SM- Cagayan de Oro (CDO) launched their 3D cinema with Avatar.  Thankfully we’ve never tried to see it as I was thought this movie was highly over-rated.  We went to the mall with the intention to watch The Megamind.  When I saw the 3D announcement, my kids and I decided to watch Avatar instead.  At the cost of P250 for the ticket, each moviegoer gets to enjoy Avatar 3D.

SM-CDO provided us with those 3D glasses as well as free pop-corn.  Since it was their opening day, the ticketing booth was slow and disorganized.  Seating arrangements have to be finalized since not all the seats have the vibrating features.  Given that we were a group of 5, an usher escorted us to our chairs and given VIP treatment…  lol  To the amusement of my children, they even helped them with their 3D glasses.  Pop-corn came 10-15 minutes after the movie started.

Needless to say, the movie which lasted for 2 hours was glorious.  I noted the similarities of Neytiri to Pocahontas.  At any rate, the movie Avatar showcased superb animation work.  It was truly an eye opener for me, watching as the whole movie unfold on 3D.  So, was the P250 worth it?  Certainly!  As most James Cameron directed movie, this movie did not skimp on animation costs as each finely crafted scene did not miss any single detail.

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New Discoveries

Blake Shelton-  this man does country and he was recommended to me by Jan a woman I met while playing Farmtown.  Her son works for Shelton and she lives in Nashville.  Country is not new to me.  In fact, I have learned to appreciate Dolly Parton when I was still with my husband.  So, anyway, I checked out Shelton on Youtube and fell in love with his own rendition of Michael Buble’s Home.  Now, I am looking for various ways of buying CDs by Shelton as I am sure they are not available here.

Piolo Pascual-  I have been always a fan of Piolo Pascual’s movies and has admired his dedication in helping the less fortunate through his own Hebreo Foundation.  I was quite amazed with his singing.  His voice is quite easy to the ears.  He is overly pleasing to the eyes already, so listening to him sing ballads and old songs brought back memories of my Mom and the songs my brothers like to sing when they were still living at home.  Comforting.

Music is a way for me to relax.  When I needed to de-stress, I listen to my relax and de-stress playlist.  This comprise of acoustic selections by Boyce Avenue and songs by Piolo Pascual.  When I needed to feel the urge to sing, I put on my Cool Selection and I sing along Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, Chris Brown, Taylor Swift,  Kelly Clarkson, Chris Daughtry, Carrie Underwood, Craig David and even Katy Perry.  I have a Disco selection as well when I feel like dancing upbeat tunes with my children.

I bond with my children with music as well.  They love dancing Black Eyed Peas and they sing along with me as well.  There was a time when I had to turn on BBC Classical Radio just to get them all to bed.  When I am down, I like to listen to soothing tunes and just like that, soulful songs lift me up and I am back on track.  Music has always have its healing and uplifting properties, and I continue to re-align my music with my mood and true enough, it does it work most of the times.  When I feel like listening to music in private, I plug in my headphones and I immerse myself to the beat of whatever I am listening.

What about you?  When you are down, what kind of music do you like to listen to?

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I used to play the piano as a child, but I love the guitar the best.  Although certainly no John Mayer nor a Gabe Bondoc or a Marié Digby, but I love the way a guitar sound and has always loved to sing along with an acoustic guitar as an accompaniment.  My love of music stemmed from my growing up with brothers who plays the piano and guitar.  There was always music when I was growing up.

I used to sing duets with my brothers.  We used to sing all those 80′s music, Roxette, Bruce Springsteen, some Barry Manilow’s and even Basia, Whitney Houston and Bon Jovi.  I started with the piano at the age of 6, and the guitar at the age of 14.  I was professionally taught piano-wise, but self taught with the guitar.  I started learning the guitar when I realized that the guitar is way cooler than the piano.  :)

Tomorrow, I am checking out Perfect Pitch to check the prices of acoustic guitars.   I want a black acoustic guitar.  I am also checking out online guitar sites.  Anyone have any suggestion?

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So whatever happened to Wolfgang? Well, they seem to have come back.  Unfortunately, since I am no longer in Manila, I have not heard much about them apart from what I get from the Wolfgang’s Official Facebook Page.  I searched Youtube for their video and found something I have never seen nor heard– Wolfgang with the UP Singing Ambassadors.  How cool is that?

To those who crave heavy metal and the dark tunes of Wolfgang, check the video below:

Back when I was still in the university, I wrote the group and received a reply from Manuel Legarda. I was still hanging in UP, particularly at Ilang-Ilang Residence Hall when I got the letter. What amazed me was it was handwritten and I was so ecstatic and I even bragged about it and shown off Manuel’s response. I wish I got to keep the letter. I hardly remember what was on it, but what made the letter important to me during that time was the fact that Manuel took the time to write back. It made me believe that Wolfgang actually take the time to read the letters they receive from fans like me. Not only do they read them, but they actually take the time to write back. No wonder the band is still around! Rock on guys!

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Overcrowding, squatting and poor urban planning contributes to the floods and destructions of homes every typhoon season.  Philippines would you believe get an average of 6-7 tropical cyclones every year.  Ketsana last year has caused so much destruction in the north which according to Huffington Post, “430,000 people were affected by storm, including some 115,000 people who were brought to about 200 schools, churches and other evacuation shelters.”  Imagine 1 months worth of rain in just 12 hours.

Poor urban planning has long been blamed for the floods and the cause of traffic in the country.  But how do you fix  decades of mistakes?  Is it possible at all to start all over again?  During my travels to Papua New Guinea and Australia, I came to realize years ago how badly our houses here are built.  Its crazy to see European style houses sprouting here and there including the countless of low lying homes by money sucking low cost housing in the urban areas.  These subdivisions does not have proper drainage and sewerage systems that during typhoon season, these were one of the places affected by floods every year.

In Papua New Guinea, houses are built on stilts especially those near the water as some parts of PNG has tasted tsunamis every year.  My husband, continue to groan when he sees our houses here have small roofs, huge bay windows and made of low class cements and poor materials.  Everytime it floods, houses are destroyed over and over again.  Damage of properties is so bad that people struggle to start anew.  Houses in low lying areas built so close to the ground succumbs to  flood water and rain.  It is a mystery why our houses here were never built on stilts.  I have seen houses in rural Batangas on stilts and they make sense. Like look at that house (green-inset), that house was our house in PNG.  Although we lived in the mountains, that house was made to adapt to the climate in the mountains.  To those who has been there, it can become freezing cold during the night, but so humid during the day.  The windows are huge to allow wind to go through and through the walls.  When it rains, it is important to leave the windows open as well.  Although its not made of indigenous materials, the house was designed essentially to adapt to the climate in PNG– Sepik in particular.

The damages caused by the effects of climate change– extreme heat and extreme rains, continue to prove how poor our country was when it comes to disaster preparedness.  Poorly structured homes, poorly planned neighborhoods, ineffective government services are just among the contributing factors to our inability to prepare for catastrophe.

It continues to amaze me how simple solutions can mitigate the effects of climate change.  For us in the Philippines, there are solutions ofcourse that us locals can implement without waiting for the government “solutions” which often are curtailed by politics and dirty lobbying.

My Shelter Foundation is spear-headed by social entrepreneur and architect Illac Diaz said,

“As we go more into the seasons of typhoons, the seemingly evitable will become obviously urgent..”

Image from DaTE.org

My Shelter Foundation, through Extend Yourself hopes to build more schools using sustainable materials and innovative architectural design.  I am amazed with the projects previously launched by Design against The Elements (DaTE) as it shows how great architectural minds in the country and abroad proposed successfully their ideas on innovative and sustainable building.   Projects like this needed funding as you all know, but with some funding from multi-lateral financial institutions, and private corporations, the reliance of projects such as this is indeed possible.

Me as a blogger, I am beginning to believe that as we begin to raise consciousness and more information campaigns using social media, we can help as much by supporting groups like My Shelter Foundation make their projects a reality.  With collective and collaborative efforts there is a chance that when catastrophe strikes we can at least be confident that when the storm has passed, one of the main pillars of our communities — the schools are safe and unharmed and ready to welcome our children back.

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Me at Suvarnabhumi Airport

True to my promise, I did not use Cebu Pacific when I went to Bangkok for a client meeting and took Philippine Airlines.  The flight went well anyway, although I was pretty curious about the new airport, I decided to take the more reliable airline- Philippine Airlines.

The bought the ticket online a month early so I got a better deal.  The price difference with Cebu Pacific– the airline that suck, was only P900.  Since this is a client paid trip, my itinerary was short and this was also my first trip without any of my children.  It was pretty weird waiting in the departure lounge alone.    It sucked and I resisted calling my kids since I know this transition is necessary for all of us.

So how did my trip go?  It was good.

This was my first trip after 2 years.  My first trip out to anywhere without my children.  With quick planning and ardent budgeting, I made it to Bangkok with hefty shopping money and in one piece.

I booked myself at a small family run hotel, Bangkok Loft Inn.  The location of the hotel was great and convenient as it was on the Thaksin Ave, and close to the Bangkok Skytrain.  To check out how I found the Bangkok Loft Inn, click here. I used my internet savviness to find a budget hotel.  What made Bangkok Loft Inn ideal is its size.  Their Superior Room is ideal for a lone traveler, as well as a couple.  The bedding is great and true to their ad, the room boasted with a Samsung Flat Screen Television, free and robust wifi connection and good bathroom features. Its not crowded, and the location great.  The Inn was only a Skytrain ride away from Siam! Fantastic!

My room at the Bangkok Loft Inn

The hotel’s car picked me up from Savurnabhumni Airport and the ride to the hotel was 45 minutes.  The hotel staff were all accommodating.

FIRST DAY.  My cousin Elvir came and we headed to Siam Paragon for dinner.  I took him to a Japanese Restaurant and had ebi tempura, salad, makis and some beef dish.  It was great and service was perfect.  The Siam Paragon was a HUGE upscale mall in Bangkok.  Ferragamo, Louis Vuitton, you name it is in this mall.  It was crawling with expats and backpackers.  I bought myself a Havaianas flipflops and headed out to check out their children’s section and found everything expensive.    Until I reached Central World and found it a haven for budget shoppers.  They have alot of items on sale and the children section was great!  I eyed the Barbie, Sanrio and Disney clothing for my scheduled shopping day.

SECOND DAY.  I met my client and his girlfriend today.  They were on their way to check out since they were off to some island off Bangkok.  Our one hour meeting went great. It was fast but full of details.  As a long time odesk provider, this was the first time to personally see and meet a client.  I have been working for his company for almost a year now… After our meeting, I headed back to the hotel.  One thing about Bangkok, compared to Manila, public transport is inexpensive. I have read so much about how expensive the taxi rides in Bangkok can be, and I was dreading my meeting with my client because of this.  My 45 minute ride from my client’s hotel to Bangkok Loft Inn was only  70 Baht.  Not bad.  I think it has something to do with the fact that I insisted on using the meter. Most taxi cab drivers when seeing a foreign traveler would normally insist on not negotiating and non use of the meter. So, when in Bangkok and you have no idea how to get from point a to b, get the hotel reception to talk to the driver. They can make sure the driver knows where exactly you are headed. No confusion. This will definitely save you more time and money.

THIRD DAY.  Today is shopping day.  I headed for Central World and bought clothes and shoes for my children.  I wanted good quality clothing and was happy to see that the items that I managed to snag did not really cost a fortune.  I had lunch at The Loft in Central World and had a blast eating Thai and Chinese dishes.

Although I am not weary about trying out new dishes, street food is absolutely something I am not too kin on trying. After living in Laos for sometime and seeing how food handling is poor in both countries, I decided that I am not missing much. I will just eat thai food from a restaurant and not from a street vendor. Absolutely NOT worth it.

At night, my cousin and I headed to SuanLum Night Market.  The trip to Sathorn was great.  We used the subway and was again pleasantly surprised that is was safe and darn clean.  Everything is so organized in Bangkok.  So Fín great!

Shopping in SuanLum went great.  Everything was cheap.  Souvenir shirts as low as 90 baht.  I bought some trinkets for myself and my friends.  I also bought those sinfully spicy and sweet tamarinds.  I got a bargain wrap around skirt for 200 baht.  It was gorgeous!

The place was crawling with farangs.  After exhausting and spending all my baht, we headed to find a place to have a drink and dinner.  We found a restaurant (I totally forgot the name now) with a view.  It was on rooftop and the view was awesome.  Cousin Vir and I ordered Tiger beer and several thai dishes that scorched our throats.  It was heavenly!

FOURTH DAY. Today I am heading back to Manila.  I am psyched, because my luggage is so full.  I would hate to pay for excess baggage, but I cannot wait to see my children.  I know they will love all the chocolates and the clothes.

So was it worth going to Bangkok?  For more ways than one, I knew deep in my heart I needed to spend some time all by myself.  Did the trip rejuvenate me?  It definitely made me more determined to succeed this year.

So far, the year 2010 was a great year for all of us.  Let all the blessing come rolling!!!

The Bangkok Loft Inn

Great food at the Loft

Eating Japanese in Bangkok

Fantastic, Tasty Morning Glory Salad with Seafood

Spicy Chicken Curry

My Cousin Elvir at SuanLum

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Commerce is the art of exploiting the need or desire someone has for something.

-Edmond de Goncourt (1822 – 1896)

French novelist and diarist.

Le Journal des Goncourts (co-written with Jules de Goncourt)

It is so obvious that businesses thrives on consumerism. Consumerism is the attitude that values the acquisition of material goods. I did our last minute shopping today. As expected, the traffic was horrible and hair-raising. Consumerism is so alive today. Makro was full of people with overflowing carts. Recession seem to be out of the window right now. Makes me rethink my post about deflation… or perhaps we are not feeling the effects yet. And us Filipinos has to rethink our idea of huge noche buenas especially when times are harder.

I felt sorry for our neighbor but at the same time thankful for her. She is currently busy planning a “huge” noche buena for the neighborhood. Yes, you heard me, the party is for the entire neighborhood. She said it is her way of saying thanks to her neighbors for patronizing her sari-sari store– the biggest in our small village.

But while I am thankful, I felt sorry for her, since the pressure of giving a huge party is getting to her physically and emotionally. Since groceries and food is far more expensive now than last year, the expectation of the neighborhood is high and she did not want to disappoint everybody since she felt sorry for most of our neighbors are on the class D and E– just too many unemployed people and people living below poverty line. I surmised perhaps all of us owe her something in one time or another.

Anyway, that’s her way of celebrating and my way is another way. Salve at Money Smarts is offering a challenge for a budget handaan. Is there really a budget handaan? Is this possible? Actually my children and I are not going to have a noche buena but I intend to celebrate Christmas tomorrow by giving an extra-special lunch. The menu is simple and straight forward. Like I said, Christmas is about the celebration of family and not about how much gifts we gave nor received. Let us just get back to the real root and meaning of Christmas. Only the big businesses are profiting over the idea of Christmas. I think it is time for us to rethink our values and what we deem as important.

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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…

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It is really amazing watching her actively bargaining the purchase from P11/kg to P10/kgs of unmilled rice. According to her, one sack of unmilled rice would net her 10-15 kgs of rice which is currently still sold at a thundering P35/kg here. The price of rice has gone down a bit from P46/kg. From where am at, I guessed that she must be profiting P20-25 per kilo of rice. Not bad!!!

I asked her how she manages her farms and she said as usual the key is finding a reliable and trust worthy farmer-overseer. Having worked with a huge production farm in Negros years ago, I had more or less some understanding on land preparation needed for rice production. What I lack right now is land. My friend actually asked me if I am interested in financing some farmers in our area, since most farmers here have problem with money to start seeding, planting to fertilization of their rice. Not mention, harvesting, drying and threshing of rice during harvest season… I asked her how much it would cost to do so. She quickly whipped her calculator out and said more or less P2,000 for 2 square paddies and that usually yields to 30 sacks of unmilled rice, which would in turn yield 12-15 sacks of 50kgs of rice. At the current price of P35 let’s say, gets P1750/sack. In total she’d get P26,250 total for 15 sacks of rice.

I am interested in co-sharing or financing rice production with some of the growers here. I do have P5,000-10,000 to pay around with and with P2,000 or more for a couple of paddies which would yield P20,000 or more… that is actually NOT so bad at all. The thing with rice production is it is labor intensive. Like for example, land preparation and planting would take a couple of days and a couple of people. Not to mention the one week of drying period before the rice is milled.

I asked my friend how she pays her farmers and she said she pays them with rice also. Sharing usually goes 60-20-20. 60 for the financier, and 20 to the farmer and another 20 for the rest who helped with the planting and fertilization. But mostly, these other farmers needed more cash and they end up selling their share to her also.

Not bad at all… Now if only I could find a farmer who needed a financier soon…

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