My daughter Ia turned 1 today.

I will never forget the time when I gave birth to her.  I was in the ambulance on the way to a hospital in one of the provinces of Thailand.  It was the fastest birth for me ever!  Took me 15 minutes I think…

There is no doubt that I am on the lookout for another bank. I am greatly dissatisfied over the performance of Banco de Oro especially with their poor internet banking facility. Darn it! My family used to have accounts with Citibank and their internet facility is up to the nines. Transferring funds here and abroad is such a breeze. Paying for bills online can be done with a click of the mouse.

I even had a claims dispute years ago with Citibank, of which I was charged 5 times of the same magazine subscription and after I complained, the amount was credited back to my account the next day. It was such easy breezy operation that I am dumbfolded over the internet banking facility of Banco de Oro when it is supposed to be one of the biggest banks in the country.

Years ago, I also held an account with Metrobank and years ago, the local banks were just starting their online facilities. Metrobank‘s interface was not very good but it was fast rendering. I have never tried their bills payment facility since my Citibank was doing that job efficiently. Paying PLDT and Meralco online was so convenient.

Now I am on the hunt for a new bank. I want a bank that has Banco de Oro’s late hours, and with Citibank’s outstanding internet facility. Is there any bank that fit the bill?

Feedback, anyone?

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I finally got the money to buy a simple sofa for our living room. It is red leatherette for easy cleaning and it was not expensive. Along with the 3 seater sofa, I got 2 singles, a coffee and console table. I also bought a bamboo floor mat and it all tied up so well. I have yet to accessorize, but I am thinking of not overdoing it since there are children in the house. The coffee table was made of nice solid wood and the glass was framed and I tested the furniture and put down my almost one year old baby and she walked comfortably around the living room. Touching and looking at the sofa with a smile… My big girls showed their approval by yelping and asking me if they could invite friends over now.

All the furniture were bought from Mandaue Foam. My sister in law recommended the place and I was amazed with the variety of furniture at affordable prices. Their service was great and the items were all delivered at our rural seasidescape the next day. Since the house did not have a very nice wall finishing, I has intended to use the sofa as the focal point of the room and I think I have achieved a cohesive blend with the floor– the mat and the tables… nice…The new furniture even went well with our tacky new curtains!!

Mandaue Foam is conveniently located infront of Limketkai Mall, Cagayan De Oro. They also have branches in Manila, Bacolod and Cebu.

Photos courtesy of Mandaue Foam.  Photos of sofa to come…

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I do not know about you, but so far, most people I know like gadgets. Though more financially strapped now, all I can do is drool and
drool over this new gadgets and whimper, “Gosh, I wish I could spare some for these.”

iMac, MacBook Pro and hey an iPhone. I think anything from Apple is drool quality. Though I have a generic PC and a MacBook already, I cannot help but wish I have an
iMac and an iPhone, even if  Apple’s ads are being banned in the UK for false claims… But just gawking at its luscious pearly whites is enough to make me cry and stay AWAY from any Mac Store. Darn, even Steve Job’s fake heart attack story won’t stop me from drooling over Apple’s products.

Canon Digital Camera. Eversince I got and lost a Nikon Coolpix, I could never take my eyes off
any display that has cameras in it. A good digital camera is just too damn expensive here and I struggle to even begin to save money for one… but hey, that will not stop me from drooling and dreaming anyway…

Samsung Omnia. A nice looking phone from Samsung. I am not really loving Samsung since the Samsung phone that I bought for myself last year did not come to par with my Sony Ericsson T610 that I gave my
maid before we left for abroad years ago. Now, that T610 was great… I wonder what Sony Ericsson has in store right now. But as far as Samsung is concern the Omnia is I think their bet against the iPhone.

Even my daughter, who can now operate and browse the internet, found these yummy Bratz computer accessories. She sighed and drooled like me.

Do you have anything drool-worthy?

I believe there is an unseen world around us.

- Stephen King (1947-), Nightmares and Dreamscapes.

I managed to get part-time help. She comes twice a week to do general cleaning, ironing of clothes and gardening. She is actually my ear, since I rarely venture out of the neighborhood, she tells me all sorts of stories about the people I live close to and alot more.

Last week, she informed me that there have been several break-ins in her own neighborhood. Chicken, fighting cocks, bicycles, and laundry has been taken under the noses of their owners. All break-ins happened in the middle of the day. She also told me that my aunt’s electric cable has been stolen but her employees saw the culprit and ran after him and the thief left his loot just to save his skin.

Today was another day… This time she asked me if I have heard of banging on the roof at night. I said, no, and to think I sleep late than most people… So I took the bait and asked, “why?” Then she said, that there has been stories about flying creatures in the night. What is scary she said was the fact that the creature was heard to be dragging something and it can be heard as the creature hops from one roof to the other.

Hmm. Not the first time I have heard of this flying-creature-with-something-dragging story. My neighbor’s mother actually mentioned this weeks ago to me. That as she actually saw a silhouette of a flying creature one night and that it scared her because of the sheer size of it and the fact that the creature has a long tail. Hmmm, a tail or perhaps something hanging on to something…

This reminds me of a quote by Edmund Burke, a political philosopher and he said, “Superstition is the religion of feeble minds.” Very apt, and appropriate I’d say. I believe that voodoo or witchcraft can only affect the people who believe in it. Though I was raised in a rural area, I was not exposed to alot of superstitious beliefs. Perhaps its because my parents are very religious, but this is not the cause in most people who even though they are very religious, they managed to combine and amalgate animistic beliefs with religion. This is not very unusual since indigenious Filipinos were pagans.  I used to find it strange for religous people who also believes in manananggal or any of the similar creatures.

At any rate, before I digress, my part time maid even warned me of people who “stares strange” and I was supposed to “stare them down” in order to ward them off.  She even mentioned the town next to ours as witch county or land of the aswang as she said.

The logical me rationalized to my maid that the creature might just be a huge bird carrying a prey– could be an eagle carrying or dragging some smaller animal on its talon. I have no idea about hunting behavior of eagles or birds of prey, but hey, night time is a vulnerable time for any creature since its dark and defenses are usually lower. She then asked me if I believe in ghosts or witchcraft, and slowly choosing my words, I said, “I do not believe in ghosts, but I believe in the evilness of people and the hunger and desire of some to create chaos and mischief at the expense of the weak.”  I think we should just leave things at that…