The Queen

Nine years

The worst thieves are not found in the streets.

I wonder how the history books will describe our country during her nine years of reign. What's the greatest achievement of this so-called government during all this time.

I wonder how her Wikipedia page will list all the scandals during her time.
I wonder how will the elementary history books describe her.
I wonder if her grandkids would be proud to have her as a Lola.
I wonder what will be written under 2001-2010 Philippine History. No, Pacman is not her achievement.

I bet all those so-called achievement will be blurred compared to all the scandals and shame that was brought to this country.I do hope those 57 lives won't be forgotten.

I wonder how she sleeps at night.
Probably because we let her sleep anyway.

Nine freaking years.

The worst thieves are not found in the streets.
They can steal all they want.
But that will not buy that entrance ticket to heaven.

An Open Letter to Philippine Skies,

Dear Skies of the Philippines,

This week, you may rain all you want. Anytime and anywhere. Kahit mabasa pa ang shoes ko. Kahit dyahe na mabasa ang outfit ko. Kahit pa mawalan ako ng poise. Oo, kahit pa naiwan ko ang payong ko. You can rain all you want this week.

Yes, I understand, the farmers need the raindrops for their crops (it rhymes!). I love to sleep in this weather (kaya nakaktamad eh). Tumataas ang benta ng mga payong at paracetamol. The kids are happy naman kung suspended ang classes.

Pero next week, can you please hold your raindrops muna? Dear Mr. Clouds, can you not make those raindrops fall down muna ha? Mr. Sun, please shine very brightly. Please shine. Please outshine Mr. Clouds. I will be on vacation kasi. Dyahe naman kung umuulan di ba? Ang KJ naman ng Skies of the Philippipnes sa lakad ko. Panget mag-picture taking. Wag naman kayo pasaway.

I love Mother Earth naman. So please consider my request.

Lovelots,
Melodymaker

Prayer for a Lost Pet

This is Moshi, our family cat.

With red eyes:













We got him in 2005. He was given to us by a neighbor. He was already named "Moshi" back then. Neighbor says someone gave his daughter a cat, but they have a lot of dogs in their house (but so did we) that a cat will just cause trouble. My youngest sister, being an animal lover, immediately loooooved him.


Moshi and his offering to his masters. Our house became mice-free ever since.












He is absolutely an amusing and charming pet. I realized that cats are pets that you have to serve - unlike dogs, who will serve you. Moshi will meow and meow to annoy you when you continuously ignore him. You have to pet and cuddle him. He is someone who doesn't like to be ignored - unless he is sleeping. Being a cat, he sleeps most of the time.

Sleeping on our sofa. Lagot kay Mama!



















A little visitor of ours got too amused:



















Initally, we fed him catfood. But then he started not eating it. So we had to feed him fish and milk. The cheapest fish of course, is tuyo and tinapa. We always have a stock of those in our ref. In those days that we do not, Moshi is luckily fed with sardines. Eventually, he started disliking tuyo and tinapa too. Maarteng pusa. So we had to feed him something else.

Moshi na nagbibinata.
Oh yeah.
He is doing "it" with a stuffed bear.














When he is not sleeping, eating or making lambing to us to pet him, he wanders around. I don't know how far he ventures out. But somethimes, it takes him days to comeback. Once, he was gone for four days and we were all worried about him.

Today, he has been gone for a week. We are all worried.
I know I shouldn't be expecting that he will still come back. But of course, the optimist in me wants to believe he will come back.

His disappearance has no closure. We don't know what happened to him. Was he killed because a neighbor was annoyed? (Sumpain ang walang pusong nilalang!) Was he stuck somewhere? Where does he stay when it has been raining nowadays? Was he cat-napped by a intrigued kid and then decided to keep Moshi in a cage? Did he eat something rotten and he died on the way back? These are the questions that will never be answered.

Dead or alive?















Somehow, I think it would be better if Moshi would die in our own house because of something. At least we know what happened and what is the cause. Unlike now, I don't know when to stop hoping. In 10 days? Two weeks? One month? Where is he?

With our dogs. The brown puppy in the picture is now a dog.The white dog already died =(











I hope you find your way home. Soon.
===========================

Prayer for a Lost Pet

Father
We ask you to help us find MOSHI,
our dear pet who is now lost.
We know that you placed animals on the earth
for many reasons, including companionship for man.
We therefore ask you to help us find our lost companion,
and pray that You will keep him (her) safe
and protect him (her) from harm until he (she) is found.
We join our prayers with St. Francis,
St. Anthony of Padua, and all the saints,
and pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

Parking Woes No More

I bet you all experienced that weekend/holiday parking woe wherein you drive round and round in circles to find an available parking slot. And that was what we were encountering when we went to SM North Edsa today. But alas! They installed this "Parking-Availability-Lighting-System" in their parking area in Cyberzone. I don't think the Ayala malls have this yet.

Each parking slot is installed with a sensor-lighting system. The light is green when available, and red with the parking slot is already taken. You can easily see from afar which parking slots are vacant - if any.


































Now you just have to check where is the nearest parking slot with green light instead of driving round and round. Extreme COOLNESS!!! I find it so darn cool it totally made my day!

My sister (graduating Industrial Engineering this October) said that instead of using Green-Red lights, they could've opted to use Green-Lights-off. Mas tipid di ba? Oo nga naman.

Parking fee still remains at Php 40.00 flat rate.

Edsamail Eulogy

Updated post here:

http://adventureaccounting.blogspot.com/2013/08/edsamail-eulogy.html

Di Caprio iz Alive!

I wonder if this will be a cool but unforgettable action movie or be one of those in the likes of Iron Man, Spiderman and The Dark Knight.

===========================================================

Warner Bros. Pictures presents the teaser trailer for INCEPTION. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, Ellen Page and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The film started its principal photography in July and will hit theaters July, 2010. Directed by Christopher Nolan, the film is a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind.

Cheers for Credit Cards

I finally got my own personal credit card last year and whispered a prayer that I may use it wisely. So far, I am. Not to brag, but I haven't paid any penalty so far for late payments (okay, so maybe a little bragging). In fact, I just realized that I am spending less (really) when I got it. Not because of paranoia, but because it affected my budgeting habit.

See, for example, I budget my total weekly expenses to be Php 1,500 for food, transpo, entertainment, mini expenses. I allocate Php 500 of that for CC purchases. So I only withdraw Php 1,000 for my weekly cash. Then by Friday that week, I would realize that I haven't swiped my CC for the week, and there's still leftover from my Php 1,000. Then I would miraculously survive a weekend gimik with that leftover. Now there's that excess Php 500 budgeted left unspent. Around Php 300 unspent if I swipe for coffee. With that set-up, I was saving unconsciously.

A sign in Bench Trinoma:


Moreover, I've been swiping petty expenses lately. Swiping earns you points. I recently bought toothpaste and tissue paper amounting to Php 70+-ish and presented my CC - just to test if they would accept. Hoorah! They accepted it! I am more confident now in using my CC even for cheap purchases. Who cares anyway if they think I don't have the cash? Bwaharhar.

And the freebies are simply love. With BPI, you can enjoy a multitude of snacks from using your BPI CC. Jollibee, Chowking, Goldilocks and back to Jollibee again. I even save more money since my merienda is also free. I do hope I can continue my no-late-payment record til eternity. Teeeheeehee.

Shop! Spend! Wisely.
Cheers!

Tying a Yellow Ribbon

This will be just one of the many blog entries in the internet paying tribute to Tita Cory Aquino.

We are not related, we are not close. But I call her "Tita Cory". And she also allows the rest of the world to call her such.

I was 19 months when the EDSA revolution took place in 1986. I was too young to recall any memories. I appreciate the freedom of speech in this country. But I cannot compare the difference between living during and after Martial Law. I can only rely on the stories of those who lived and appreciated the EDSA 1986. I remember Cory in the history textbooks. I remember that she revised the law where the default is a marriage of absolute instead of conjugal property. That's it.

I did not know she was a housewife before she became president. I did not know she majored in French. I did not know she has five kids. I did not know she was featured in TIME three times. I did not know that the 1986 EDSA Revolution inspired countries like China, Germany and East Timor. And I did not know that she helped and touched a lot of people. That much. A LOT. That crowd in her funeral speaks for itself.

Cory also speaks good English. Classy English. Unlike all the other presidents.

Some random thoughts on the Cory events:
-I got goosebumps watching that Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo. I got tears watching APO singing the Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo during the final service.
- Bong Bong Marcos looks like his dad. Should he run for president, people will remember his dad.
- Imee Marcos looks like she feels she can be shot anytime when she was at Manila Cathedral.
- Manila Cathedral is a very pretty church. Parang nasa ibang bansa yung ibang shots.
- Marcos children paying their respect to Cory was chilling, in a good way.
- I never saw James give Kris a hug or comforting pat during the entire time.
- That ABS-CBS thanks Cory commercial was overcooked. Bad acting involved.
- Semi-stalked the profiles of the Cory Apos in Facebook and Friendster (Yes, I opened my Friendster account)
- Kaloka: Ted Failon asked Jiggy Cruz: Napakilala mo ba sa Lola mo girlfriend mo? Answer: Yes po, yung una kong girlfriend
- Kaloka ulet: asked Jiggy Cruz: So, Jiggy, do you have any plans of having your own family na? Answer: No, not soon. Personal questions to the grandkids ha.
- Watch those YouTube videos on 1986 EDSA. Feel the passion. Appreciate the freedom. And laugh at the hairstyles.
- The Kris Aquino interviews made me cry. Really. And I wasn't expecting to shed tears.
- Lea Salonga singing Bayan Ko was eerie, in a good way.

GMA cut short her USA trip and hopped into a plane to go back in time for Cory's funeral. She spent 10 minutes in Manila Cathedral. She went out of her way to go somewhere where clearly, she was not welcome. And she can't even brag her accomplishments in USA.

The internet world is also grieving: Find the yellow ribbons.








With too much ugly politics in our country, it is good to be reminded that there were people who believed in our country. I hope something good and progressive comes out of this. I never thought that our country could grieve so much for a president.

Thanks to Tita Cory, we can blog freely.
I never felt more prouder being a Filipino.

Citiseconline

Since I started working, I've been self-educating myself about finances - earning, saving and growing money. I've basically gotten tips online: Blogs like Millionaire Acts and Ready to be Rich. proceeded to read on Pex's forums on Personal Investing and Money Management, and bought myself one of Colayco's books. So after three years of earning and saving (and spending of course), I finally got the time and courage to grow my savings.

For the past month, I spent a considerable amount of time online reading about the stock market and Citiseconline.

I've decided to take a moderate-aggressive risk strategy in growing my savings - time is on myside anyway. Goal is semi-long term in nature anyway. I've decided to take the risk and open an account with Citisec. They do free seminars to educate people regarding the stock market. I attended their half-day seminar last Tuesday and spent three amazing hours being educated on the topics I did study in college. But they make more sense now. A lot of sense. Even if you have no plans of playing the stock market, your time will be well spent. I love it coz it does not sell hard-core to open an account with them - unlike when thinking of getting an insurance.

Will be depositing my initial investment tomorrow. I'm ready to play!

100th Melody

I'm back. In Blogger. And this is my 100th post.

Looks at last post's date: January 1, 2009. Yikes.

The culprits:

1) Work. I soon realized that January is the peak time of the year in my new job. (Oh yeah, I'm a regular now). Added that I was doing the work of 2 positions at that time. Well, that era is over. And here I am.

2) Multiply. It is easier for me to update my life using my Multiply account. Let the pictures tell the story. It has its own limitations though.

3) Katamaran. This has various causes and has no definite cure. So it is cured now.

4) Laptop Failure. My 4-year-old Ultraelectromagnetic laptop failed me. It was so darn slow for youtube. Well that's my ex-laptop now. I'm using a new one. :P

No, I did not disappear from cyberspace.
I do have a Facebook account. I'm not a fan of the games though. No, I won't you add in *insert name of application here*
I wrote movie reviews in my Multiply account.
I uploaded outing pics in my Multiply account.
I'm plurking and twittering.
Yes, I am alive.

I've noted that since 2005, my blog posts per year decreased. And this is only my second post this 2009. Harharhar! I hope my fresh layout will keep me from the Katamaran attack. I am still to add a tagboard and recheck my links.

I'm back. I hope I remember that.

2008... The Year When...

Patterned after 2007 and 2006 posts.

===========================================================
... I passed the Certified Internal Auditor's exam (February 2008)
... I decided to look for another job
... I got the official letter from DOST that I am NOT their scholar
... I renewed my passport
... I bought a new camera (Canon Ixus 75)
... I queued for 3 freakin hours in line for 48 donuts
... I toured Macau
... I Skywalked in Macau Tower
... I toured Hongkong
... I went to HK Disneyland
... I went to job interviews
... I got promoted - the day after my final interview in my current company
... I tried the zip-for-life in Ecopark
... I resigned from SGV
... I have a new job
... I like my new job
... I toured Boracay
... I tried parasailing and helmet diving
... I got credit cards
... I started to update my Multiply account more often than my blog
... I went out more often with my amiga/s
... I was provided a Smart number
... I turned 24

Cheers to all my 2008 memories. Welcome 20098!