Simply Thinking Ahead..

Posted by Lui on Aug 31st, 2010 | 0 comments

I’ll be a little busy tonight. Mostly coz I’m organizing all my papers about my Social Security System (Philippines)  membership. Yes, I have my SSS and I’ve decided to continue on paying my contribution as a voluntary member.

Why? I’m thinking ahead. I know its not much but having some sort of security, a pension to look forward to when I reach the age of 60, medical, disability,calamity, and death benefits and a whole lot of other benefits. You can also avail of loans like business, housing and calamity loans..

When I was working I was a member and had regular contributions. You only need to have at least 120 months of contribution to be eligible for those benefits. But when I stopped working, I was just too negligent to continue but now I’ve decided to pick up where I left off. I was thinking it will be hard to do now that I’m living abroad, but thankfully banking facilities make it much easier. Now I could just pay monthly through BancNet’s Online Banking Facility.

It’s just another form of saving and I’m glad I’m making it..

Are you an OFW or you simply want to become an SSS member? Just checkout their website for more info.

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a New Toy…

Posted by Lui on Aug 31st, 2010 | 1 comment

Well not exactly new anymore and truth is somebody sequestered it already from me lol! I’ve blogged about wanting to buy a netbook a gazillion posts ago. I wanted it mostly because I like drafting posts even when I’m traveling or just somewhere else other than in front of my good old reliable desktop. I also wanted something where I could read my e-books but since I don’t want to buy an e-book reader ( I think they are too pricey!), a netbook was the best choice considering its small, handy size.

I decided to do my gadget buying in Manila, and I was actually torn between three choices, a Lenovo S10-3 Premium Mini, a Samsung N150P, or an Asus EEE-PC 1005P. What won in the end? The Asus EEE-PC and why I picked that? I loved how it looked, the overall look is sleek. I also fell for the really nice touchpad and comfy comfy keypads. It already came with Windows 7 plus 250 GB hard disk memory. It was good buy for its price.  I got it for $490 (about Php 21,900) and since I paid in cash, I got myself a free optical mouse, a keypad protector, a headset, a 4GB USB storage device, and a slip case.

It comes in white, pink, midnight blue and black but of course, I picked the black, why? Hehe so when it gets dirty I don’t see the dirt much lol!

I was also supposed to get an Asus Portable DVD+/-R/RW External Drive or a Nokia Mobile Phone to be claimed in ASUS World in Megamall, but I was just so pissed to go there a couple of times and they keep saying they don’t have a stock until the promo claiming period was over. I was disappointed with Asus about this.

But anyway, the netbook was really nice, a great thing to lug around. It has a really long battery life, about 8-9 hours based on my experience, but they did say if you’d be able to use it for at least 11 hours if you maximize the battery and I do wonder how I could do that hehe..

When we got back here in Phnom Penh though, Hi-ace took a liking for it. It’s a tiny thing and very light so he reckons it’ll be better to bring it with him instead of his own laptop. So, now I’m stuck with Hi-ace’s Acer laptop, but I don’t really mind. I rarely use it anyway now that I’m back together with my desktop. Hayyy, what do you know, I guess I’m that old fashioned

Food Trip Friday 17: Ginataang Santol

Posted by Lui on Aug 27th, 2010 | 12 comments

Another one of my father’s specialties – Ginataang Santol. What’s in it? Santol pulp, ground pork, coconut milk, and lots of chili. Okay, just the mere mention of santol makes me drool.

This is a typical Bicolano recipe and one of my favorites. When its season for santol we usually have this a few times a week. And I was quite lucky last June-July-August we have a lot of santol fruit around.

And how to make it? I only have a vague idea, lol! I was too busy waiting for it to be cooked to pay much attention. Would you believe it was still being cooked and I already had a plateful of rice with me? Anyway, dad usually saute garlic, tomatoes first, then he adds the pork, then the santol. Then the coconut cream is added, salt to taste then the chili.. And oh, he said when shredding the santol pulp, you have to make sure you don’t make it a few hours before cooking it and to soak it in water, otherwise it’ll turn really dark..

I wonder when I could have this again? **sigh** On a side note, this made me think what is ‘Santol’ in English? According to Wikipedia, santol is also referred to as ‘wild mangosteen’. Interesting!

Splashing Fun in Springzone, Albay

Posted by Lui on Aug 18th, 2010 | 3 comments

You know one thing I like about our place in Bicol, Philippines? Proximity to resorts! If I want to have a swim in the ocean, my parents place are right in Bacacay Albay where we are surrounded by black sand beaches! The town right next to us, Sto. Domingo also has their fair share of beaches. If I want to go for white sand beaches and a bit of luxury, I could just as easily hop on a boat a head for Cagraray Islands where beaches are almost as superb as other popular beach spots in the country albeit more secluded.

Camarines Sur Water Sports Complex is also just two hours drive while Caramoan peninsula in Camarines Sur can be reached in half-day. So, we didn’t really need to go on long trips to get the swimming my daughter wants to have during our vacation.

Another great discovery we made is that spring and pool resorts are popping out everywhere! This is a good news specially since it does encourage more active tourism and it provides jobs and us a great variety of place to enjoy. Here’s one very near our house – Springzone Resort in San Jose Malilipot Albay. We could get there in less than 15 minutes! Went there early morning so there’s less crowds and Chinks had a happy time splashing around. The water though is from the spring so its really really cold and just perfect to cool you down.

Almost Over..

Posted by Lui on Aug 1st, 2010 | 3 comments

Still here in Bicol and have one more week vacation time. What have I been doing the past week? Well, I took advantage of the sunny weather and hopped on a lot of places and visited friends and relatives. It was a good thing coz just yesterday it was scorching hot and today its so gloomy and rainy. Trust the weather to be that fickle.

For the next two days, I’m staying in the house coz I’m badly sunburned and even the best face cream or sun block could not do much to keep the sun burns at bay. My mom, me and my cousin have plans to do something like a cooking fest, its just too bad my brother is not here to sample the cooking. I remember he is always willing to be the guinea pig for our kitchen experiments.

Before long, I have to pack our stuff again, were leaving for Manila on the 8th, and we have two days to visit friends based in Manila and also to do a bit of malling. I’m crossing my fingers and praying for good weather when we fly to Manila. I’m a bit paranoid about flying when its so rainy and foggy and besides I’m with Chinks!

My dad too for sure would suffer a bit of separation anxiety so were propping him up from now on about our leaving. I remember last time we left it was really hard for him and he could hardly sleep for a week and I’m hopping he’d be a little used to us coming and going. My mom though is okay and besides she has something to look forward to coz next year she’ll be visiting us in Phnom Penh!

Hmmm, I can’t imagine our Pinas vacation is almost over, it was good but we do have to get back to reality. I’ve relaxed a bit here and for the past weeks have been relatively stress free so I’m all set to work and take on whatever the next few months dishes out on me. I also miss Hi-ace so I’m eager to go back to Phnom Penh..

Just Jaded..

Posted by Lui on Jul 26th, 2010 | 0 comments

Yesterday, we attended another fiesta. This time it was one of my college bestfriends, Yese who invited us in their home in Malinao Albay. The weather has been erratic with lots of rain and thunderstorms here so I was hesitant to go since the place is a bit distant from our house. But Chinks was excited to see Jaypee and my friends other kiddos and I just couldn’t refuse her request to go.

We were invited for dinner, and lol! I’ve already forgotten how much food is prepared during fiestas! I sure ate a lot and judging by the photos we took (hehe I won’t ever post it here..) I feel like I’m already balooning like mad. I’m pretty sure someone would mention reading quicktrim reviews to me.

Grrrr, that’s something I don’t really enjoy when taking vacations here! Either they tell me I should get an 8-5 office job, which I easily rebutt by saying, Thank you, but I’m doing quite well freelancing and really I even earn more than a bank manager hahaha.. or simply telling me I got so fat already!! I know I’m chubby and all but hell, people can really rub it to your face and they do so insensitively. And most who told me I’m huge are mostly those who aren’t thin either. Lol! If anything else, I’m now more inspired to lose weight and when I do, I promise to come back and seek out those who told me off and parade my thin self around.

Haha obviously, too much eating in fiestas is making me delusional..More later..

When They Are Old…

Posted by Lui on Jul 26th, 2010 | 0 comments

One of the reasons I wanted to have sometime here in the Philippines is to check on my parents. They are both old (I sure hope they won’t read this! haha) and having some health problems already, especially my dad. He is almost 80 and has survived prostate cancer and still trying to hold diabetes at bay.

From late 2009 till the first quarter of 2010 we were worried for him coz his PSE levels were higher than normal, an indication that his prostate cancer might be returning. Another worry was added when his blood sugar was running up and his diabetes was getting worse. From then on, it was a routine of constant doctor visits, tests, meds and vitamins.

What’s more difficult, my mom says is that since he reasons he’s old already, there are times that he feels wearisome, that he doesn’t want to go through medications and doctors and well just live it out. He could also get really stubborn and refuse to take meds with reasons ranging from, he forgot, to medicines are expensive or simply because he doesn’t want to.

Thankfully, he seems to have weathered the bit of storm and when we arrived he’s looking well. The most recent lab results for his prostate and diabetes are also good. Right now, we are insisting on him taking regularly his health supplements and eating healthy. But sometimes, there really is no reasoning with someone so stubborn and at times I can’t fault him for being like that.

He tells us he is old already. If he goes, he doesn’t have any regrets except that he’d like to see a few more grandchildren, my daughter Chinkee being the only one…Hmm, I envy him I think. Someday, when I’m old, I want to feel the same contentment, the same courage to face what will come..

Her Miniature Cactus Collection

Posted by Lui on Jul 24th, 2010 | 1 comment

It was lovely, just lovely to see the place where I grew up. I always thought we were lucky to be raised in a not-so cramped place with loads of space for us to run around and burn out our excess energies. My parents are now both retired and they devote majority of their time gardening. Before we left, my mom was obsessed with raising orchids, bromeliads, anthuriums, and bonzais while my dad loved his cacao trees, fire trees and lately ferns.

My mom though has this really cute collection of small cactuses and I just can’t get enough snapping photos. She also placed them on old tree roots, an ingenious idea if you ask me and it makes an interesting display.

I’ve been helping a bit with gardening and I must say I think I inherited the green thumb and its a good way to exercise. I’m thinking I won’t be needing diet pills to burn extra calories..

I just wish I could have my own garden back in Phnom Penh..