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Migosh! Time flies so fast! –BER month na pala! And here in our country, September officially starts the Christmas season, lol! Yup, believe it or not, Christmas season is 3 months long in our country. Can your country top that?? :p Halloween and Thanksgiving are just part of the Christmas season, they aren’t given special attention (save for the days being declared as holidays) as in western countries. Christmas is the be-all and end-all here. I’m a bum right now and I’m really worried about the Christmas gifts I’ll give coz I don’t have much money to spend. I must stretch my meager budget and look for great deals and discounts. And in the world wide web, discounts aren’t hard to find, thank god! Usually online discounts are offered in the form of coupons thus, my efforts will be geared toward finding discount coupons of my favorite online stores!

One of my fave online stores is BestBuy. They have cheap electronics and almost all items have 10-20% discount. A close friend of mine bought her wifi-ready laptop there for $599. A great bargain! Maybe that’s where I’ll buy my Christmas gift for myself – a laptop too! =) For my parents, maybe I’ll get them a big box of imported wines. Just have to make sure it’s red wine so its gonna be good for their hearts. As for two brothers, Sony products would deliriously make them happy. So easy to shop for them, no problem at all! =)

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To Gladys, Tatskie (ehem, Dr. Canape pala), and Yami — thanks for the wonderful time last night at Taboan. It’s so good to see you all! =) Were you able to finish off the mountain of pica-pica above?? Hehe! Our pictures are in my Friendster profile, check them out! To Jen and Vique, too bad we didn’t get to see each other. Maybe next time huh? To Edi, lang ya ka! You organized the get-together and you’re not there?? Tama na dive ba, awa sip-on nuon ka! LOL! :p Anyway I had a blast guys! Sa uulitin! =)
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It’s been about 2 months since I last saw my Brokenshire Hospital co-interns. Most of them (specifically 11) have passed the Medical board exam and are licensed doctors already. Here we are in a Grey’s Anatomy-esque pose. Hehe! This photo was taken in the hospital lobby’s “grand” staircase. We look cool don’t we?? Click it to enlarge and for you to appreciate our pose more, lol! =)

In the advent of internet, news and information has become a valuable commodity online. To serve this demand, many news channels have sprung up. The problem is that you have to sift through many channels and many news articles before you actually find out what you want. Sure, it’s not hard to find the headline news but that’s not just the news we want. We also want new information about our favorite topics. Me, I want news dedicated to technology and food. Most often, it’s so hard to look for food news. It’s not deemed as interesting as war or the stock market. Food only makes the headlines when there are food poisoning or when there’s scarcity of it in a poor country. Tsk! My solution to this foodie fixation problem? Subscribing to personalized news!
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Thoof is one such site that delivers personalized news. Thoof is a user generated news and information service that “learns” about what you are interested in, and delivers news of your favorite topics. Yes, “learns” because Thoof uses “personalization algorithm” which enables users to access news and information based on individual likes and preferences on the very first visit. Cool huh?? Also, in Thoof, users will have a say with regards to the posted news. Users may propose changes/additions to posted content, and all users can vote on whether the change is beneficial. Are you interested already? Then click this link –> http://thoof.com/a/P-U8v_R8EYYnwQ%3D%3D/thoof and be hooked like me, hehe! Sorry for the messy link, I can’t seem to find a shorter one that directs to this specific page. For all my internet savvy (as if!), I can’t seem to find solutions to simple problems, lol! Wanna help me?

Bankruptcy is one of life’s major events, albeit a bitter one. It does not happen overnight as it slowly becomes a reality as your debts add up. And in the end, mere mortals like us who are not financially savvy are at the mercy of our debtors. If you are deep in debt right now and wanna avoid bankruptcy, you need an IVA or Individual Voluntary Agreement. It is a legally binding agreement with your creditors that will be supervised by licensed insolvency practitioners. An IVA will cut the amount you owe and will freeze the interest you pay. It will also legally prevent creditors taking action against you. If you wanna know more about it, go to ClearDebt. They will help you solve your financial problems, and put you back on track. If you hate talking to a real person about your financial woes, you can complete their IVA form online. Good luck and don’t mess with your life the second time, y’hear?? :p

After 4 years of waiting to get a camera phone, I finally had one! And got it for free via my father’s Globe Platinum account, our cellular service provider. My new phone is a K800i from Sony Ericsson with a 3.2mp camera. Nice huh?? And it’s perfect for me coz I love to take photos! =) But the best feature of my phone is that it’s capable of directly posting to my Blogger account. Super cool!!! I can take a pic and post it in my blog without using a pc! Life is great… =) Here are sample pics from my phone. Sorry coz it’s just my face decorated with built-in designs in the K800i. Hehe!
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When we bought our current house and lot almost two years ago, we only had to deal directly with the selling owner. We saw one of their “for sale” ads, contacted them, and agreed on the selling price and payment scheme. That was it. Simple huh? However, I found out that in UK, buying a new home is not as easy. You have to go through estate agencies and other such offices which are regulated by the government before you can buy a home. Sometimes you have to wait awhile before your intention to buy a home is considered. Sucks huh?? And then sometimes, the home you want (as described by a listing) is not what it is when you finally saw it. Oh, the hassle of it all! If you want to cut thru the bull, you need Home Information Packs. The HIPs is a brand new idea that is destined to revolutionize the real estate business in UK. Homeowners who want to buy a new home is highly advised to get a HIP so they can peruse the home’s detailed information, helping the decision-making process faster. And the best thing? The Home Information Packs are given free to first time home buyers! So what are you waiting for? Check the site out and start looking for the home of your dreams! =)

Yesterday our internet was down the whole day. Called up PLDT (our ISP) tech service and they said they’d do a line test. Early this morning, a PLDT technician came and I witnessed firsthand how they do a line test, lol! The technician ascertained that our DSL line was ok therefore the problem might be the modem. True enough, when he replaced our modem with another, our internet connection was back! Yes! =) So now we have a new modem (for free, I think) and a working connection. I’m back to the land of the living, lol!=)

Last week, my boyfriend’s aunt came home from the US of A.
She’s working as a head nurse in Manhattan, New York and for this homecoming,
she rode from one of the numerous LaGuardia flights. In our country it’s a big
deal when someone working abroad comes home for a visit. We expect a lot of
“pasalubong” (gifts) from the “balikbayan”, and she can expect a feast fit for
a queen during her arrival. Of course, storytelling of their travails in the
foreign country is also one of the most anticipated events =) After one week,
my boyfriend accompanied my aunt to check out the schedule for flights to New York. She’s going back to New York in two days, and while
booking a flight, my boyfriend’s aunt shared her wonderful trips in Brooklyn
and Staten Island. My boyfriend, being the dreamer that he is, was enthralled
with his aunt’s stories. He’s now thinking of holidays to New York, and to find
cheap flights to New York asap. My suggestion? To check out the DialAFlight
website. DialAFlight is a UK travel company where you can search for flights,
hotels & travel ideas worldwide. What sets them apart from other travel
agencies is that to book a flight, you need to call and speak with their travel
consultants who will ensure that your planned holiday is exactly as you want
it. Sounds great! Nothing like a holiday that is perfect from start to finish
=) So New York, watch out, my boyfriend’s gonna paint you red! LOL!

I’m posting this from an internet cafe. Why? Coz our internet connection is down! We’ve been having internet problems for about a week but the connection always comes back. Today was a different story, no internet for the whole day! My day sucked! I wasn’t able to pass my celebrity articles (major source of my $$$ income!), I wasn’t able to manage my other income-generating opportunities, and I wasn’t able to bloghop. Sigh! I may sound hysterical and trust me, I AM!!!
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Working from an internet cafe sucks. I don’t have my pictures and other files to spice up my blog posts, the area is noisy (gamers!!!), I miss my mom’s free snacks (tuna sandwich, yum!), I miss everything! Wahhh.. Yeah, I’m a crybaby! So what?? I called up PLDT (our ISP) already and they said they’ll do a "line test" first. Okay fine, no problem with me as long as the internet connection will be back tom. I’m really going crazy without internet. I guess it’s about time I should invest in a wifi-ready laptop. Anytime I want, anywhere I am in downtown Davao, I can connect to the internet.. Now comes the problem finding the perfect laptop. Anybody who knows of a cheap laptop deal? Pls leave a comment, I’d appreciate it very much. Thanks! =)