Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Fifty Shades and Eleven Minutes: An Analogy
I searched for a free e-book download but found none. Until, I saw an instagram post of a Filipino actress sporting a hardcopy of the book Fifty Shades of Grey. I was so curious that I, out of the normal, bothered to read up the comments. A certain fan, posted that she had already read the trilogy and that she would be willing to give out the website where you could download an e-book. And you already know what happened after. The books got the hang out of me. Finally!
In just a matter of ONE month, I finished the trilogy by E.L. James: Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker. Fifty Shades Freed. And by all means, I was kind of proud of myself, I am no longer left behind from the fad. But what did those books tried to tell me? That love exist. Of course, we all know that. If I were to give a review, the book would be rated 6/10. Nothing mind boggling. with some fairy tale concept where a simple lass ran over a young tycoon who has everything. It would be perfect for one who's bored to get out of bed everyday. For me, what made these trilogy more intriguing was the explicit touch of sexuality particularly in the fields of SADISM and MASOCHISM, where, in my opinion, RARE in our literature. As far as I know, nobody dared to talk about it without any vagueness than the author. It was just so ironic that when I made a research regarding the book it was actually developed from the Twilight series.
After what seem a very erotic read of which I admittedly skipped some delicate parts that I can no longer imagine what was happening, a friend gave me a copy of an e-book of same category. However, this time, it is written by a well known and very respected author in the person of Paolo Coelho. The book, though not so revealing of it's true topic, is entitled "Eleven Minutes". It is a story of a prostitute who sought self realizations in life, sufferings, pleasure, loneliness, light, spirituality, sexuality and love in a country very far, geographically and socially, from hers. What made me think that it is with same category as the Fifty trilogy is the fact that it boldly brought about the topic of sexuality. Rare in the literature.
Between the two, the second one stand out for its philosophical touch. Coelho's is rather profound than the Fifty. The focus of the story is not on sexuality but on the character's life experiences and reflections. Something thought provoking and made you giggle at the same time. With both authors, it is rightfully a no-brainer to choose Coelho. Experience wise, his works are out of art and not of fad.
The Making Of A Wicked Step Mother
My Dad is already 57 and he thinks of remarrying as saying goodbye to a lonely life after me and my brother will gonna say hi to marriage life. (See, that's the disadvantage of having few children!)
And here comes the "thing", an ex-girlfriend of my Dad resurrected, just recently after having almost two years of long distance relationship with my Dad. She was a DH from Kuwait, or perhaps she still is right now. (I don't want to know)
THE PRESENTS
December 16, 2011 when she came at our house all the way from Kuwait. And she had with her truckloads of what seems to be "mga patapon na bagay" of her amo there. Imagine, she had with her jealousy glass windows and like 4 or 5 pieces of removed floor tiles? Well, that isn't everything cause she has lots and lots of things in her gigantic coffin looking trunks. From smelly packs of overly elongated rice to I don't wanna describe and won't even produce any bubble type of detergent powder. She has those. Alright, I honestly don't anything against everything she brought with her from her Lebanese employer 'cause I admit I appreciated the things she gave me ---- branded scarves, lots and lots of extra large sized sanitary napkins, a set of cheap make up kit, a fake silver necklace that caused rashes on my boyfriend's neck, expired chocolates, and the last two that I really like:

I only got the shimmer stick that smells so good and so unique and the lotion. Perhaps, she has the perfume. But I don't care. The stick is so convenient to carry with me. I could even fit it into a satchel.
Anyways, with the two I mentioned, I realized that she really doesn't have an entirely BAD as in baduy taste after all.
Weeks passed when she was at home, she cooked for us and I sensed that my Dad was really happy. And we as children felt that we might as well be happy.
THE AMPALAYA
As I mentioned she cooked for us. And yes she did. And all I can say they taste real damn bad. Imagine a platter of Ampalaya with egg looks like a platter of limp brown ampalaya with the eggs I can no longer find and with the taste that is so disgustingly sour. Of course, the ampalaya straightly goes to the trash. And this situation repeatedly happened for about a month, until I frankly told my Dad that her "Ampalaya Menu" should never be considered in this house.
My Dad finally got the guts to confront her and to our dismay, nagalit ang lola mo! She berserk-ed all day long and ayaw na nyang kumain. You won't eat, we didn't care! From that day on, we always hear saying: "I don't like it when people tell me what to do and not what to do.", "I had an enemy before I really confronted her and kicked her on the face.", and so many other statements that poses threat if we go against her. Tsk!
THE PLOT AGAINST MY LATE MOM
It was January 19, 2012. My Daddy took a leave from work and decided to pack things up and leave for Bohol with my, you know, soon-to-be Wicked Step Mother (or let's call her WSM). Now, this was the very first time that I opened up to my sister in law the things that I noticed with WSM. And to my surprise, she affirmed everything I said. And that's the time that she too opened up something regarding WSM whenever me and my Dad were away for work. Things like, WSM spoke sweeter to my 1 year-old nephew only when we are around, that she only stayed in her room the whole day if she choses not to wander around the neighborhood, and what was more annoying was that she took her food inside her room and ate alone. She's completely a lunatic! And then there was this something my sis-in-law shared with me that had completely put my anger way too far. My aunt, as in my father's sister, told my sis in law about what WSM said about my late mother, that she was lazy, that she was a nagger, and that she spends the whole day out para magchismis. Oh my! Was she describing herself? And WSM also told a story when my brother allegedly hit my Mom long ago and pointed out that maybe there were things my Mom have never offered my brother the reason why it happened. What was she thinking, what benefit could she ever get from saying these things against my mother? Hello??? She's dead. My point is, RESPECT. How could you not respect the dead? In the first place, she haven't got to know my mother personally. This woman is terribly CRAZY, I thought. And the wedding, if that was ever to happen, I must STOP it!
THE SUPPOSED WEDDING
I could not sleep that first night when they went to Bohol to be married. So early that morning after I muster the words that I must say to my father to tell him how wicked his bride-to-be must be, I carefully composed a super long SMS (3/3 I think). I told him maybe they are just in a rush to call it "I do", maybe he needs to weigh things some more and observe this kind of woman he would marry. I waited for a reply. But nothing came until I arrived at the office. To my relief, my dad finally replied, "Yes, I think I have to think this over." Oh thank heavens!And then there was call, and my Dad asked for my opinion and how I had been acting so disapproving about his pending matrimony. I told him what i knew and I was surprised by his reaction. He wasn't oblivious at all. In fact, he said he actually noticed all of those things and that I had sensed some kind of relief. Something like I-knew-it-there-was-something-wrong-with-this-woman kind of feeling.
Three days after, they were home, and Dad firmly said "NO" to that damned wedding. THANK HEAVENS! He said, however, that the wedding could wait. It will still happen, but at least not now.
WAGED WAR
We thought life would be on a hush from then on, but we were wrong. The MONSTER awoke. Her trips in the neighborhood had been longer and more frequent, as well as the negative talks about our family - that she allegedly brought with her Php 2 MILLION which she asked Dad to keep, that she married Dad in Bohol, that my sister in law had been very wicked, that I had been with a robber and all sorts of concocted stories involving each one of us in the family!
When Dad was away for work and she chose to stay at home, she'd stay inside their room the whole day and would be out only to get some food. Now tell me, who, in their right mind and etiquette, will do something like that???!!!
THE EGG
VICTORY
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Editing Sticky Notes for Windows 7
I have resized and rearranged my desktop icons. Deleted some unuseful shortcuts. Changed my shortcut icons. Deleted unnecessary gadgets. Add some more gadgets. And finally come sorted my sticky notes into done and still to be done. And then I just noticed, my sticky are all dull. All of them have these same dull font style and font size. And then it hit me, could I ever personalize these?
I searched through the web and voila I succeeded personalizing them.
I guess what I learned was ultimately worth sharing, so here they are:
Keyboard Shortcut | Description |
---|---|
Ctrl+B | Bold text |
Ctrl+I | Italic text |
Ctrl+T | Strikethrough |
Ctrl+U | Underlined text |
Ctrl+Shift+L | Bulleted (press once) or Numbered (press twice) list |
Ctrl+Shift+> | Increased text size |
Ctrl+Shift+< | Decreased text size |
Ctrl+A | Select all |
Ctrl+Shift+A | Toggles all caps |
Ctrl+L | Left aligns text |
Ctrl+R | Right aligns text |
Ctrl+E | Centers text |
Ctrl+Shift+L | Small Alpha list (3rd), Capital Alpha list (4th), small roman (5th), Capital roman (6th) |
Ctrl+Scroll Wheel | Increase/Decrease text size |
Ctrl+1 | Single-space lines |
Ctrl+2 | Double-space lines |
Ctrl+5 | Set 1.5-line spacing |
Ctrl+= | Subscript |
Ctrl+Shift++ | Superscript |
Ctrl+Z | Undo |
Ctrl+Y | Redo |
Ctrl+X | Cut |
Ctrl+C | Copy |
Ctrl+V | Paste |
Ctrl+N | New sticky note |
To change to font styles and size, just open a word document, change the font style and size and copy and paste them as is to the sticky note.
Super easy right?
Now you could set fonts bold, color them red, so you could eye URGENT matters easily.
If you know other keyboard shortcut aside from those listed from above, do let me know! :)
Monday, September 3, 2012
NOT MUCH EXCITING HOLIDAYS IN 2013
The following are the holidays for the year 2013:
- JAN 1 - (Tue) New Year's Day - Regular Holiday
- FEB 25 - (Mon) EDSA Anniversary - Special holiday (For Schools Only)
- MAR 28 - Maundy Thursday - Regular Holiday
- MAR 29 - Good Friday - Regular Holiday
- MAR 30 - Black Saturday - Special Non-Working Holiday
- APR 9 - (Tue) Araw ng Kagitingan - Regular Holiday
- MAY 1 - (Wed) Labor Day - Regular Holiday
- JUN 12 - (Wed) Independence Day - Regular Holiday
- AUG 21 - (Wed) Ninoy Aquino Day - Special Non-Working Holiday
- AUG 26 - (Mon) National Heroes Day - Regular Holiday
- NOV 1 - (Fri) All Saints Day - Special Non-Working Holiday
- NOV 30 - (Sat) Bonifacio Day - Regular Holiday
- DEC 24 - (Tue) Christmas Break - Special Non-Working Holiday
- DEC 25 - (Wed) Christmas Day - Regular Holiday
- DEC 30 - (Mon) Rizal Day - Regular Holiday
- DEC 31 - (Tue) Last Day of the Year - Special Non-Working Holiday
Friday, April 6, 2012
A Perfect Summer Treat: Shredded Gulaman
And speaking of sago, I noticed that there are lesser buko salad served in a fiesta or handaan lately. Perhaps because bukos are so expensive especially in the cities, so Filipinos, as inventive that we are, found a very interesting and similarly yummy alternative for buko, that is ------ the shredded gulaman or "gelabuko".
It's pretty easy to make actually.
All you need is this amazing pack of powdered gulaman. Unlike the dried bars before, this pack releaves you from the hassle of cutting those bars thinly.
Following the instructions at the back of these packs:
- Add 8 cups of water in a basin
- Slowly pour the contents of the pack into the basin while stirring
- Dissolve completely.
- Leave the basin for at least 5 minutes.
- Put basin under low heat while constantly stirring.
- Remove basin from heat when mixture starts to boil.
- Pour contents into container.
- Refrigerate, if desired.
- Once the gulaman is set, use a Buko shredder to shred the gulaman.
I added lots of cream with mine. And condense milk, a can of fruit cocktail, lots of cheese, and raisins. And one thing that is necessary, serve it cold. :)
SUBSCRIBE :)
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Books to read this summer
I went over the shelves of novels in the bookstores recently, looking for a good read this summer. And then I found Paulo Coelho's books:
The lists starts with:
- The Manifest of Krig-há
- Theater For Education
- Hell Archives
- Practical Manual of Vampirism
- The Pilgrimage
- The Alchemist
- Brida
- The Greatest Gift
- The Valkyries
- Maktub
- By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept
- The Fifth Mountain
- Love Letters from a Prophet
- The Manual of the Warrior of Light
- Veronika Decides to Die
- Essential Words
- The Devil and Miss Prym
- Fathers, Sons and Grandsons
- Eleven Minutes
- The Genie and the Roses
- Journeys
- The Zahir
- Revived Paths
- Like the Flowing River
- The Witch of Portobello
- Life: Selected Quotations
- The Winner Stands Alone
- Aleph
Thanks a lot! :)
P.S. If you happen to follow Georgina Wilson on twitter watch out for her tweets because she is giving away Paolo Coelho's books! Search for the hashtag #passabook. Good Luck!
Sunday, December 25, 2011
9 Long Weekends for 2012
Today is December 26, 2011, just a day from after Christmas and here we are, busy once again with paper works and reports.
Anyway, a few days from now, 2011 calendars will be replaced with 2012. Consequently, a new year to hope for something better, greener and end of the world? (@_@) LOL.
Just recently, Malacañang in the Philippines released Proclamation No. 295, announcing a total of NINE (9) long weekends for next year.
The list includes:
- January 21-23, 2012 (Chinese New Year)
- April 5-9, 2012 (Holy Week and Araw ng Kagitingan)
- April 28-29 (April 30) May 1, 2012 (Labor Day)
- August 18-21, 2012 (Eid-al-Fitr and Ninoy Aquino Day)
- August 25-27, 2012 (National Heroes Day)
- October 26-28, 2012 (Eid-al-Adha)
- November 1-4 (All Saints’ Day)
- November 30-Dec 2 (Bonifacio Day)
- December 29-Jan 1 (New Year)
And, I do hope I am still alive by December 29-Jan1 if the end of the world threat might come real.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Jacque Bermejo, Angie Ligut, Jasmine Vestil, Celine Acut: The Hell with These People?
And then there was Angie Ligot who caused steer after posting her status that insulted not only Ms. Shamcey Supsup but also the Filipinoes during the Miss Universe 2011 Pageant.
And months after, a certain Jasmine Vestil of Davao enraged the settlers of Butuan City after she made some pointless comments about their city.
And just recently, this certain Celine Acut from France is the apple of public humiliation after posting her discriminating comments in a social network right after the Bagyong Sendong (with international name "Washi") tragedy:
Now, who's next? Would you be willing to post heartless comments for the sake of attention or fame?
From what I've read, "Tactlessness means to have or show an excessive lack of social skill and sensitivity in dealing with others or with difficult interpersonal issues." It just shows that these persons are socially handicapped that is why they try to mock everybody. I pity them.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Should I Nag or Not?
The issue is part jealousy and part my-fault-for-being-not-too-vocal-of-how-I-really-feel.
I agree that I hate nagging around for things I never got which I always really wanted to happen.
Oh well, a few days ago, we had a good talk with office mates regarding nagging in relation to relationships. A guy friend shared that he would have hated his girlfriend if she won't nag at him when he's up to something wrong instead of just being silent about it and then would just burst out like that. His insight kind of "ring a bell" 'cause I am likely the latter! Damn!
Now, I admit I did wrong. We (my boyfriend and I) wouldn't be in this argument if it weren't for me.
I tried to search online for help and I found this clip on youtube. I thought this woman right here is a psychologists but really I could not relate 'cause she is relating about doing chores.
Anyway, I wanted to ask your opinion. I wanted to see some light from a different perspective. Is nagging in some way healthy in a relationship?
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Something "Uncommon"
About a week ago, my officemates in our humble accounting unit decided to do some Kris Kringle with about 20 of us who are willing to spend their Php 50.00 each Monday for something they would give to their Manito/Manita.
To ease the problem of thinking about what something we should give each Monday, we agreed to put our ideas in a bowl and we would just fish from it every week.
1. Something GREEN - literally or constructively; green may sometime connote "kinky"
3. Something FOUL - with foul odor like "bagoong", itlog maalat, literal foul shirts
5. Something RIDICULOUS - (The 0ne who thought may be as well ridiculous!)
7. Something Sticky - Sanitizers, Gels, etc.
8. Something Oily -
9. Something Rough
10. Something Yummy
11. Something Hot
12. Something Triangle
13. Something Sound-producing
14. Something Rare
15. Something Breathing
16. Something Moving/Mechanical
17. Something Romantic
19. Something Rusty
20. Something Personally Made
There goes the list. Some of which I thought myself. So, I do hope I gave you an idea over there.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
SERIES - How to be Rich: A repost from Allan Inocente
Rich Money Habit #1 - Pay Your Self First
"A part of all you earn is yours to keep. It should be not less than a tenth no matter how little you earn. It can be as much as you can afford. Pay yourself first...Wealth, like a tree grows from a tiny seed...the sooner you plant that seed, the sooner the tree shall grow...the more faithfully you nourish and water that tree...the sooner you may bask in contentment beneath its shade"
- George S. Clason, from the book The Richest Man In Babylon
When I was a kid, I used to have this small piggy bank given to be by my parents. Whenever I get a perfect score in school, I get PhP 1 as reward. It was fun getting an award every now and then. At some point, I realized I was already getting better at school because my piggy bank was almost full with coins. Saving money was a lot simpler then. And I was even keeping all the money I saved, not just a part of it.
Unfortunately, that simple lesson didn't stay with me for very long.
When I started earning money from my very first job, all the money I earned, I just spent them away. I spent it so quickly a few days after my paycheck arrived, I was already looking forward to the next pay day. It didn't cross my mind that I was living a dangerous lifestyle which was made even worse by the new credit card that arrived in the mail.
When I received my very first credit card, I was so ecstatic. I was so proud of myself, I decided to make a show out of it. I bought a washing machine, a stove, a new pair of shoes, and a bunch of clothes all at the same time, even without the money to pay for it. I only had to use my new credit card!
That experience triggered a sequence of events that left me helpless for quite a long time. I realized very quickly that the small amount I was earning was not enough to make a huge dent on my increasing credit card debts. Most of it was used to pay off just the interest. There were times I even had to do a cash advance on my credit card just to get the money to pay for my rent. It was an embarrassing experience, one that I promised to myself never to allow it to happen again.
I tried really hard, for so many times to have the "discipline" to save money so I can pay off my debts. I am not sure if it's just me, but I never was able to make it work. An emergency would always come up at the last minute and all the money I've saved, I'd spent them away.
It was really frustrating. You're working very hard to earn money. Looking at your payslip, you find out that a huge chunk of your paycheck is taken away as taxes. After all the deductions, you are left with very little amount of money which you're supposed to stretch to pay for your credit card debts and your basic needs.
Start Small
What worked for me, and worked so well, was enrolling into an automatic savings plan in our company. One day after getting really frustrated with my "lack of discipline", I went ahead and enrolled into the automatic savings plan. I initially chose the smallest percentage (i.e. 2%) possible to be the deducted from my paycheck and transferred into my savings account every month. Even though that amount seems small right now, at that time, it was really a big deal. I felt that the 2% was being taken away from me.
At first, it was hard to let go of the idea that the small amount that I was earning was still being reduced. Later on, I realized that I can actually live with the 98% without sacrificing a lot of things. Most importantly, it gave me confidence that I CAN actually save money. That realization was a big thing because, it gave me the courage to face the world with head held high knowing that I have money saved somewhere, even if it is just only a small amount.
Gain Confidence
Encouraged by the results, I increased my savings percentage to be 5% of my paycheck. At that time, going from 2% to 5% was a big deal. The extra 3% was a huge deduction from whatever I can spend. I knew I needed to be watchful of how I spend money if I ever want to make it.
For example, I used to pay fees when withdrawing money from a bank different from my own. Because my life seemed to be always in constant emergency, I always fell into the trap of having to withdraw the money right away and be forced to withdraw it from a different bank and incur an ATM interconnection fee. The fee is small, but when you take into account how many times I had to pay the fee, it really becomes significant.
After a few months, I increased my savings again to be 10% of my paycheck. At this point, I was really nice enjoying seeing my savings continually grow. After a year and earning an increase from a promotion, I felt confident enough to increase it even further to the maximum percentage allowed, which was at 20%. That was a stretch for me at the time, but seeing how my money was growing every month was a source of inspiration for me.
Make it automatic
The great thing about making this process automatic was that it takes away the decision making from my hands (at least after I've set it up). When before, I had to always remind myself to have the discipline to save and not touch it, now, all I do is choose the percentage and forget about it. In addition, getting my hands into that money had a certain inconvenience attached to it. To withdraw, I had to go through all the trouble of going to the cashier's office (which was open only on specific days), fill-up the form, wait for it to be processed and receive the amount. The inconvenience was enough for me to just decide to leave the money there.
When I resigned from that company a few years after, the money I got from that automatic savings plan was able to help me out when I transitioned to a job overseas. Some of it was also used as initial budget in preparation for me and my wife's wedding.
Allan Inocente
Rich Money Habits
http://www.akosiallan.com
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Soundtrack for the brokenhearted, the loveless and to those who are struggling to move on
A guy friend gave me this present last Christmas and he was like expecting so much to receive something from me. I thought of shirts but I don't even know his size. He's a school mate way back in grade school and high school and we never seen each other for like 6 years now. Nothing so special except for that crazy thing I did during an acquaintance party where I offered him a dance just for some bet's sake with my girlfriends.
Back to the present I should give him something. I thought of crazy stuff or something funny but my conscience's bothering me. Because he sent me something with still a tag on it!!! It's $14.++!!!
And so I decided to give him something special. Something with my own creativity on it. However, it's been three weeks now, but I still couldn't complete it! Heck! It's so hard to find the perfect songs!!!
From I heard, this guy friend had just broke up with his girlfriend. And he was damn devastated with the breakup that he keep on changing FB accounts for the nth time now! He loved that girl so much.. And I just feel sorry for him. He's still recovering and I JUST THOUGHT a CD with some brokenhearted and moving on songs in it might help him along his journey...
I'd like to ask your help. It's damn difficult to look for songs on the internet. Some blogs recommend oldy and crappy songs.
Below are my personal picks (not arranged in any particular order):
1. EVIDENCE by Urbandub
2. GONE by N'Sync (not so boybandish, but I personally like this song's beat)
3. CRY ME A RIVER by Justin Timberlake (Just a coincidence, I like this too)
4. OVER YOU by Daughtry
5. IT ENDS TONIGHT by The All American Rejects
6. SOMEDAY by Nina (A tearjerker, probably for girls, but I doubt for guys)
7. MOVING ON by Taio Cruz (Something New on my playlist)
8. FOUR SEASONS OF LONELINESS - Boys II Men
9. HERE WITHOUT YOU - 3 Doors Down
10. HAPPY ENDING - Avril Lavigne
.... and my mind went to a blank...
Opened a browser. Logged to google.com and searched "songs for the brokenhearted"

- TRY SLEEPING WITH A BROKEN HEART - Alicia Keys.
- ALL OR NOTHING - O-Town.
- BLEEDING LOVE - Leona Lewis. (I'll probably put a male version)
- CRAWL - Chris Brown.
- SAY GOODBYE - Chris Brown.
- DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING - Alicia Keys.
- I'M MOVING ON - Rascall Flatts ( Nice country)
- SET THE FIRE TO THE THIRD BAR- Snow Patrol (From Dear John)
- WAIT FOR YOU - Elliot Yamin
- RIGHT HERE - Brandy
I got a few help from my old CD case, full of burned up songs I used to love through high school until college and was surprise about how many more I compiled: - FOUR SEASONS OF LONELINESS - Boyz II Men
- COULD IT BE ANY HARDER - The Calling
- DARE YOU TO MOVE - Switchfoot
- NO ORDINARY LOVE - Urbandub
- BURN - Usher
- TORN - Natalie Imbruglia
- SOMEDAY WE'LL KNOW - New Radicals
- WHEN GOD MADE YOU - Christian Song
- HURT - Christina Aguilera
- FACE DOWN - Jumpsuit Apparatus
- I DON'T LOVE YOU - My Chemical Romance
- WHEN IT RAINS - Paramore
Wanna add some more? Please post comment... Thank you!
Friday, December 3, 2010
SOCIAL NETWORKING FOR A CAUSE


