Mahal

Wishes Granted

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As in any prolonged absence from the blog (last post here was 11/26, is 8 days considered a prolonged absence?), I have accumulated quite a trove of photos and fond memories that go along with each. Just as much as I am excited to tell them stories, I am also anxious about keeping my photos safe. I should seriously consider my online backup options and I’ve narrowed it down to two choices: Carbonite orMozy. It’s just that I need to use my CC for this and I don’t want to do that at this time.

Oh well. I just pray that my PC remains healthy until January…

Anyway, let me start with what this post at my photo blog was all about although those who are also collecting the stickers would already know about it 🙂

I started collecting the Starbucks stickers a few days after their Christmas  promo started in early November. The quest for the planner definitely ruined my plans of losing weight before the holidays, as you can see here, but it is now over. I can stay away from expensive coffee until next year!

starbucks wish box

Don’t you just love the packaging? Definitely better than the plastic that the other year’s planner came in. My brother threw it away already though.

starbucks wish revealed

This is the design I chose. There are three available, all different covers with their own textures too. I love the soft velvety feel to this one.

starbucks wish mark

And look at that marker? Isn’t it cute?

And of course the big bonus is the 3000 wishes granted by supporting this promo 🙂

I had another wish granted early. Alfred decided to get me the bag I had wanted for Christmas. So December has just started, and I’ve received my first Christmas present for this year (I wonder if I’ll be receiving more gifts?).

We went to the mall because he wanted to checkout something, then I also wanted to checkout the bag. He promised that if it was something he could afford, he’d buy it for me as a gift. They didn’t have the bags at the Trinoma branch of All Flip Flops, so we went to Megamall the next day. And it was right there on display. It was huge, a lot bigger than I expected. But I also knew that I really really wanted to have it.

mega_cores

I initially wanted to get the blue/brown in the middle, but Alfred preferred the yellow/grey combination. had the pink been available though, I’d have loved to take that but there are so far only two available colors. To be honest, once we found out how much it cost, we left the store to take some time to think it over. I really wanted to have it, and thought about splitting the cost of the bag with the boyfriend. Then I thought, it’s way too expensive.

Eventually though, Alfred decided to just buy it for me, as long as I really wanted it. And I really did. And I love him so much. 🙂

Drink Coffee, support ECPAT!

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ECPAT-CBTL Christmas campaign

I had blogged about my Starbucks Christmas, but had I known about the tie up between The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf – Tomas Morato and ECPAT Philippines, I would probably have skipped it and patronized this instead.

Then I realized, I don’t have to go through this promo just to support ECPAT and their current projects. I could just as easily come up with the money equivalent to twelve cups of coffee, and hand deliver it to ECPAT myself.  At least I would know that the full amount goes to a very good cause, and not just a portion of it. (So there, I was able to rationalize my Starbucks Christmas – I’d be supporting Spark of Hope which is another charity altogether, on top of supporting ECPAT)

Okay, so if I were to pledge the cash equivalent of 12 cups of coffee, how much money would I have to set aside? Say a drink costs 115 pesos, multiply that by 12… 1380 pesos. That looks like a lot of money if I had to dish it out one time big time. But come to think of it, my rubber shoes cost more than that…

Hmmm. I’m not aware how ECPAT accepts cash donations, or for what specific projects the donations would go to. I should probably get in touch with them and find out. If anyone’s interested in supporting their advocacy (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes) here in the Philippines (there’s an ECPAT International too, and local campaigns in many parts of the world), leave me a message and I’d be more than happy to pass along your contact details to their Info officer or Executive Director should you wish so.


Last week, while exiting ShopWise, Alfred asked me if it was possible to donate to a charity and they’d give us a card in return which we would then give as gifts to friends and family. Then we could say that we made a donation in their name, and they would actually believe us. Maybe we could do that with ECPAT.

Good deeds.

Good Vibes

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Yesterday I blogged about my thoughts on affiliate advertising over at my Bravejournal. I have never hidden the fact that my blogs are a source of small extra income. How I wish this online world I’ve wrapped myself around with can be the major source of livelihood instead. Sometimes all the information that abound on the web could be just overwhelming, and you wouldn’t know who to trust and where to start.

Once information that seems to be consistent though, is the idea that submitting your website or blog to a site directory, or writing content and submitting them to article directories  can help establish your credibility and boost traffic. Traffic is definitely a big consideration in monetizing a blog or website. I think that at the beginning I was actually quite keen on submitting my site/s, but I eventually lost track. I don’t even remember where I submitted for a listing anymore.

I’ll probably have to find time to look into this again, specially with thoughts of setting up new blogs milling about in my head.

Meanwhile, the boyfriend will have a job interview tomorrow morning (he applied for a higher post), please keep us in your prayers and send over good vibes!

French Toast Fix

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Around two years ago (maybe more, but I don’t specifically remember), Alfred and I took to eating regularly at Petruss. In fact I’ve dug up two posts from the past where I mentioned the cafe (haha!), they are here and here. Petruss was a small cafe located right across our office building and we loved having brunch there after work. One of the lighter meals we’d order would be french toast, but then we’d go too for their yummy mango crepes. Hmmm I can almost smell the yummy rice meals we would order too, what were they again babe?

Another food joint we’d frequent at the time would be the Pancake House along E. Rodriguez, right beside St. Luke’s Medical Center. This one’s just walking distance from the house. Of course my favorite to order are their chocolate chip pancakes with peanut butter, but we also love their potato salad and their french toast as well. Ooh their club house sandwich isn’t so bad, and the boyfriend would order all sorts of other heavier meals – most are yummy too.

(Now you get the picture why we don’t have a lot of savings? Haha. We eat too much, and not at (cheap) fast foods all the time!)

Anyway, Petruss has moved out and Ministop (a convenience store) now occupies that space (so sad), and we don’t go to the Pancake House anymore (I can’t even remember when the last time was?)

On Friday night I started fasting so I could finally get the blood work done that the doctor ordered. Last meal was at 930 in the evening. I got a very good night’s sleep (surprisingly because I had fully intended to stay up all night), and got up before 8am. I was in the hospital before 830 on Saturday morning. I thought, like all the blood work I had done in the past, that it would only take a few minutes. Boy was I wrong. I needed to wait a full two hours because of a specific test (the OGTT which I am not in the mood to discuss).

The unfortunate thing about it, is that I could neither eat nor walk around during the intervals of the blood drawing (I had to be pricked thrice). At the end of the first hour, I was already dreaming up french toasts.  Since I was already at the St. Luke’s, I decided to go for a quick brunch (with Vanilla Milkshake, another indulgence – at least it wasn’t extra thick chocolate) at Pancake House en route to the nearest drug store where I picked up my prescriptions (from the neurologist whom I visited on Friday morning).

Mind you, I intended to go for a long walk and take some photos at the same time. But the darn blood work took up more than two hours of my time and it was nearly noon when I finished. It was too hot to take a leisurely walk! I did have to do some legwork to the drugstore, and then heading home. I didn’t get to visit the camera shop though, maybe I’d just pick up UV filters after work sometime this week.

I did get to take some photos of the Pancake House window (how pathetic am I?), while I experimented with apertures. Check these out – variations of a theme, hehe:

pancake house window

S 1/2500 | A f/1.8 | ISO 200 | Focal length 50mm

S 1/2500 | A f/2.2 | ISO 400

S 1/2500 | A f/2.2 | ISO 400

S 1/1600 | A f/2.2 | ISO 400

S 1/1600 | A f/2.2 | ISO 400

S 1/3200 | A f/2.2 | ISO 400

S 1/3200 | A f/2.2 | ISO 400

Did you notice the differences between the shots? Too bad if you don’t, but that’s just me playing 🙂

Apart from the food, it is usually the feel of the place or the ambiance that keeps us coming back. I don’t need candlelight, nor candle sconces on the wall (though those would be a really nice touch) but comfortable seating and a bright and open area is something I appreciate in a restaurant. Having big open windows is also a very big plus for me. Of course if the view was something better than E.Rodriguez, that would be wonderful!

Anyway, have you been to your old favorites lately?

UP!

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After work on Wednesday morning last week, Alfred and I went to Greenhills to see UP!

We LOVED it!

It’s not necessarily a children’s film (though they’d enjoy most parts of it), it’s a couple film in my opinion. It was very touching, quite inspiring really, Ellie and Clark are a good example of why two people should get together and get married. They enjoy each other, they enable each other. They dream with and for each other. They work together to achieve what they both want. And they didn’t need kids to complete their marriage. Having each other, and their dreams, was enough.

I can watch this film over and over again, it made me feel good in a way I can’t describe. The music makes me think of Madeleine in Paris, very conducive for daydreaming about my next big adventure. Can’t wait until it comes out on bluray, I will definitely get a copy.

There’s another movie I’d get when it comes out on DVD, He’s just not that into you. I’ll have Alfred see that too. With these two movies, he’s bound to pick up something good. Haha 🙂

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