Nail Art Lately

My efforts at nail art. Amateur, i know. Still, i find peace and a certain level of accomplishment with it. 

Problems of The Heart

Back in 2006 I was diagnosed to have a mild mitral valve prolapse. I went into depression, had panic attacks.  I was a regular at my cardiologist's clinic even waiting for my turn to see her at midnight.  In my hometown, there were only 2 cardio practitioners so you can just imagine the patients not counting those who came from nearby provinces.  So, I have a lot to be thankful for.  God has helped me get out of that depression and has helped me live with my condition.

Fast forward to 2013, my latest 2d echo does not show the mvp which I really am thankful again to God but there is something else.  I'll have to do diligent exercise now, refrain from pork and all those unhealthy food and habits, try to sleep more, chose fruits and vegetables. Yes, i feel that I am old.  And the older i get, the more that i have been praying to God.  Not the traditional going to church every sunday, but more on meditating on God's greatness, power and love. 

So i still worry at times but i try to not let it consume me.  Maybe my heart's anatomy is like that and perhaps the junk that my body has been taking this past year has made my heart a little bit out of health.  I pray to God, it can still be reversed with a lifestyle change.  I really hope to see all my children finished school, find a way to make a living for themselves, find life partners , have children of their own.  All that and remain healthy and strong for myself, my husband, my children.  My prayer.

Honda Bay

Barge Fees for Hyundai Grand Starex

Time and again, we go on roadtrips from Luzon to Mindanao and when friends know of these trips they almost always ask us how much we spent for barge fees.  So, i am posting in here the fees we paid last December 2012 when we used the Hyundai Grand Starex.  

We opted to go through Bicol - Samar-  Surigao Nautical Highway since it is much cheaper compared with the Batangas route.  It only involves 2 ferry boat rides from Matnog, Sorsogon To Allen, Samar and from San Ricardo, Southern Leyte to Surigao City.

Montenegro Lines fares is Php 2,100 for the Grand Starex. Roro Port terminal fee at Lipata Port, Surigao is Php 129.00 while terminal fee for passengers is Php 16.00 per person. Regular fare per person is Php 140.00 while children are at half-fare at Php 70.00

Things to do while at Lipata port: Driver does the ff;

1.  Secures a Gate Booking Slip at PCBSI Gate Office.

2.  Pays Waybill at Shipping Lines Counter

3.  With SG signal, proceeds to Lane Meter area or to the weighing bridge for weighing for type 3 and type 4 roro vehicles.

4.  Proceeds to the parking area.

5.  Proceeds to the PPA RRTF Counter.

6.  Proceeds to PICO Counter (for plant/animal products)

7.  Proceeds to the Marshalling area( one hour before etd)

8.  Coordinates with Marshalls / vessels representatives.

9.  Proceeds to the vessel ramp.

Processing time should only take 10 minutes so beware of fixers.

Puppy Love

I like dogs...from a distance.  I am not the type to cuddle and pamper them. I do buy the basic accessories for them like the leash and the dog collar as well as their basic grooming kit.  What i am particular about is their vaccination records.  

Here in Manila, we have 3 dogs. Metal, the Pitbull ; Tom and Nom. In iligan, originally there were 6 but Wookee died and so there remains Lamont, Hyi xin, Xin xuan, Xao tung. The latest addition to them is Min ho pictured here with my youngest, Maggie.

She just loves to cuddle him.

Bonifacio Global City

When you are at BGC, it feels likeit is another country.

Skyscrapers, clean streets, trees.

Beautiful sculptures, disciplined drivers.

Clearly, urban planning is the way to go and Ayala Corp. has contributed much in creating communities like BGC,

Molded , Melted Pearls

I found the idea of melted or molded pearls sacrilegious. Yes, big word but i really find pearls already perfect and turning them into other unnatural forms and coloring them with dyes is just making them ugly. Until, i found these beauties when i was searching for items to put into Abby Claire's birthday lootbags:

    

I would like to think that the original pearl that they melted are somehow chipped or damaged. Even when pearl is melted and molded and dyed, it hasn't lost it's sheen and luster. Initially, i thought that these items are just melted plastics but the owner of the pearl shop where i got these beauties swear that these are really pearls. So i'm gonna take their word for it and just enjoy the fact that the Philippines is home to pearl accessories as beautiful as the above for as low as 80 pesos.

Homegrown Guavas

My husband has the green thumb. He has planted most if not all of these beautiful fruit trees and flowering plants in our front yard. My only claim to this green ecosystem is a few plants and tending them give or take a few times. He he. My aunt also planted some seeds and stalks of the vegetable kind. These one here is Papa cleaning the car as background while my main focus is really the guava growing.

We could wish for bigger grounds so we can plant more fruit bearing trees but as it is ours is the greenest oasis you can find in our street if not our barangay.

Hope you are inspired to plant more...

Amana Water Park

 We went to Amana Water Park last sunday as a belated birthday gift for Aj. 

Carwash at the Fort

It has been such a long time since i brought the car to the wash, and i decided to try the one at bgc along 32nd st.  It's the Meguiar's VIP Auto Salon and what i like about it is that atleast 2 of the carwash boys will attend to your car so the work is quickly done.  It's also near our place and i didn't wait long to have the service started. In the absence of any other carwash company whose service i have experienced, i think they offer a great service that's value for money.

Here's a menu on their services:

Pete's Place MOA

We wen't to MOA to celebrate the arrival of a good friend. He wanted to hear band music and since we tag along the children, MOA seems to be the only place to go.  It was a rainy sunday evening so the seaside boulevard is not the usual fare of entertainment you see on weekends.  

The only place that night with a live band performing is at Pete's Place so we decided to try it. These are what we ordered:

I like the crispy pata best. The others were just so-so to me.  I enjoyed the music and the band but it rained so we transferred inside.  It's been a long time since we went out so it's a fun night over all.

Christmas in June!

You know what they say about unexpected gifts? Yes, i got one today. A scented rosary from the Shrine of Our Lady Of Fatima, in Portugal by a family friend.  

It is not the first religious article that i received as a gift but it certainly is the first outside of the country. But regardless, i am just happy to receive coming home gifts especially so since it's so unexpected.  And here's another one..

Mabuhay Miles Redemption Has Gotten Difficult.

My first ever credit card was an HSBC Mabuhay Miles.  The reason being that i liked the idea of getting free mileage for my purchases.  For a very long time, i was very satisfied with HSBC and Mabuhay Miles because i was able to redeem without a hassle.  Just recently however, i got a communication from HSBC informing me that mabuhay miles will only be earned for platinum holders and that i should exchanged my unredeemed points for miles or other award items.  I was sorry to hear that but then who get's sad about those things right? Credit cards are not even necessary.

Anyway, since i have free miles i decided to redeem it for a flight to Cagayan de Oro.  I called up the mabuhay hotline 2 weeks ago to inquire and the one who answered was very accomodating and informed me that their office has transferred to Petron MegaPlaza and that my ticket will be issued by Pal express. Since i am not going to be the passenger, i needed to go there personally or have a signed redemption form and gave it to my representative. So i went there monday last week taking the mrt during lunch hour so that i will be able to reach them around 1pm.  I work at Tektite, Ortigas by the way so getting to Petron Mega Plaza in Makati was such a big deal for me.  I waited for about 30 minutes or more until my number was called only to be told that they needed to verify if there is a pal express flight available for the particular date i wanted. The only thing is that the pal express attendant has just taken their lunch break and that i have to wait some more.  I decided to just come back on saturday since they are open from 8 to 12 in the morning.

Saturday came and i arrived at PAL office at Petron Megaplaza just around 9 am. Again, i waited for 30 minutes even when there was only 2 before me being entertained. There were lots of service counters on attendance but only two are entertaining guests, apparently because it's what their system currently allows. I was told that they are in transition and that they are addressing the problem. Anyway, when it came to be my time to be entertained i was told that Pal Express no longer has a representative there and that they are holding office at Charter House in Legaspi Village. It's a good thing it's a saturday and that my car has gps installed else it would have been so much more frustrating.

I was able to find Charter House and then again i waited some more only to be told that there were no longer free slots for mabuhay milers on those dates from july 22 onwards. The earliest would already be in august. Normally a flight to cdo will only take 6,500 miles for regular flights. The service counter said i could still take the flight i wanted but that i have to shell out more miles 9,750.  This is the one thing that I didn't understand.  If they said, that all seats were taken i would have let it go. But then i was told that, there are no more seats for mabuhay milers and then later on backtrack on what he said and tells me that there is but its in exchange for higher miles? Can you not make it easier for us Pal Express? I get the feeling that customer service is not the primary concern for PAL and PAL Express.  So disappointing, and to think that it's been several months already since they've merged.

Yellow Bells

I like houses with flowers growing all around but i always liked yellowbells best.  They don't require much care, just give them a space to breath and they give you these flowers in abundance.  Somehow, they are such happy flowers.

Basic Garden Trellis

We planted potatoes a few months back and it started growing already and the husband told me to have another garden trellis just like the ones he did for the grapes.  With the help of my cousin and his nephew, they were able to do this all under Php 2,000.00 using coconut lumber.

I should warn you though that with the length of the trellis and the height, the coconut lumber was not sturdy enough so we needed additional support with the existing laundry bar, and tied it in the front posts.