where the moon shines

If you don’t hangout at The Loop at ABS-CBN, you probably haven’t heard of this burger shop. Griddle Box opened its first kiosk at The Loop sometime last year but I only got to taste their yummy burgers last week. You see, I’m back to eating lunch at work and then some meryenda or early lunch before going home, all because there are my SMEs as dining companions. I slipped in the bathroom last week and I was telling everyone that I think it was because my balance is off due to weight gain since the new year started. All because I’ve been hanging out with Carlo so much!

After logging off our work stations, we head down to The Loop to grab a bite. Twice last week, it was this yummy burger and his friend for the feast:

They feature stuffed burger patties. This one, if I remember correctly, is the bestselling Cordon Bleu. There are bits of ham and cheese inside the patty. My favorite so far? Double Cheese. The patty itself oozes with mozzarella and one other kind of cheese.

I’d told Alfred about Griddle Box and he had mentioned that he wanted to taste it too. He was a bit disappointed though when he finally had his share yesterday, it was apparently too small for him. It was yummy, he admits, but too small for his big appetite. You know what else he says? He’s not much into quality, but quantity. Haha. That was because he was very hungry coming from work. When we got home, he heated some leftovers and had a second lunch! At the rate we both are eating, we would probably need to take hgh releasers to aid in weight loss and improve physical performance. We all now how slovenly people become after eating too much…

If you find yourself in the area though, I still would highly recommend a Griddlebox burger.

I finally published the {newbie} photographer! Actually, I published my first post on the 19th and it was about Project 365.  Then today, I decided to edit the About page, but also publish the motivation behind setting up the website as its own individual post. Do check them out.

I am a bit frustrated about the template I chose though, which is why I didn’t broadcast here the first post I setup there. It’s just not working the way I pictured it would. I guess I’ll just fill it up with a couple more posts before I more actively promote the space…

Now I don’t know what got me to do this, but I signed up for GDI domains. It wouldn’t hurt to have an additional income stream I guess. I don’t know anyone who’s on it so I’m not even sure I’ll get anywhere. I did sign up for 99-19thstreet.com through that service and I hope to have that one up and running by next month. I promised my nieces I’d have a blog site up for them and this would be perfect as a family blog. The domain hasn’t propagated yet though.

I’ve updated my Project 365 blog upto January the 14th. I’m only a week behind! Haha.

Last week, at the kiddie birthday party we attended, Alfred’s big brother was asking about our future wedding (do not ask me when it’s happening, I don’t know either). He was asking what we’d be asking him and his wife to sponsor. Catering? Gown? Then we got to joking about how may yards of fabric would be needed for my wedding gown. Lol. I told them that’s why we haven’t taken our vows yet, I can’t fit into my fantasy wedding dress! If I want to do so by the end of this year, I might as well brace myself for whatever possible diet pill side effects and start taking ‘em already. There’s no way I’m exercising my way to weight loss. It is not happening!

Nope, I am not hosting it Despite the success of my first ever giveaway, I have not embarked on another contest. Not yet anyway

But there are two bloggers who have endeavored to celebrate their blogs together by organizing a massive contest. And I am one of their sponsors! Go check them out!

From the Biggest Contest… to my biggest problem… you guessed it – my weight! Do you know how relieved I am that this seems to be my biggest issue in life? I mean, others have to struggle just to live or to sustain their lifestyles. What do I have to worry about? How not to eat so much and occupy so much space in this world. Somehow, reading about all the ills of the world makes looking for the best fat loss supplement such a wasteful and fruitless exercise. But search for it I must… I might finally be donning a wedding gown by the end of the year. I have to fit in one first.

Today on the news, we tuned in just in time to hear about the bodies of two Pilipino aid workers recovered from the rubble of the UN offices in Haiti. Let us all offer our prayers for the repose of their souls, and for strength for their families in their time of bereavement…

I have not yet been able to make a donation. I initially wanted to donate through the Episcopal Relief and Development website, as suggested by my mother. After all, it made sense to donate through the Church. But as I was trying it out, the website won’t accept non-US addresses, or perhaps I just haven’t found a way to do so. If you live in the US, do checkout the ERD website and learn how you can donate through them.

At work, I happened to have pulled up Bing.Com and needed to run a search on something, when right there at the bottom of the page I saw this link:

Clicking on How you can help Haiti has brought me to two different pages so far, one is this, and here’s the other. Both pages give you a list of charities where you can donate. Microsoft isn’t accepting donations, but they have already made their pledge of support for the recovery efforts and rebuilding of life in Haiti. They have also committed to matching the donations made by their US employees to their choice of charities (upto $12,000 per employee). I think corporate giants should take a clue from this…

There is no hurry in making a donation. I bet even just blogging about the various channels through which people can help is already a good move. The people of Haiti will need our help for many many months to come.

Save the Children also has this donation page up for their own Haiti fund. I have worked with Save the Children (their UK-Philippines office specifically) and I trust in this charity. Like ER-D, they are already there on the ground so you can be assured that your donations will make it to the intended recipients.

The above links will direct you to many other donation pages, such as UNICEF’s and the Red Cross, go through their lists and find the charity that your heart  is comfortable working with.

For digital scrapbookers, here’s an additional incentive to make a donation. The Daily Digi has a freebie for those who will email them that they have made a contribution to a charity of their own choice. Now I don’t see that they’re asking for any proof of donation, but I hope that no one will abuse this. It’s a wonderful idea though.

Here’s a blogger who is running a contest on blog and tied it in with making donations for Haiti via UNICEF. Scoot over to Cornyman’s Money-Blog where each comment he would match with 10 cents in donation to UNICEF.

Here’s yet another blogger who would donate $1 to God’s Littlest Angels, an orphanage in Haiti, for every blogger or reader who comments about what they have done to donate for the relief efforts. Check out Cents Saved.

Eco Mama also runs a similar comments challenge over at her blog. This is specifically for those who have no means to donate, you simply have to leave a comment on her specific Mercy Corps Haiti Earthquake Relief post and she will match a dollar for each comment and make the donation through Mercy Corps.

So no matter how much you part with, it will count towards helping out the people of Haiti. Recently, my country was devastated by two typhoons and we relied on the world community for aid. Neighbors didn’t fail each other, and strangers were transformed into angels. For others, there is still much help needed. There are families still living in evacuation areas almost three months after the disaster. We know all too well that it will be the same for Haiti.

Oh, and today is our tenth anniversary. ?

The world’s focus is on one nation suffering from a serious blow from Mother Nature – Haiti in the aftermath of the killer earthquake. As a recent witness to the great floods that Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng brought to the Philippines, and the killer quake that claimed the lives of many of my countrymen back in July 1990, I feel for the people of Haiti.

Rather than focus on what a tragedy this has all been, I prefer to recognize the resilience of the Haitians. It was reported by CNN’s Anderson Cooper how the people gathered together in the streets to chant and sing praises as a thanksgiving for those who have been saved. It is also heartwarming to see the outpouring of aid that they are receiving from all over the world. I have no doubt that Filipinos are among those sending in their donations. It’s time give back. After all, our International neighbors sent in their donations too when we were in need.

There are Pinoys in the ranks of the UN Peacekeeping Forces in Haiti. Four of them were trapped in the building where the UN offices were located. One has already been rescued, while there’s a lot of hope that the remaining three will be found alive too. There are almost 500 hundred others in the Filipino community in Haiti and the Philippine government is having a hard time getting in touch with everyone and getting them all accounted for. Communications have been disrupted since the earthquake.

The Philippines has also sent a 21-man medical corps to assist in the rescue and recovery efforts. This isn’t the first time the our government has done this. Small though as our aid seems, I think it’s a grand gesture coming from a people who have been a recipient of such aid so many times over.

So please do consider ways you can send help. I’ll be going to the websites of various reliable aid agencies. Maybe sometime later I can come back and post then here too…