Toomba Toomba

It's still there.

Same place. Same balcony. Same house.

Kaka-miss.

"A nation of public servants"

You've probably heard/read by now about Chip Tsao's infamous article "The War at Home". Here's an excerpt (I don't know how to enlarge hehe):

I want to give my ten cents about the issue, but I'd rather read about instead. Here are the list of my favorite reads about it:

A copy of the article here: http://asia.cnet.com/blogs/infochat/post.htm?id=63009834&scid=hm_bl

Ms Veneracion's column in Manila Standard and her blog:

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=connieVeneracion_mar31_2009

The Professional Heckler's heckling

http://professionalheckler.wordpress.com/2009/04/01/sensya-na-tsao-lang/

I love The P-Heckler (naks parang P-Diddy), he is so funny and sarcastic. One of his posts goes:

The Professional Heckler believes that blasting China or its people just because one Chinese columnist bullied his Filipina helper and lambasted the Philippines is not the right thing to do since it won’t resolve any issue. Doing so would make us no less different from him. Huwag maging Chip! But yes, I join millions of Filipinos worldwide in condemning the bigotry of this Mr. Tsao.

The latest: Asia City Publishing Group, publisher of the HK Magazine’s print and online editions, where Chip Tsao’s article “The War at Home” was printed has apologized.

But the writer has not. So to you Mr. Chip Tsao a.k.a. To Kit: “Leche ka! Hindi mo kami nakikilala? Punyeta ka! Hindi kami si Boyet Fajardo! Kami ay mga Pilipino! A tapang na tao and we want you fired!”

More here: http://professionalheckler.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/ang-chip-mo/

The apology here http://www.gmanews.tv/story/154832/HK-Mag-Sorry-for-maid-country-remark-on-RP

This is not the first time that Tsao has put Filipinos and the Philippines on a bad light. Late last year, amidst the controversy of "contaminated milk" from China, he wrote an article at dinamay na naman nya ang Pinas. Read this http://hk-magazine.com/feature/politically-incorrect-chip-tsao-vintage-year

Tell me what you think. 2000-word essay on my desk tomorrow, on or before 5pm. Class dismissed! Hahaha.

$348

The first quarter of the year is about to end. It's time to re-evaluate what the hell happened in the past three months. What have I accomplished? What have I done the past three months? What new problems have come up. Ooohh serious much?

As hubby and I were talking about "restructuring" our budget (read: magtipid), we computed all our expenses again. As in all our expenses. I listed down all my expenses, including my facial treatment. But I forgot to include our yosi budget. So I was like......let's see, we buy a pack a day, and we are able to share it between us...so that's $11.60 a day times 30 days in a month. So that's $348...this doesn't even include those times that we get to puff extra because we're out or having some drinks (or just too stressed).

Wait. What???? $348?

$348???

Holy guacamole! That's enough to cover a maid's monthly levy. And we kept thinking that the levy is such a burden in the pocket, when we can actually just quit smoking and use the money to fork out the levy for our (future) kids' yaya...

Not only that.

$348 is also enough money to cover two months' worth of facial treatments and eyebrow waxing...

$348 is enough money to buy around 6 pairs of shoes at Charles and Keith...

$348 is enough dough to cover airfare tickets to Manila.

$348 is enough to cover our PUB bills (and maybe even our internet and cable bills)

$348 would be enough to buy a new handphone, or a branded wallet or purse.

I want to feel worse... so let me see... since we've lived in Singapore for about four years and three moths...that's fifty one months in total...and let's say, for uniformity's sake, we just use the current retail price of a pack, which is $11.60...then that means, we have spent an estimated amount $17,748 on freakin' cigarettes alone.

$17,748! That's about Php530,000 !!!

Am I correct anot?

Parang gusto ko biglang mag quit.

Teka nga, napayosi ako sa pagcocompute ko. Hehehe.

Shet.

I promise to cut down. Seriously.

last saturday

After teaching two classes in the morning, I went to Tita Drin's to have a pedi...

Then nag-tapao ng Palabok and Hotdog from Jolly-V (really tastes like the real thing! hay naubusan na naman ako ng chicken.)

Then had dinner at the newly-opened Bonifacio restau with Kendz and Lui...

My (condensed) take on the restau: Food was masarap naman but the servings were really small for its price (a bit ex because of the small servings). It looked like a gourmet dish where the servings were really small. Eh shempre pag pinoy food dapat maramihan ang kain hehehe. But the interiors are nice. Great for having quiet chitchats with friends and colleagues. We ordered Lumpiang Sariwa and Chicken BBQ. Nasarapan ako. Kendz & Lui ordered a lot (they came before us and ordered na): Sisig, Inasal, and also Lumpiang Sariwa.

Then Jun and I went to Orchard to buy some some stuff (nah, not the real LV. LV lang as in LeVis hehe)

Then quality time at home with honie.

Livin' the mellow life. Steady lang :)

random

It's been years since I last munched on this. Ang sarap pa rin pala.

What's a draghtman?

Prown? Why are you prowning? May problema ba?

La lang.

Living below your means

I have some definite (and secret) goals that I want to achieve before this year ends. Unfortunately, the fact that companies are kuripot nowadays in giving bonuses this year doesn't help. So my objective is to live below my means. My mom (and Lica) would always remind me to live WITHIN my means, but times are tougher now so we must try harder and live BELOW our means.

So this is my guideline when I'm thinking of buying something:

1. Can I afford it?
2. Do I really need it?
3. Do I need it now?
4. Do I have something like it already?
5. Can I find a cheaper substitute?
6. Is this the best deal?

Hopefully, I can follow this. God help me. Maybe I can. Just this weekend, I bought four pairs of shoes from Charles & Keith's sale for just $70. Not bad, eh. Just got lucky though--most of the stuff in the sale, as expected, are mostly outdated and don't have my size.

Hey, just a thought--I can also use this 6 questions when it comes to planning for a baby! Hehehe. Like--Can I afford a baby? Do I really need a baby? Do I have something like a baby already? Can I find a cheaper substitute for a baby? Is a child the best deal? Hahaha. I remember this ex-colleague of mine who has actually computed the costs of having a baby--from pregnancy costs to education to sending the kid to the uni, etc. Duh! He and his wife decided not to have a baby. No, he is not Pinoy. Pinoys (generally) loooove having kids.

DL

Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

-from Dalai Lama's Instructions for Life