving her, she would've had more kids so she won't be alone. *Sigh* I heard that line in "In My Life". Well, not exactly that but the part when Shirley felt she's still alone even when she had 3 kids.

My nanay used to be so damn stiff, too. She used to treat us as her kids only, like we're her property and we should only do whatever she wants us to do. But something happened between me and her that changed her for good. I don't want to talk about that here but let me just say that she became a friend to my brother and I. She started to laugh with us, joke around with us. She became more forgiving and understanding. My brother kinda experienced more difficult times with her but I was there to keep them both "sane" and avoid fighting each other.

But the part where Shirley's kids felt like they'll never be good enough for her, it kinda hit me hard, too, and more for my brother I guess. My nanay had high expectations of us but she never mocked us or our abilities. She wasn't the all out support nanay but she did her best to be there and support us in our decisions. She's not that expressive, as well. I guess my brother and I got that from her. We don't usually show how proud we are of each other's achievements. My nanay will usually just tell us "That's just good", "Buti naman", or something to that effect but she won't stop talking about how proud she is of us when she's with her friends. In short, mayabang ang nanay ko. Mayabang din kami ng kapatid ko. Hahahaha.

Going back to the movie (sorry, got carried away), it was a perfect fit for Vilma's comeback. As in. And with John Lloyd with her in most dramatic parts of the movie... priceless! Luis also did a decent job in this movie, especially when he was with his real-life mom Vilma at the lake having a picnic. Gosh. Mai was also heavy-hearted during that scene. I guess 'coz she can also relate to that mother-son relationship, the expectations and all.

There was also a HUGE shocker at the end part of the movie. I don't really want to spoil it so I'll just say that John Lloyd slapped Vilma at the end part of the movie. They are both good actors and I don't believe there's any one else who could play Shirley and Noel better.

I didn't really like what happened to Mark at the end but I guess the movie was really more on how Shirley improved as a person and ultimately as a mother. Although it was too late for 1 of her kids (I won't spoil it), at least she finally accepted her mistakes and realized that she needs to do better.

I really love this movie. I can watch it again and again (okay, 3 times I guess) and I'll still cry a river each time. This is a MUST-SEE movie for everyone. I hope they'd show it with subtitles in English for people from other countries to enjoy and watch it.

Thanks, Lindon & Joseph for the treat!

Damn, I miss my nanay and my brother more after watching this movie. Can't wait for October 5th!

Our First Year Together

noreply@blogger.com (blankPixels) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:18:00 PDT

If you read my post yesterday, you'll know that Mai and I are celebrating our 4th year together. Yes, we've been together for 4 years now. Time flies so fast, eh?

Mai and I were reminiscing everything that we've been through together, especially during our first year when she moved in with me and my family in Manila. We were together when we were looking for work and my mother was actually pushing us to go abroad since we're together.

We went to different recruitment agencies in Manila to find a suitable job for us abroad. Fortunately, Mai has a cousin who used to work in Singapore and was working at that time in Malaysia. He works at a casino in a five-star hotel in Malaysia and he told us that the agency who helped him was actually looking for more people to send abroad. So, Mai and I decided to try our luck.

We went through a couple of tests like color blindness test, a Math test (addition, percentages, multiplication, division and subtraction) and a couple more. I was actually kinda nervous because I'm not really familiar with Casinos. Good thing Mai has been in a casino. I told her that I've only tried online casinos and still not that familiar with different card games like Poker. Good thing we weren't really tested on our knowledge with casino games so we passed the initial qualifications.

Mai and I actually went to the final test - interviews with the clients. But, we've already discussed that maybe, this isn't really for us because we thought about how much we'll be earning there and I compared it with how much I was earning when I was in a call center. Good thing I was able to convince her to work in a call center. She loved the job and the moolah, too! Hehehe.

Anyway, now, Mai and I are sort of addicted to online poker. We actually checked out an online casino site but we're still not that familiar with the card games such as BlackJack and Baccarat. Well, actually I kinda know a thing or two about BlackJack and I'm starting to completely understand Poker.

Now, if you're in Singapore and you want to try your luck with online casinos, you might want to check out this site - Online Casino Reports Singapore.